The former CEO of Marvel Entertainment will become non-executive chairman of transport innovator Arrival.
The UK-headquartered firm, which is pioneering the use of ‘microfactories’ to build its zero-emission electric buses and vans, is readying itself for a float on the New York NASDAQ.
It has already raised hundreds of millions of pounds and achieved unicorn status.
Incoming chairman Peter Cuneo serves as the CEO and chairman of CIIG, a specialist merger company which facilitates such flotations, and is a former president and CEO of Marvel Entertainment.
“From the outset, I have been impressed by Arrival’s entirely different approach to the design and production of transportation and their insistence that a better system and model exists for the EV market,” he said.
“Their diligence has enabled Arrival to be a powerfully effective organisation, setting a high standard for commercial EVs and the path to production.”
It was also revealed that Arrival buses will be tested on British roads for the first time this autumn in a trial with First Group.
Arrival was founded in 2015 and has more than 1,400 global employees located in offices across the USA, Germany, Netherlands, Israel, Russia and Luxembourg.
The firm’s production methods use low capital expenditures and scalable ‘microfactories’ that can be placed anywhere in the world to serve the regions they are located in.
These microfactories, combined with in-house developed components, materials and software, enable the production of vehicles at costs the firm says is comparative to fossil fuel variants.
This approach is said to reduce the costs of production and emissions of shipping, and does not require massive upfront investment.
Following a £90m funding round last year, Arrival is building its first US factory in South Carolina.
The firm, which aims to produce 1,000 buses in 2022 and 11,000 in 2024 at a site in Bicester, Oxfordshire, is eyeing new sites for factories within the UK.
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Other prospective board members include Avinash Rugoobur, current president and chief strategy officer for Arrival; Jae Oh, current VP and head of corporate development at Hyundai Motor Group; Kristen O’Hara, current senior VP and chief business officer of Hearst Magazines; and Alain Kinsch, who until his retirement in 2020 served as Ernst & Young’s Luxembourg country managing partner.
“We are at a pivotal moment in Arrival’s journey, as we focus on execution. These board members will bring an extensive wealth of knowledge and invaluable varied business experience to Arrival Group as we scale up production and expand our global reach over the coming years,” said Denis Sverdlov, founder and CEO of Arrival.
“The strength and diversity of the board members’ backgrounds reflects the scope of Arrival’s vision. Their guidance will be extremely valuable as the company accelerates the move to zero-emission transportation ecosystems for communities around the world.”