[2] After being rebranded from Optare[3] to Switch Mobility in November 2020,[4] it announced plans in 2021 to set up a plant in India for its electric vehicle business.

The first subsidiary is Switch Mobility Automotive Ltd, which brings together Ashok Leyland's Indian based EV operations with the expertise of the UK-based bus manufacturing division.

[9] In response, Russell Richardson, a former plant director at Roe, backed by the West Yorkshire Enterprise Board and many redundant former employees, formed Optare in February 1985.

[10][11] The company was created at a very difficult time for the bus and coach industry, with the challenges of privatisation and deregulation meaning very few orders for new vehicles.

When the Roe business closed down, WYPTE had an unfulfilled order for five Leyland Olympian coach-seated double-decker buses in place for its Metro coach operation.

In an attempt to break into the export market, the ColumboRider was subsequently developed, named after the city of Colombo in Sri Lanka, where the first examples were sold.

The ColumboRider was a semi-integral version of the StarRider, based on a chassis made by a consortium including Optare, Japanese technology company Itochu and local Sri Lankan manufacturer Ceylinco.

As standard, the 9000-series community transport minibus had a front door, nine passenger seats and a rear tail lift for wheelchair access.

Optare soon introduced a competitor, the Vecta, albeit slightly bigger and wider than the Dart at that time, seating 40 in a full width 2.5m body.

Also in 1997 a relationship with a Spanish mini and midi coach manufacturer named Ferqui SL began, with the importation of the Solera luxury midicoach into the UK.

While part of United Bus, Optare also for a time became the exclusive UK dealer for the distinctive full size Bova Futura coach.

The introduction of the Excel marked the start of a sustained period of selling integral bus products rather than body on chassis combinations, which continued until the Darwen merger briefly brought East Lancs models to the range.

With a unique design of a front axle forward of the door, it allowed a low-floor layout in a very short bus, and also came equipped with kneeling suspension for even greater access.

This gave Optare products exposure in the North American market, with an export version of the Solo finding success at several US airports and with Miami-Dade Transit in Florida.

Also introduced in 2004 was the first new bus model since the Solo, the Tempo, a full size single decker with another striking design, even when considered in the environment of increasingly stylish competitor products.

In July 2021, Switch Mobility Ltd announced plans to roll out its electric (E) buses and light commercial vehicles (LCV) from the group's UK and Indian plants.

[40] In December 2021, Switch Mobility Ltd announced the setting up of a manufacturing and technology centre in Castilla y León, Spain, at an investment of about €100 million spread over the next 10 years.

[41]Switch Mobility announced in November 2021 plans to supply 300 technologically advanced twelve-metre electric buses and the charging infrastructure to Bengaluru's Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) with the aim to reduce carbon emissions by over 14,500 tonnes every year.

[42] A month later, parent company Ashok Leyland published an EV road map with plans to launch its first e-LCV in December 2021.

[43] In January 2022, Switch Mobility announced plans to build a new manufacturing and technology centre on a greenfield site in the Soto de Medinilla area of Valladolid, Spain.

[47] They were luxury minicoach bodies built on Mercedes-Benz chassis, however, due to significantly reduced demand for mini and midi coaches, as part of its restructuring process, Optare took the decision to concentrate on its bus manufacturing activities and the relationship with Ferqui was formally ended in 2012.[when?]