Vestas to have separate units for China and APAC

Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH:VWS) will split its Asia-Pacific and China (APC) sales business unit (SBU) into two in a move to reinforce its position in strategic and emerging markets in the region, the Danish wind turbine maker said today.

The change, effective as of April 1, will see the creation of an SBU covering China and Mongolia (SBU CHI) and an SBU covering the rest of the Asia-Pacific countries, including India (SBU ASP).

The company delivered 838 MW to APC in 2016, including 490 MW to China.

Executive vice president and chief sales officer Juan Araluce said the split is aimed at achieving a deeper market understanding and ultimately increasing the company's market share. "With the introduction of two SBUs, each dedicated to a more specific regional area of responsibility, we are investing more resources in the region and creating a more agile and customer centric organisation," Araluce said.

The reorganisation comes with a management rejig. The decision to have two new SBUs in the region comes with the news that APC president and group senior vice president Chris Beaufait to leave Vestas. The new units will be headed by two newly-appointed presidents/group senior vice presidents. Kebao Yang, who most recently served as chairman and general manager of Caterpillar (Qingzhou) Ltd, will join on March 20 to lead SBU CHI. The head of the other unit will be disclosed at a later point.

The SBU responsible for China and Mongolia will be based in Beijing, while SBU ASP will be based in Singapore.

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