Formal launch and new leadership team for Switch Mobility
Switch Mobility, the new entity which combines the electric commercial vehicle operations of Ashok Leyland and the former Optare company, formally launched this month and confirmed a new leadership team with Andy Palmer appointed as executive vice chairman and chief executive officer. Joining Palmer are Nitin Seth as chief operating officer, Sarwant Singh Saini as chief planning officer and Roger Blakey as chief technical officer.
With combined expertise of teams in UK and India, Switch aims to build on its experience of having more than 280 electric vehicles in service and over 26 million miles covered.
Switch has already signed customer agreements with leading logistic operators and says it has secured orders for a 2,000-strong e-LCV fleet with customer trials starting this month.
“Hinduja Group is focused on providing the needed thrust to our on-going initiatives in the rapidly growing zero carbon mobility sector,” says Dheeraj Hinduja, chairman, Switch Mobility.
“This is orchestrated through combining the advanced engineering and development skills in the UK and India to address the demand in global markets. I am confident that with Andy Palmer at the helm, we will accelerate our vision to be at the forefront in this field soon.”
Palmer adds: “Switch holds a unique position in an increasingly competitive marketplace with our EV commercial vehicles already clocking millions of miles in service. We embrace the ethos of a start-up and enjoy the legacies of intellectual property, borne from more than a decade of technical expertise and engineering experience, that is already revenue-generating and delivering for our customers.”
I’m delighted to have become part of the executive leadership team and believe we have all the required ingredients to become a leading global e-bus and e-truck player, trail-blazing the way to zero-carbon public transport.”