TVS Motor announces two key leadership changes at Norton Motorcycle

Robert Hentschel named CEO of the Solihull-based motorcycle brand; Vittorio Urciuoli takes over as CTO

TVS Motor Company (TVS), owner of The Norton Motorcycle Co has appointed Robert Hentschel as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Vittorio Urciuoli as Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of the Solihull, UK-based motorcycle brand, the company said in a statement on Thursday. TVS Motor acquired Norton in April 2020.  

The announcement forms the next phase of the historic marque’s transformation, as it builds on its newly re-established foundations and prepares for the revitalisation of the brand for the future, it added. Over the past 12 months, TVS has ensured that transformation of Norton gets delivered with significant improvements to the product and the creation of a world class manufacturing facility in record time. “Now, Norton is ready to move to the next phase of its journey,” added Venu.

“TVS has created a plan for Norton to transform into the future. The brand will retain its core values which will be interpreted in a modern way for the customers of today and tomorrow. As part of this we are excited to welcome on board a new management team led by Robert to lead this next phase of the journey,” said Sudarshan Venu, Joint Managing Director of TVS Motors.

Hentschel and Urciuoli will take up their new positions as John Russell steps down from his role as Interim CEO. Hentschel joins Norton from Valmet Automotive Holding GmbH & Co KG, where he has served as Managing Director since 2017.

Prior to that he headed Ricardo Deutschland and Hentschel System and was also Director of Lotus Engineering. Urciuoli’s former key roles within the global automotive industry include leadership roles at URVI LTD, Lotus Cars, Ferrari and Aprilia Racing.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank John Russell for his accomplished leadership, experienced judgement and clear vision that he has displayed during his time as interim CEO of Norton,” said Venu.  Under Russell’s tenure, with investment and support from TVS, Norton has returned to a firm footing and made marked improvements to engineering and product quality, which will be seen in the updated V4SS that will be launched soon. In addition, we have established a new, state-of-the-art global design, engineering, manufacturing and sales and marketing head quarter in Solihull, said Venu.