Ballymena bus manufacturer Wrightbus has appointed a new European Chief Commercial Officer as it looks to expand across Germany, Italy, France, Spain and beyond.
Jean-Luc Deflandre brings more than 15 years of experience working in the European electric and hydrogen bus market, having been an adviser to the Board of BYD, and former Chief Commercial Officer of Ebusco.
He is also the founder and owner of a consulting company and has been a guest speaker at the World Economic Forum and Energy Tech Summit.
Wrightbus is currently involved in the development of left-hand drive hydrogen-fuelled double deck buses for export to Europe.
This year the company will double output at its factory in Northern Ireland, as well as increasing production of zero emissions electric and hydrogen buses to about 70 per cent of its total output – up from just 30 per cent last year.
Deflandre said: “Wrightbus is leading the way in zero-emissions vehicles in this field and I am eager to bring my experience to bear across mainland Europe.
“I’m already in high level discussions in several major European cities who are keen to have the very best zero emission buses on their streets.”
Buta Atwal, Wrightbus CEO, said: “Working at scale, Wrightbus has a clear plan in place to reduce the costs of the buses to be comparable to diesel for the total cost of ownership.
“We already have a strong network of suppliers across Europe and we’re looking forward to building an equally strong customer base for our world-class buses.”
