Former Volvo Cars Chief Technology Officer Henrik Green has joined Swedish autonomous truck startup Einride.
Green will be general manager of autonomous technologies at the company, which last year received regulatory approval to operate its self-driving truck in the U.S.
Einride in 2019 became the first company in the world to deploy an autonomous, electric vehicle on a public road. The deployment took place at DB Schenker’s facility in Jonkoping, Sweden, according to the company.
Green, 50, will lead Einride’s development and deployment of technologies “that will reshape the way goods are moved globally,” the company said in release.
Green, who until last year was considered a strong candidate to rise to CEO at the Volvo, left the automaker at the end of January. Green’s position, head of advanced technology and sustainability, was dissolved and his responsibilities were moved to other parts of the business.
Multiple promotions
At the start of 2022, Green was Volvo’s chief product officer, one of the many key titles he has held during nearly 30 years with the company.
During former CEO Hakan Samuelsson’s decade-long tenure as boss, Green was promoted six times within eight years. His previous posts included chief technology officer and head of R&D.
He joined Volvo’s top board, the executive management team, in 2016 as head of R&D. In 2019, he was promoted to chief technology officer.
Green was named a 2019 Eurostar by Automotive News Europe because of his work developing what Samuelsson called the strongest vehicle lineup in the company’s history.
Under Green, the XC60 was named 2018 World Car of the Year, the XC40 won the 2018 European Car of the Year award, and Volvo became a key player in the plug-in hybrid and full-electric vehicle sectors.
New boss, new direction
Green’s rapid rise up Volvo’s organizational chart ended a year ago when the company went outside its internal ranks and chose former Dyson and Blackberry executive Jim Rowan to succeed Samuelsson as CEO.
The first outward sign that Green’s vertical trajectory had reached its height came last June when he was passed over for one of the two deputy CEO posts Volvo created.
In addition, Green was one of four people who were moved off the executive management team to a lower tier called the group management team.
Einride founder and CEO Robert Falck said in the release that Green’s “extensive track record in bringing electric, autonomous technology to the automotive industry makes him the ideal candidate to lead our efforts in transforming the freight industry.”