Wrightbus eyes Euro expansion with new Chief Commercial Officer appointment

The company - which was responsible for producing the world’s first hydrogen double deck bus, the Hydroliner - has bought Jean-Luc Deflandre on board.

Mr Deflandre brings more than 15 years of experience working in the European electric and hydrogen bus market. His appointment signals the growing ambition of Wrightbus, less than two years since launching the Hydroliner and less than three years since the company was bought out of administration by leading green entrepreneur, Jo Bamford. Jean-Luc is a former Advisor to the Board of BYD, former Chief Commercial Officer of Ebusco and speaks four languages - French, Dutch, German and English. He is the founder and owner of a consulting company and guest speaker at the World Economic Forum and Energy Tech Summit. He said: “I am delighted and excited to be joining Wrightbus at an incredibly important period for the company and for passenger transport as a whole. 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.”

Wrightbus has big ambitions for Europe with the development of left-hand drive hydrogen-fuelled vehicles already under way. This year the company will double output at its factory in NI, as well as increasing production of zero emissions electric and hydrogen buses to around 70 per cent of its total output - up from just 30 per cent last year. Buta Atwal, Wrightbus CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome Jean-Luc to our team to support our ambitions not only to decarbonise public transport across the UK and Ireland, but around the world.

“We believe that zero-emission buses, manufactured in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, can and should be used and powered across the world. 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.”

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