Hydrogen fuel cell heavy vehicle company, Hyzon Motors, has announced its CEO has stepped aside following questions over its internal financial control management.
The company’s board of directors has appointed Parker Meeks, most recently Hyzon’s Chief Strategy Officer, as President and Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.
He replaces Craig Knight who is also departing from his role as a director of the company.
The maker of hydrogen fuel cell systems for heavy-duty trucks missed the deadline for its forward financial guidance last week sending shares plummeting.
On 17 Aug, Hyzon confirmed it had received a notice from Nasdaq stating that because it had failed to file its second quarter report on Form 10-Q.
This left it no longer compliant with Nasdaq rules that require companies listed on the exchange to timely file all required periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Hyzon, in a statement issued over a week ago, said it became “aware of revenue recognition timing issues in China” as well as “operational inefficiencies at Hyzon Motors Europe BV,” the company’s European joint venture with Holthausen.
The future of that JV is now uncertain.
Additionally, George Gu has transitioned from his executive role with the Company to the non-executive Chairman of the Board.
In his role as non-executive Chairman, Gu will remain available to provide strategic counsel to Meeks specifically related to R&D initiatives.
Meeks, who boasts nearly two decades of experience supporting businesses in the energy, infrastructure, and transportation sectors, will assume full responsibility for day-to-day management of all business lines and functions reporting to the company’s board of directors.
The board plans to initiate a search to identify potential external and internal candidates to serve as the Company’s next CEO.
“Parker Meeks has the depth and breadth of experience in the energy, infrastructure, and transportation sectors to provide the leadership and operational expertise Hyzon needs at this critical juncture in the global energy transition,” said Elaine Wong, Hyzon’s Lead Independent Director.
“The Board is confident Mr Meeks brings the right skillset that we need at this time,” she said.
In a statement Meeks said he was honoured to lead Hyzon.
“My priority is to ensure the company’s manufacturing capacity is in place with the ability to scale production efficiently,” he said.
“I believe our core fuel cell technology is a distinct competitive advantage, that will allow us to innovate and introduce high-performance vehicles that support the transition to clean energy.”
Hyzon was established in 2020 as a spin-off from Singapore-based Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies to develop fuel-cell-powered trucks and buses.
The company went public last year via a special purposed acquisition company merger with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation.
It was valued at $USD2.7 billion around the time it began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange.