Yanmar Compact Equipment North America, encompassing the Yanmar Compact Equipment and ASV Holdings Inc. brands, announced recently that the president and director roles have been filled. Tate Johnson is now president of Yanmar. Lee Thole will serve as the director of aftermarket and David Gannon as director of channel development.
Johnson joined the organization as commercial director in September 2020, overseeing sales, national accounts, channel development and marketing. He brought extensive leadership experience with deep technical, channel development and business leadership expertise within the commercial industry. As president, Johnson will lead and further develop the growth initiatives for the company as the two brands progress in a joint vision of Yanmar Compact Equipment North America.
“We have assembled a strong team committed to the ASV and Yanmar brands and focused on serving all of our stakeholders. This group of leaders will continue to drive the business and achieve excellent results for our customers, dealers and employees,” Johnson said. “As we continue to grow, we will seek to provide even more resources and support to our dealers and in turn, the end user customers. The addition of Lee and David is the logical next step.”
Thole brings more than 20 years of experience, with a strong background in parts, service, and overall business operations. Thole’s responsibilities as director of aftermarket will include strengthening several post-sales support functions. It will also involve leading further development and implementation of the aftermarket strategy.
Gannon joins his role with 30 years of multi-industry experience. His position as director of channel development will involve working closely with the dealer network. This will be both by recruiting dealers and assisting existing dealers with being successful.
About Yanmar Compact Equipment North America
Yanmar Compact Equipment North America is located in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. It also encompasses Yanmar Compact Equipment division’s powerful, dependable and efficient compact excavators, tracked carriers and wheel loaders and ASV’s innovative, reliable and industry-leading Posi-Track compact track loaders. Yanmar Compact Equipment North America is a part of Osaka, Japan-based Yanmar Co. Ltd. It began in 1912. Then, in 1933, it became the world’s first manufacturer to develop a practical small diesel engine. Today, Yanmar is a recognized leader in both the design and manufacturing of advanced performance diesel engines and diesel-powered equipment.
