Škoda Transportation, Czech Republic, is to set up a subsidiary company in the United States with a view to selling light rail vehicles and trains in North America.
Škoda Transportation USA will be headed by Scott Ellis who has been appointed director of business development. Ellis joins Škoda from Kinkisharyo, where he was manager of business development. Prior to that, Ellis worked for Dellner Couplers, Sweden, as North American sales manager, and for Voith.
Škoda has supplied trams to Portland and Tacoma and has transferred technology to United Streetcar, United States, to enable it to build trams for Tuscon. Škoda Electric has also supplied 330 trolleybuses to Dayton and San Francisco, and is modernizing 32 trolleybuses for Boston.
"Our goal is to create a fully-fledged U.S. base consisting of business development, technical department, purchasing and project management through to production," Ellis says. "Establishment of Škoda Transportation USA is the first step in a planned expansion into the North American market."