Vestas reorganise Asian Operations

Vestas has split its Asian sales unit in two, with one focusing on China and Mongolia, and the other to serve the rest of the Asian-Pacific region. As a result of the split, Vestas’ senior vice president of Asia-Pacific and China Chris Beaufait has left the company.

“Chris has successfully led our daily operations in [Asia-Pacific] since April 2014 and grown the region to a point where creating two new [sales units] is a natural next step. I would like to thank him for his dedication and contribution to the positive development of region,” said chief sales officer Juan Araluce.

The two new offices will begin operating from 1 April 2017, Vestas said. The China-focused office will be based in Beijing and led by Kebao Yang.

Yang was previously chairman and general manager at the Chinese subsidiary of construction and mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar.

A new head of the second office has yet to be appointed but it will be based in Singapore, according to Vestas.

According to figures from the Chinese Wind Energy Association (CWEA), Vestas was the largest non-domestic OEM in China in 2016, installing 510MW just ahead of nearest foreign rival Gamesa (498MW).
Vestas increased its market share from 0.9% in 2015, to 2.2% last year, CWEA’s figures stated, becoming China’s 12th largest supplier.