Kommander
Industries was born in 2008 by Steve Webster after he sold his Kawasaki-Yamaha
dealership in Phoenix Arizona.
“We here at KOMMANDER INDUSTRIES work with the top
aftermarket companies to help supply our customers with the very best parts the
industry has to offer. As long as it meets our high-quality standards, we sell
and utilize other great company's products, in addition to our own.”
Along with
being a PWC Industry leader supplying race and freestyle hulls, race and
freestyle builds and “go fast” parts, Kommander Industries is planning to have
a huge presence on the Pro Watercross Tour once again in 2015. In addition, for
the first time ever, Kommander Industries will debut their brand new race hull
at the opening round of the Pro Watercross National Tour in Panama City Beach,
Florida on May 9th!
We at Pro
Watercross had the opportunity to catch up with Dustin Moutzouris; racer,
product development, sales and marketing for Kommander Industries and see what
they have in store for the upcoming season!
Pro Watercross: Dustin, tell us who makes up the Kommander Industries Race
Team for 2015?
Dustin Motzouris: I am racing for the team as the main guy, and we also have a
couple people that will be doing the tour with us this year.
One of our guys
is David Redinger. this past year he was number six in the world. So he is a
really highly rated (ski) rider and a really good guy.
We have an up
and coming rider that is pretty much ready to go pro (in ski) this year, Broc
Austin. He is from the Utah area.
And then we
have Shante Bukes from South Africa on a runabout, she will be coming out as
well.
For now, this
will be pretty much be the main team. We will have Jared Moore who was the 2013
Pro Runabout World Champion. I don’t know if he will compete at all the events,
but he will be at a select few of them for sure.
Pro Watercross: Is Jared running Pro Runabout Open again this season?
Dustin Motzouris: He will probably run Pro Stock and probably do Open as a
secondary class.
Pro Watercross: What about Shante, is she doing Pro Stock this year?
Dustin Motzouris: Yes, she will do Pro Stock.
Pro Watercross: Which races are the Kommander Industries Race Team planning
on attending this season?
Dustin Motzouris: We will definitely be doing the whole Pro Watercross Tour,
as well as Pro Watercross' World Championship he is going to have in Naples,
Florida. Obviously we have good backing from Rockstar Energy Drinks, so from
their side it is a pretty important tour for them, and that we do a US national
based tour.
Pro Watercross: What does Kommander Industries have new for 2015 as
far your performance parts and hulls… what do you guys have up your sleeves?
Dustin Motzouris: This season that we are going into, is going to be super
exciting from our aspect! We basically teamed up with Yamaha to run a Superjet
in the Pro (Ski) Stock class. That’s going to be good, and it’s good to see
Yamaha getting more involved into racing again. Especially with using the
Superjet, it is a great boat. With being the only new stand-up still sold, it’s
good to have them back into the fray of racing and really pushing the product.
For (Ski) Open,
we have a brand new complete Kommander Industries race hull coming out that
will debuted at the opening round of the Pro Watercross Tour in Panama City,
Florida. We have definitely been leaking some press out on it, and everybody is
waiting to see that boat. The cool thing is, it will be launched for the
National Tour and not raced anywhere before!
The boat is all
new... new look and new top deck design so it is not going to be like anything
else. It will be a good way to showcase that ski, racing it on the National
Tour for the first time.
Pro Watercross: I know Rob Flores is doing some work with Yamaha and the
Superjet as well, are you guys working in conjunction with Rob?
Dustin Motzouris: We are separate obviously because we are two competing
teams. The thing is with Kommander, we are a Yamaha dealership now, so
obviously for us it’s in our best interest to promote anything Yamaha based. So
we are putting a big push to the Superjet as well as the FZR runabout.
Any races
Shante does in the US, she will be on the Yamaha along with Jared. Pretty much
everybody is switching over to Yamaha. The Yamahas make so much power it is
tuff to beat them right now, they are great boats.
Pro Watercross: Steve Webster founded Kommander Industries in 2008. What is
his role, and what is your role working with Kommander aside from being a rider
on the Race Team?
Dustin Motzouris: Previously Kommander was just a performance shop. We have
recently expanded that into being a Yamaha dealership which I think was a big
contributing factor with my involvement into the brand.
Steve is more
the technical side and does more of the product development.
I have owned
dealerships in the past. Recently I sold my dealerships off in South Africa now
that I am based in the US. I handle more the front of house, sales, putting different
sales packages together as well as the racing side of things. I also do hull
development and all the riding/testing. When coming up with a new ride plate or
hull, I do all of that testing. Then Steve goes off and gets it manufactured.
After that, with the team that works up front with me, we do all the marketing
and selling.
Steve is
definitely more the technical side as far as getting the new product made,
manufactured and finished, and I do pretty much all the selling of it as well
as all the promotion.
Pro Watercross: Do you have anything you would like to add?
Dustin Motzouris: Not at the moment. What I’ll do is keep you up to date
because the new hull is maybe going to be here next week. It actually may
arrive over the weekend. It’s going to get super exciting! Especially with
debuting it on the Pro Watercross National Tour, it will be something cool.
It is going to
be a world’s first. We have people all over the world that are waiting to buy
them already, and it is going to be cool to see them raced on the Pro
Watercross Tour for the first time. It will definitely get a lot of interest,
that’s for sure!
Pro Watercross: What is the best way to get in contact with Kommander
Industries for information on your hulls, parts, order products or keep up to
date with what you guys have going on?
Dustin Motzouris: The easiest way to get in touch with us is to just call
Kommander. Steve and I are pretty much here every day unless we are out
testing. It is typically easiest to give the shop a call, deal directly with me
and I can get them handled.
Our Facebook is
really active as well. It is really current and we keep it updated two or three
times a day with everything new and interesting. It is a good platform if
people want to keep up to date with us.
Kommander Industries Facebook: www.facebook.com/KommanderInd
Kommander Industries
4220 W. Opportunity Way
Suite 125
Phoenix, AZ 85086
Phone 623-551-4402
Fax 623-551-9327
Business Hours
Monday - Friday: 9am - 5pm (MST)
Saturday: By Appointments Only
Sunday: Closed