Dr. Matthias Jurytko takes over the CEO position of cellcentric

Starting June 1, 2021, Dr. Matthias Jurytko will take over as CEO of cellcentric, the fuel cell joint venture between Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group. With extensive expertise and leadership experience in the truck industry, he will spearhead the mass production of fuel cells.

Dr. Matthias Jurytko Appointed as New CEO of cellcentric – cellcentric

Matthias Jurytko will become Managing Director and CEO of cellcentric as of June 1st, 2021. As current site manager of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth and former site manager of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Gaggenau, Dr. Matthias Jurytko has extensive expertise in the truck business and many years of management experience.

Personnel changes at cellcentric, the 50:50 fuel cell joint venture between Daimler Truck AG and the Volvo Group: Dr. Matthias Jurytko will take over as Managing Director and CEO of cellcentric on June 1st, 2021. In this role, he succeeds Dr. Andreas Gorbach, who will leave the company on April 30, 2021. Gorbach will continue to support the company in the future as a member of cellcentric’s advisory board.

“The transformation of the transport industry and our company is one of the most important tasks ahead of us. I am therefore very pleased that we have been able to win Matthias Jurytko as CEO for cellcentric. With his many years of management experience, he possesses important skills for this task: extensive expertise in the truck business, coupled with experience in the management and further development of our plants,” says Martin Daum, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck AG and Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG.

“As already announced, cellcentric will further expand its activities in the coming years. An important milestone will be the start of large-scale production in the second half of the decade. It will be one of the first gigawatt-scale fuel cell production facilities on the continent. Matthias Jurytko has proven production expertise. With this background, he is the ideal fit to succeed in the CEO position of cellcentric.” says Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO of Volvo Group.

In his career at Daimler Trucks to date, Dr. Matthias Jurytko looks back on various positions in Germany and abroad: Since April 2019, he has been in charge of the Wörth site, the largest truck assembly plant of Mercedes-Benz Trucks. From 2011 to 2019, he was responsible for the Mercedes-Benz plant in Gaggenau. Prior to that, he was responsible for the product areas of torque converters, machining and forming technology, operating resources and toolmaking, and Logistics International at the site in Baden. He began his career in 1990 at what was then Mercedes-Benz AG. After holding various positions in Stuttgart, Kassel, South Africa and Rastatt, he took charge of Controlling and Accounting Mercedes-Benz Engines in Mannheim from 2001, before assuming responsibility for Controlling for the entire Powertrain Daimler Trucks division in 2006.

On 1 March 2021, Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group formed cellcentric. cellcentric is responsible for all activities along the entire value chain for fuel cell systems: from research and development through production to marketing of fuel cells to areas of application even outside vehicles. The ambition is to make cellcentric a leading global manufacturer of fuel cells.

Daimler Truck AG and the Volvo Group today completed the transaction to form the previously announced fuel-cell joint venture.

Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group fully committed to hydrogen-based fuel-cells – launch of new joint venture cellcentric

Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group establish cellcentric, a joint venture for hydrogen-based fuel cells. Goal: CO2-neutral transportation through one of the largest series productions of fuel cell systems in Europe from 2025. Demand regulatory support for faster introduction.

Today, two leaders of the commercial vehicle industry – Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group – officially outlined their pioneering roadmap for the new fuel-cell joint venture cellcentric, as part of an industry-first commitment to accelerate the use of hydrogen-based fuel cells for long-haul trucks and beyond. With the ambition of becoming a leading global manufacturer of fuel-cell systems, cellcentric will build one of Europe’s largest planned series production of fuel-cell systems, with operation planned to commence in 2025. To accelerate the rollout of hydrogen-based fuel-cells, the two cellcentric shareholders call for a harmonized EU hydrogen policy framework to support the technology in becoming a viable commercial solution.

These ambitions were revealed as part of an exclusive digital launch today, led by Martin Daum, CEO of Daimler Truck AG, and Martin Lundstedt, CEO of Volvo Group. Designed to help meet the 2050 targets of sustainable transport and a carbon-neutral Europe as part of the European Green Deal, cellcentric will develop, produce and commercialize fuel-cell systems for both long-haul trucking and other applications. The joint venture can draw on decades of expertise and development work from both Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group.

According to Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group, purely battery-electric and hydrogen-based fuel-cell trucks will complement each other depending on the individual customer use case. Battery power will be rather used for lower cargo weights and for shorter distances, while fuel-cell power will tend to be the preferred option for heavier loads and longer distances.

Martin Daum, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck AG and Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, says: “Hydrogen-powered fuel-cell electric trucks will be key for enabling CO2-neutral transportation in the future. In combination with pure battery-electric drives, it enables us to offer our customers the best genuinely locally CO2-neutral vehicle options, depending on the application. Battery-electric trucks alone will not make this possible. Together with our partner Volvo Group, we are therefore fully committed to our fuel-cell joint venture cellcentric and we are both pushing forward the development of the technology as well as the series production preparations. Regarding the necessary hydrogen infrastructure, it is clear that green hydrogen is the only sensible way forward in the long term.”

