Polaris hires experienced GM designer for off-road division
Clay Dean has landed a senior design role at Polaris, leaving his role as chief innovation officer at Under Armour. He tells Car Design News that his varied experience and natural interest in off-roading makes it a perfect fit
It’s been a couple of weeks since any major job news in car design which, based on the current pace of turnover, feels more like years. The latest placement involves ex-General Motors and Under Armour designer Clay Dean, who has landed a senior design position at Polaris.
Those in the automotive industry will no doubt be familiar with the Slingshot – a three-wheeler track-focussed sports car that sits in a similar spot to the likes of the Caterham Seven or KTM X-Bow – but Polaris also counts a host of other vehicles under its portfolio, including snowmobiles, speed boats, motorcycles and off-road adventure buggies, quadbikes and scramblers.
It is this segment that Dean will be handling in his new role as senior director of design, taking on brands like the Polaris RZR (“razor”) produced by the Off-Road Vehicle Design team based in Medina, Minnesota.
“Polaris came to me with an opportunity to do something new and unique,” Dean told Car Design News. ”It is a new role in the organisation to lead the off-road activities, but also to investigate the undefined future in this space. The opportunity for me is to see how I can augment where Polaris wants to go, as they have a lot of ambition to build and grow.”
It comes at a time where more brands and segments are looking towards the outdoors as a source of inspiration for future vehicle typologies. From the Dacia Manifesto, Citroen Ami Buggy and Oli concept, to the the Lamborghini Lanzador SUV coupe that “adapts to any surface” – there are plenty of examples. Polaris may be able to capitalise on the trend, with everything from two-seater pick-ups and compact trail tearabouts to full-on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) built for the desert or thick snow.
It will be something of a divergence from Dean’s previous gig at Under Armour, where he served as chief innovation officer for six and a half years, but does bring him back into the car design fold. His nearly 18 years at General Motors will likely provide more direct experience, having worked on Hummer in the early noughties (including Dakar and motorsports variants) and a host of other explorative projects at GM’s advanced design studios like the 2003 Chevrolet Cheyenne concept. Between 2012 and 2017, Dean was design director for GM Global Advanced Design, overseeing US studios on the east and west coast, as well as in Germany, China and Australia.
“At General Motors I spent a lot of time on truck and off-road projects, even designing Baja 1000-winning vehicles, and growing up in California I always had a passion for off-road vehicles,” Dean says. “It was an intriguing premise to see what I could take from my time at GM, but also from Under Armour, which taught me about new innovation principles and, in hindsight, has allowed me to come back into automotive with a fresh perspective.”
A forward-thinking designer who appears to have a knack at anticipating trends, Dean may well have been brought in to help guide Polaris through new waters as the line between cars and ATVs blurs. In an interview with Car Design News back in 2011, he mused that “we potentially are heading for a shift in the way automobiles interact in our world today… We need to give solutions to every walk of life.” And clearly, that includes not only the urban commuter but also the outdoorsy type and those looking to reconnect with nature.