Headquartered in Södertälje, Sweden, Scania is one of the oldest and most respected brands in the European commercial vehicle industry. The company dates back to 1891 with the Vagnfabriks family who built railway carriages and wagons following the dramatic expansion of the Swedish railway network in 1880s.
Alexander Dennis (ADL), the largest bus builder in the United Kingdom, now has its eyes set on creating new sectors in markets with product gaps and opportunities, and need for shorter, genuine buses that offer reliability, durability and longevity. Chief Executive Colin Robertson believes North America could be such a target.
Brian Souter, chief executive officer of Stagecoach Group, Perth, UK, says he is more excited about the prospects for megabus.com.
Bus industry innovation is on display at shows in Sweden, the United Kingdom and Spain.
The Netherlands-based company with headquarters in Eindhoven recently launched a new range of Futura luxury coaches, and the Citea CLF 120 won the coveted Bus of the Year from nominations by the leading trade journalists in 17 European countries.
I recently visited Japan to meet operators and manufacturers. It was a fascinating experience, with many surprises. Until recently, with a very strong motor industry that features household names like Toyota, Honda, Isuzu and Mitsubishi, Japan was the second largest economy in the world. But now China has overtaken Japan, and it is clear the country is concerned about its much larger neighbor.
Busworld is best known for its exhibitions, held every two years in the small Belgian city of Kortrijk. A few years ago the management decided to take the same successful formula to other parts of the world, including Shanghai, Mumbai and Istanbul.
Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia played host to this year’s Busworld exhibition in a center on the banks of the Oka River.
Every two years a public transport exhibition takes place in Paris. In previous years complete trams have been on display, but this year exhibitors keeping an eye on costs occupied only about half the previous floor space. Even so there were many interesting vehicles.
Busworld Asia is one of the great events on the annual exhibition calendar. This year in Shanghai, May 6-8, visitors had the opportunity to also take in the World Expo. At any exhibition one expects to see some new models and innovation. The pace of change and the variety of new vehicles and components coming out of the world’s largest bus and coach building industry marks the difference between Busworld Asia and other exhibitions.