Bus Industry News, Executive Changes

CDC Australia appoints familiar face to chief project officer

A bus and coach supplier veteran has been appointed to a major leadership position at CDC Australia

ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia (CDC) has recently created a new leadership position to help accelerate the company’s ongoing transition to new vehicle technologies.

David Mead, who has extensive experience in leading transport, agriculture and capital goods brands through companies such as Volvo Bus Australia, has commenced with the company as Chief Project Officer, Zero Emissions and Emerging Projects.

According to CDC Australia CEO Nick Yap, the role was created to boost the company’s already strong internal knowledge of the array of developing vehicle technologies and to maintain and grow the partnerships which have helped with the company’s successes with them so far.

“CDC has been on an emissions reduction journey for some time, with the roll-out of Australia’s largest fleet of hybrid buses which we completed the fleet of 50 last year,” Yap says.

“We have also started our first zero emissions bus trial in Melbourne and are on the way to beginning a trial of hydrogen powered buses in conjunction with the New Energies Service Station project in Geelong.

“However, we’ve reached a phase where the speed of change in these technologies, along with the numerous other opportunities for vehicle enhancements beyond emissions, meant that we’ve built our team to make the most of this situation while transitioning our business Australia-wide.

“David Mead is joining us directly from the supply side of the bus industry and this means he can deliver skills and knowledge of the supply chain and associated partnerships that can benefit CDC.”

Mead says that CDC’s combination of global knowledge and local opportunities made working for the company an easy decision.

“The desire from the leadership at CDC to build competence, the ability to manage high-paced change and the obvious focus on people really grabbed my attention,” he says.


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“Having worked with a leading global bus supplier for almost 20 years, I was able to work with ComfortDelGro companies around the globe, including Metroline in the United Kingdom, SBS Transit in Singapore and CDC here in Australia.

“During that time, I observed how ComfortDelGro Group’s businesses take the acquired knowledge and best practices from other global regions and apply them to their own businesses, allowing them to learn from each other and develop industry-leading solutions together.

“The size and scope of operations in Australia also means there are many fantastic opportunities to work in a variety of business segments across the country.”

Mead says there has been so much work done by CDC around the country already, making the priorities for his tenure obvious.

“Their planning and execution of projects is fantastic, so providing support to existing projects, looking into new opportunities and working cross functionally across geographies to create the right solution for each situation is where I will spend my energy,” Mead says.

“I am very excited to be with CDC right now because the next few years will provide an amazing opportunity to be part of a once-in-a-generation technology transition.”

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