Dometic is looking to new leadership to create a transformational change in the supplier’s business.
Todd Seyfert has been named Dometic’s new president of segment land vehicle Americas. Seyfert is a longtime executive with a background in outdoor products and mergers and acquisitions. He officially started last week, hosting a town hall with employees before traveling to the NTP-Stag distributor show and the Tampa RV SuperShow, meeting customers of all types along the way.
He said the opportunity to use his expertise with a global leader such as Dometic was too good to pass up.
“In your career, you get a few instances where you really feel that your background and experience can lead to a transformational change in a business,” Seyfert said. “That is the opportunity I see at Dometic. They touch so many different vertical markets and we have the opportunity to harness that platform and extend that brand to the consumer, regardless of their outdoor pursuit.”
Seyfert most recently was the CEO at FeraDyne Outdoors, a Wisconsin-based archery and hunting accessory manufacturer. He made five acquisitions in six years at the company and doubled its business through organic and inorganic actions.
Before working at FeraDyne, Seyfert was the executive vice president global sales for ATK Sporting Group/Vista Outdoors. The Minnesota-based company is a defense and aerospace manufacturer with a sporting goods supply division. Seyfert led the sportings goods business, growing the division from $450 million in annual revenue to $2.5 billion.
Dometic President and CEO Juan Vargues said, “Todd’s result orientation, execution experience and leadership in driving strategy implementation in complex environments are important assets needed to accelerate our transformation journey in Americas and take the segment to the next level of performance. Please join me in welcoming Todd to the Dometic team.”
Seyfert said his mission with Dometic is to put the company’s “Mobile Living Made Easy” slogan into action. To do so, he said he needs to understand what the consumer needs, what the market looks like and the competitive dynamics involved.
“Then we design products that meet that need,” he said, “extend the brand and meet that consumer where they want to be.”
To put those insights into action, Seyfert said he would focus Dometic’s product innovation teams on identifying leading trends and creating products appropriate to the findings. He said conversations with consumers and with Dometic’s passionate employees will inform the decisions he makes.
Seyfert said, “We will take all of that feedback and make sure that we have a way to bring that into the organization for review.”
Having visited two facilities and attended two trade shows, Seyfert said his early impression of Dometic is the passion shown by its employees.
“When you have a company town hall, there’s a few hundred people in the room, leadership talks and when you ask for questions, there are no questions, right?” he said. “People sometimes feel uncomfortable. We were able to have a town hall and the team was passionate. They were asking questions, asking about this and that, engaged from Day One. I could tell that these employees truly love and live the brand and want to see it grow and prosper. That is something really hard to develop in a company and Dometic has it in spades.”
The next two months, Seyfert will visit all Dometic’s facilities and meet employees. In addition, he plans to visit top customers in different verticals over the next three months.
He said, “So, I am in learning mode right now.”
Seyfert succeeds former Dometic President of Segment Americas Oliver Bahr, who left the company Jan. 9.
Vargues said, “I would like to thank Oliver for his contribution during the past years and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
