Motor Coach Industries announced that Patrick Laffan has joined the company as VP, new coach sales for the Northeast region in the U.S. Laffan is succeeding Darril King, who will retire from MCI on May 1, 2017 after a 52-year career in the industry.

Laffan will continue to build MCI’s presence in New York State and New England, representing the MCI J4500 and D-Series along with Daimler-built Setra models. He will also work in tandem with MCI’s Technical Solutions Manager, providing MCI training opportunities and service expertise to private sector operators in the region. Laffan reports to Pat Ziska, VP, new coach sales for the private sector.

Formerly commercial vehicle sales manager at DATTCO Inc., Laffan has been in bus and motor coach sales and account management for more than 13 years. DATTCO is a New England operator that also supplies vehicles (pre-owned coaches and new cut-aways and transit buses) and offers repair services. While at DATTCO for a combined total of 10 years, Laffan was responsible for bus sales and leasing as well as building and maintaining relationships with customers. He started his career in DATTCO’s body shop and then sold collision-repair services.

King began his Detroit Diesel career after high school, working assembly on the midnight shift. Following a tour in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968, King rejoined Detroit Diesel and later was tapped as a customer service representative. He was assigned to the New England area in 1992 and retired from Detroit Diesel in 2001. He joined Setra a year later and MCI in 2014. MCI has been the distributor of Setra coaches and parts in the U.S. and Canada since 2012.

Laffan, who will be based in southern Connecticut, can be reached at pat.laffan@mcicoach.com or (860) 895-7039.