Andy Palmer appointed Switch Mobility executive vice chairman & CEO

Chennai, Jul 2 (PTI): Switch Mobility, backed by Hinduja Group, on Friday announced the appointment of Dr Andy Palmer as its executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer, on its vision to secure a global position in net zero carbon buses and light commercial vehicles.

The announcement of a new management team on Friday, was part of Switch Mobility's strategic priorities to achieve urban e-mobility leadership, a company statement said here.

''A new leadership team has been appointed to leverage the legacy manufacturing and innovation capabilities of Ashok Leyland and Optare, while applying cutting-edge technologies to provide customers with industry-leading low cost of ownership and net zero emissions transport solutions globally'', the company said.

Palmer has been appointed as Executive Vice Chairman and CEO with immediate effect followed by Nitin Seth as chief operating officers, Sarwant Singh Salini as chief planning officer and Roger Blakey as chief technical officer.

''With the combined expertise of its team in the United Kingdom and India, Switch will build on its experience of having more than 280 electric vehicles in service with over 26 million miles covered.'', it said.

Switch has already signed customer agreements with leading logistic operators and secured orders for a 2,000 strong e-LCV fleet with customer trials scheduled to begin this month.

''Hinduja Group is focused on providing the needed thrust to our on-going initiatives in the rapidly growing zero carbon mobility sector.This is orchestrated through combining the advanced engineering and development skills in the United Kingdom and India to address the demand in global markets'', Switch Mobility chairman, Dheeraj Hinduja said.

''I am confident with Andy Palmer at the helm, we will accelerate our vision to be at the forefront in this field soon'', he said.

On his appointment as executive vice chairman and CEO, Switch Mobility, Andy Palmer said, ''Switch holds a unique position in an increasingly competitive marketplace with our EV commercial vehicles already clocking millions of miles in service''.

''I am 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'', he added.PTI VIJ BN BALA BN BALA