YASA appoints Juergen Banken as new CEO
YASA, the Oxfordshire-based pioneer in ultra-high performance electric drive technology and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, has announced the appointment of Juergen Banken as its new CEO, succeeding Dr Chris Harris.
Juergen has held a number of leadership positions at Mercedes-Benz over the last 26 years, most recently as Senior Manager, Development of Integrated Electric Drives at Mercedes-Benz.
He has a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Aachen University and has more than 15 years’ experience in developing and bringing electric vehicles to market.
Since 2016, Juergen has been responsible for delivering Mercedes-Benz electric propulsion systems, including the EQS from concept to delivery of its Electric Drive Unit.
Juergen joins YASA at a time of accelerated growth and will focus on delivering world-beating electric-drive solutions for AMG & Mercedes’ electric-only platforms and the subsidiary’s supercar OEM customers.
Juergen said: “I’m excited to relocate to Oxford, a city with a great heritage in academia and automotive engineering, and to lead the innovative and dynamic YASA team.
"YASA’s next-generation electric motor technology is pivotal to Mercedes-Benz’s transition to all-electric models by 2030.
"YASA’s distinctive culture of innovation and commitment to engineering excellence is directly aligned with my own and I look forward to helping the team deliver on their ground-breaking roadmap.
"I’d like to thank Dr Chris Harris for his support during the CEO transition and for his stellar contribution to YASA’s success.”
Dr Chris Harris joined YASA in 2012 and scaled the company from 20 employees to 300, raising significant investment and winning OEM series production contracts, before leading the acquisition of the company by Mercedes-Benz in 2021.
Chris is stepping down as CEO to pursue other entrepreneurial ventures, and takes up a new role as a Non-Executive Director at YASA.
Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Chief Technology Officer responsible for Development and Procurement said,
"On Mercedes-Benz’s journey to ‘Electric only’, YASA is an important cornerstone for our leading electric drive technology.
"With Juergen Banken, we will have a very experienced executive leading the team who will take YASA’s development forward, ensuring that their axial-flux electric motors play a key part in our future high performance EV product portfolio.
"Chris has been key to YASA’s development and we would like to thank him warmly for all his achievements, especially his role in supporting YASA’s successful transition to becoming a fully-integrated subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz.”
Tim Woolmer, YASA’s Founder and CTO said, “Chris’s contribution to YASA over the past decade has been nothing short of outstanding, and we wish him every success in his next endeavour.
"We’re delighted to welcome Juergen to the YASA team and are looking forward to working under his experienced leadership to give Mercedes-Benz the leading edge in the EV market by enabling unparalleled driver experiences.”
