© Cellcentric GmbH & Co. KG / Lars Ljungström

Cellcentric GmbH & Co. KG has appointed Lars Ljungström as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He will help shape the future development of the fuel cell company and, together with Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Nicholas Loughlan and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Kai Wörner, will form the executive management team. Ljungström assumed the position in August. 

Ljungström has previously held various leadership positions in Sweden and the United States. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Strategy & Business Development at Volvo Penta North America, a manufacturer of marine propulsion technologies. 

In the years prior to that, he also worked primarily in Volvo business units, including financial management roles at Volvo Trucks North America and Volvo Aero Connecticut. 

Ljungström takes over as CFO 

Ljungström said he was pleased to contribute to the further development of Cellcentric and the industrialization of the company’s fuel cell technology. Among other things, he referred to the BZA375 fuel cell system, which the company had unveiled in April. The system is intended for heavy-duty applications. 

Nicholas Loughlan, CTO and spokesperson for Cellcentric’s executive management, explained that Ljungström brings an entrepreneurial mindset to the team. Together with COO Kai Wörner and Loughlan, Ljungström now forms the executive management team. 

Ekström was his predecessor 

Ljungström succeeds Niklas Ekström. Ekström left Cellcentric at the end of July to return to his family in Sweden, according to the company. He joined the Manufacturing Intelligence division of the Swedish technology group Hexagon AB as CFO. 

Loughlan thanked Ekström for his contributions over the past nearly five years. He highlighted the company’s development into an independent Tier 1 supplier of fuel cell technology. 

Fuel cells take center stage 

Cellcentric was founded in 2021 as a joint venture between Daimler Truck Holding AG and the Volvo Group. The company develops, manufactures, and markets fuel cell systems. The systems are primarily intended for use in heavy-duty commercial vehicles, but also in other applications with comparable requirements. Cellcentric employs more than 560 people at locations in Kirchheim unter Teck, Esslingen, Stuttgart, and Burnaby, Canada. 

(Source: Cellcentric GmbH & Co. KG/2026)