Blue Bird Appoints John Wyskiel as President and CEO
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Blue Bird Appoints John Wyskiel as President and CEO
Blue Bird Corporation , the leader in electric and lowemission school buses , has appointed John Wyskiel to the position of President and CEO , effective February 17 , 2025 . He will also join the Board of Directors on the same date . Wyskiel succeeds Phil Horlock , who served as the Company ’ s President and CEO from 2011 to 2021 and was reappointed to the position in May 2023 . Horlock will remain on the Board , supporting Wyskiel to ensure a smooth leadership transition . Wyskiel is an automotive industry veteran with over 35 years of experience in manufacturing leadership , operational excellence and global sales and supply chain management . He will be instrumental in driving Blue Bird ’ s strategic initiatives and delivering profitable growth . Wyskiel is very familiar with Blue Bird , having served as General Manager of Blue Bird Coach in Canada , one of the largest manufacturers of Type A and Type C school buses , from 2002 to 2004 . He returns to Blue Bird after a successful 20-year career at Magna International , where he most recently was President of Magna Seating . In this role , he was responsible for leading a $ 6 billion business with 33,000 employees across more than 60 manufacturing facilities in 15 countries . Prior to that , Wyskiel was Vice President of Magna ’ s Body & Structures business in Canada and the United States . His extensive background includes various senior roles in manufacturing , operations , engineering , product management and sales at automotive suppliers Magna , Dana Corporation and Borg Warner .
“ I ’ m thrilled to return to Blue Bird , an iconic American company ,” said Wyskiel . “ I ’ m passionate about building scalable operations and leading high-performance teams to drive continuous improvement . I look forward to working with the entire Blue Bird team and dealer network to execute our strategic initiatives and to deliver sustained profitable growth .” “ John ’ s deep and varied expertise in operational John Wyskiel excellence and manufacturing leadership makes him an ideal fit for this role at this time ,” said Doug Grimm , Chairman of Blue Bird Corporation . “ His proven track record will be invaluable as we expand our footprint and improve our operational processes to support our customers . “ On behalf of the Board , I would like to thank Phil for his significant contributions and for the stability he has provided as CEO for nearly 15 years ,” said Grimm . “ He has been instrumental in positioning the Company for long-term success , and in particular for firmly establishing Blue Bird as the leader in electric and low-emission school buses . We wish him the best in his retirement . The business is running extremely well with profitability , margins and liquidity at record levels over the past two years . This is the ideal time to transition to a new CEO .”
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