Valmet Automotive spins off battery business

Valmet has appointed Roberts Abele as CEO and Ville Jaakonsalo as CFO of the new company. Abele started on September 1 and Jaakonsalo will start during November.

Valmet Automotive launched its battery business in 2019 and has built it up over the last five years to become of the leading European independent manufacturers of battery modules and packs for the automotive industry. Gross sales in 2023 reached €1.2 billion ($1.32 billion). It manufactures those modules and packs at seven sites in Germany and Finland. It is now looking beyond the passenger car market for applicatinos for its technology.

“With our renewed strategy, our battery business is geared to take the next step: grow beyond automotive industry and expand its scope into trucks, buses and several non-automotive off-highway segments such as materials handling, forestry, construction, mining and agriculture equipment,” said Jarkko Sairanen, chair of the Valmet Automotive board of directors. 

Roberts Abele moves to the new role from automotive supplier Vitesco Technologies where he was most recently senior vice-president and general manager of Global Powertrain Controls based in the US. Abele has 30 years of experience with leading global automotive suppliers and will relocate to Finland.

Ville Jaakonsalo joins from Patria, an international defence and technology company, where he is CFO and head of transformation. Before joining Patria, he held various finance positions at Metsä Group.

“We are truly excited to welcome Roberts and Ville to steer our battery business,” said Sairanen. “Both are highly seasoned leaders who will be bringing insight, experience and execution capability to our current and future activities that will take EVS into sustained success.”