In a surprise move, former Aston Martin Chairman & CEO Andy Palmer has stepped down from his role at the Leeds-based electric bus manufacturer
Switch Mobility promoted Mahesh Babu to the role of CEO following the announcement that Andy Palmer was to leave. Andy is stepping down from the role of
Vice Chairman and CEO for personal reasons.
To maintain continuity of strategy and execution of plans, the Board approved the elevation of Mahesh Babu to the role of CEO, whilst Dheeraj Hinduja will be assuming the role of Executive Chairman. Sharing his thoughts Dheeraj said: “I would like to personally thank Andy for his vision and commitment since the inception of Switch, and what we have achieved so far would not have been possible without his astute leadership. Mahesh has the track record of successfully growing the business in India and I am confident that under his leadership, we can achieve the same in the UK and Europe.”
Posting on his own LinkedIn account, Andy said: “After a long and impactful association that started back in 2015, I felt the time was right to depart my role as CEO and Executive Vice Chairman of Switch Mobility and will be doing so this week. I became a Non-Executive Director at Ashok Leyland seven years ago. Since then, I helped consolidated the company’s electric vehicle operations and ultimately oversaw the foundation of Switch Mobility as it is today along with Dheeraj Hinduja.
“From leading the company to a significant valuation, to re-imagining the Great British and Indian icon that is the red double-decker bus, I am proud of what we, as a team, achieved at Switch. I always said I wanted to dedicate this phase of my career to tying up the loose ends in the electric vehicle space that started when I launched the Nissan Leaf, arguably the world’s first mass market electric vehicle, back in 2010.
“My time at Switch has gone some way to achieving that, but my motivation for departing this role is to create more time that I can dedicate to a plurality of organisations and projects operating in the EV space. The need for a greener and cleaner future couldn’t be more urgent, and I truly believe the auto industry can lead the way in achieving this.
“It’s my intention to continue sharing learnings, experience and dare I say, wisdom with the next generation of auto pioneers, gained from more than four decades (and counting!) in the industry that I love.”