Martin Lundstedt, CEO of Volvo Group, says: “Our united ambition is to meet the targets in the Paris agreement of becoming CO2-neutral by 2050 at the latest. We are convinced that hydrogen fuel-cell technology plays an essential role in helping us reach that milestone. But we know there is so much more to achieve than just the electrification of machines and vehicles. There needs to be greater cooperation between public and private stakeholders to develop the necessary technology and infrastructure, which is why we are calling for united action from policymakers and governments around the world in helping us make hydrogen fuel-cell technology a success. Partnerships like cellcentric are vital to our commitment to decarbonizing road transport.”

The major truck manufacturers in Europe, also backed by Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group, are therefore calling for the setup of around 300 high-performance hydrogen refuelling stations suitable for heavy-duty vehicles by 2025 and of around 1,000 hydrogen refuelling stations no later than 2030 in Europe. This joint initiative, using hydrogen as a carrier of green electricity to power electric trucks in long-haul operations, is one important part of decarbonizing road transport.

As CO2-neutral trucks are currently significantly more expensive than conventional vehicles, a policy framework is needed to ensure demand and affordability. According to Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group, this should include incentives for CO2-neutral technologies and a taxation system based on carbon and energy content. An emissions trading system could be an additional option.

Clear roadmap towards series production of fuel-cell systems and fuel-cell trucks

Currently, cellcentric is conceptualizing the plans for its large-scale series production. More details and a decision on the location will be revealed over the course of 2022. As a significant step towards series production, preparations for pre-series production are taking place at a new site in Esslingen near Stuttgart. In parallel, cellcentric is scaling up on-going prototype output.

Daimler Truck AG’s and Volvo Group’s goal is to start with customer tests of fuel-cell trucks in about three years and to be in series production of fuel-cell trucks during the second half of this decade. All vehicle-related activities are carried out independently from each other, as both companies remain competitors in all vehicle and product ranges, and particularly in fuel-cell integration solutions for all products.

On 1 March 2021, Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group formed cellcentric. To that end, Volvo Group acquired 50 percent of the partnership interests in the existing Daimler Truck Fuel Cell GmbH & Co. KG for approximately EUR 0.6 billion on a cash and debt-free basis. In November 2020, Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group signed a binding agreement for the joint venture. A preliminary non-binding agreement had already been signed in April of the same year.

More than 300 highly specialized experts work for cellcentric in inter-disciplinary teams at locations in Nabern, Stuttgart (Germany) and Burnaby (Canada). Around 700 individual patents have been issued so far, underlining the leading role played by the company when it comes to technological development.

cellcentric joins Hydrogen Council to foster the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell technology

cellcentric has joined the Hydrogen Council to foster cross-industry collaboration for the development of a hydrogen economy. As a supporting member, cellcentric will actively drive the commercialization of hydrogen technologies and their ecosystem.

cellcentric Joins Hydrogen Council to Promote Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology Commercialization – cellcentric

cellcentric today announces that it has joined the Hydrogen Council, a global CEO-led industry alliance to foster cross-sector collaboration for the development of a hydrogen economy. The company will serve as a supporting member.

“cellcentric is delighted to join this global coalition. We are eager to contribute actively to the work of the Hydrogen Council to make hydrogen the keystone of resilient and fully decarbonized energy, mobility and industrial sectors. As a company working on the industrialization of fuel cell systems for transport and stationary applications, we are firmly committed towards the scaling up of hydrogen technologies and their ecosystem.” says Dr. Matthias Jurytko, CEO and Managing Director of cellcentric GmbH & Co. KG.

The Hydrogen Council is a global CEO-led initiative that brings together leading companies with a united vision and long-term ambition for hydrogen to foster the clean energy transition. Using its global reach to promote collaboration between governments, industry, and investors, it provides guidance on accelerating the deployment of hydrogen solutions around the world.

cellcentric accelerates series development of fuel cell technology mainly for use in heavy-duty long-haul trucks and stationary back-up power, the significant reduction of costs as well as the build-up of pre-series production and the subsequent large-scale series production of highly competitive fuel-cell systems. Industry partnerships, as the Hydrogen council, are needed to accelerate the creation of the framework for the development of a hydrogen ecosystem, which supports the commercialization of fuel cell technology.

cellcentric is a joint venture of Daimler Truck AG and the Volvo Group formed in March, 1st 2021 and takes advantage of the expertise and extensive experience from several decades of development work on fuel-cells at its predecessor companies. cellcentric’s ambition is to become a leading global manufacturer of fuel-cells, and thus help the world take a major step towards climate-neutral and sustainable transportation by 2050.

Are you as excited about hydrogen and fuel cell technology as we are? Do you want to learn more about our work at cellcentric? We are here to help.

cellcentric joins Hydrogen Council to foster the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell technology

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Dr. Matthias Jurytko takes over the CEO position of cellcentric

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