THE new chief executive of bus manufacturer Wrightbus took up his seat at the Ballymena factory yesterday.
Joerg Hofmann has succeeded Buta Atwal, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
Mr Hofmann, who holds an MBA in business administration from Munich University, a degree in marketing management from Arizona State University, and who reached the rank of captain in the army, joins Wrightbus from London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC), a subsidiary of Geely Group.
He has previously held global executive positions in countries including Australia, Brazil and Japan at multinational companies including Audi and General Motors.
He said: “I'm delighted to be joining Wrightbus and starting work as we enter the next stage of our ambitious growth plan, expanding our business in the UK and becoming one of the leading manufacturers of zero emission buses in Europe.”
It comes as Wrightbus announced a deal earlier this week to build 193 buses for First Bus - the operator’s largest ever electric vehicle order.
It also comes on the back of another major deal to build an initial 120 buses for the National Transport Authority (NTA) in Dublin as well as significant agreements with Australia’s leading bus body manufacturer Volgren and German bus operator RVK.
Mr Hofmann added: “This is clearly a very exciting time for Wrightbus. I am a firm believer in green mobility and I am excited to lead Wrightbus with our advanced electric buses and leading hydrogen technology to the next level of growth.
Jo Bamford, Wrightbus executive chairman, said: “We're delighted to welcome Joerg to the team. Wrightbus has significant potential globally on the back of its technology leadership in zero-emission buses, and Joerg is the right man for the next stage of our development.”
