New Wrightbus Chief Executive takes up post

Joerg Hofmann takes over the position from outgoing Chief Executive 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.

Mr Hofmann said: “I am 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.”

This week Wrightbus announced a deal to build 193 buses for First Bus - the operator’s largest ever electric vehicle order. It comes on the back of another major deal to build an initial 120 buses for the Republic of Ireland’s National Transport Authority (NTA) as well as significant agreements with Australia’s leading bus body manufacturer Volgren and German Bus operator Regionalverkehr Köln GmbH (RVK).

Mr Hofmann said: “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 are delighted to welcome Joerg to the Wrightbus 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.”

Read: First Bus places £81m EV bus order with Wrightbus