European-based bus and coach brand Ebusco has announced the nomination of Hou Fei as its new chief operating officer.
Hou Fei was appointed to the role on December 16 last year, with an Extraordinary General Meeting confirming that Hou Fei will assume the role, succeeding Michel van Maanen.
The new COO will be based at Ebusco’s head office in Deurne, the Netherlands and is set to bring international experience in large-scale production, industrial transformation and electric vehicle technology to the role across both OEM and Original Equipment Designer (OED) businesses.
His background includes senior leadership roles at General Motors in the United States, at SAIC Motor joint ventures with both General Motors and Volkswagen, and, since 2016, at Gotion High-Tech in China.
Most recently, Hou Fei served as vice president at Gotion, where he was responsible for the company’s Asia Pacific business, contributing to global expansion and operational excellence.
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The appointment reflects Ebusco’s focus on execution, scalability and international partnership alignment. As the company advances into a new operational phase based on the OED model only, Ebusco says the COO role is evolving with a stronger emphasis on industrial performance, supply-chain robustness and close collaboration with Ebusco’s strategic and international partners.
Starting January 21, van Maanen has decided to pursue another career opportunity and will become the new CEO at Dutch PT company and long-standing Ebusco client EBS Public Transportation.
To ensure a smooth transition, van Maanen continued serving as a statutory director of Ebusco for a limited period in a non-executive and advisory capacity only.
Ebusco president Peter Bijvelds says van Maanen played a key role in Ebusco’s operational restructuring and turnaround, including transitioning the company back to an OED-oriented operating model.
“On behalf of the Management Board, I would like to sincerely thank Michel for his dedication and leadership during a pivotal period for Ebusco,” Bijvelds says.
“His contribution to our operational restructuring and the transition back to an OED-oriented model has been instrumental in stabilising and repositioning the company.
“At the same time, we are very pleased to welcome Hou Fei into the role of COO. His deep operational expertise, international experience and strong industrial background are an excellent fit for Ebusco’s next phase, as we continue to strengthen execution, scalability and cooperation with our strategic partners.”
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