Ashok Leyland's UK arm ropes in former Iveco Bus senior executive

Appointment of David Siviero seen as move to strengthen ops outside Europe

Ashok Leyland's UK subsidiary Optare has roped in Iveco Bus senior executive David Siviero as its new sales, marketing and services director. 

 

Siviero's appointment comes as Optare is planning to expand its footprint outside Europe, especially in Middle East and other Asian markets. Prior to joining Optare, Siviero was handling the sales and marketing for Iveco Bus South Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

 

Commenting on Siviero’s appointment, Optare's CEO Enrico Vassallo said: "He brings with him national and international sales experience of the bus industry and his appointment will strengthen the commercial team and support the company in achieving national and international growth."

 

Siviero started his career in the bus industry in 2002 with Evobus Italy as sales manager. Then he moved to Iveco Bus in 2005, where he was the Italian sales director for the minibus and truck derived Bus range. 

 

Two years later, he became the general manager for Iveco Bus UK, where he was responsible for selling full range of buses and coaches. In 2009 he moved to France to take up the post of Iveco Bus International sales director and in 2010 was appointed general manager of Iveco Bus Central and Eastern Europe based in Prague. In 2012, he became sales and marketing director for Iveco Bus South Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

 

“I hope to use my own experience to help expand Optare’s presence in overseas markets, where it is already achieving some encouraging results with support from Ashok Leyland,” said Siviero. 

 

Earlier, the company said it intends to diversify its product range across UK, Europe, Middle East, African and Asian markets to reduce dependency on one section and one market to improve topline growth. One of the products the company plans to introduce for the export market is a double-decker. 

 

The company had also said the UK market will be flat in the near future, but growth opportunities exist in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa. 

 

Optare ended 2013-14 with market share of 36% in the 8-13 tonne segment, which is the primary market for it, logging a growth of five percentage points from the previous year.