John Horn joins Irizar UK

John Horn has joined Irizar UK’s team as UK Bus Project Manager. John’s background includes senior sales positions at Wadham Stringer, East Lancashire Coachbuilders, British Citybus, Darwen Group and Optare. In his new role he will have special responsibility to the delivery of the global group’s i2e single deck in the UK. He has recent experience selling electric buses as Sales Director for Optare. John will be splitting his time between the UK and Spain, where the i2e is built, and ensuring the specification of vehicles to the UK matches operators’ requirements.

John said, ‘By 2020, London will want 200 electric buses. But the potential for i2e includes provincial green bus schemes and, in particular, intensive services such as park and ride. In i2e, I have an electric bus which has a genuine 200km range on one charge and is already proving itself in three Spanish cities and with the European Community’s ZeEUS electric bus project. The key to sales will be ensuring operators have confidence in the battery life and see the benefits of the up-front infrastructure cost. The fact that this vehicle is already successfully operating in San Sebastian, Barcelona, Madrid and now tested in Marseilles, Southern France, means we have the operational data to support the performance Irizar claims.’
John has visited the Irizar factory in Spain to see the vehicle in production. He said, ‘I was very impressed with the production facility and with Irizar’s commitment to innovative technology. It’s fantastic to be part of the Irizar UK team, and with such an excellent product to represent.’