Marek Gryka, Sales Manager at El Cab Sp. Z o.o.
Transexpo Exhibition | Kielce, Poland | 12-14 October 2022

“What, if any, economic support actions have been put in place by the Polish government to maintain and increase the strong national presence in the Bus sector, a sector with respect to which so many countries have “delegated” much to Turkey?”

“The European Commission has approved the Polish program for Infrastructure, Climate and Nature 2021-2027 and this has definitely boosted the public transport sector in Poland. Thanks to 24 billion Euro worth of non-repayable grants from the EU, at least 500 kilometers of roads will be built or extended under the TEN-T network, with support for the transport sector focused primarily on rail and urban transport.
The modernization of transport infra-structure will help Poland maintain its key role in the business.”

Jose Julvez, General Manager of AudioBus
FIIA | Madrid, Spain | 18-21 October 2022

“Spain is characterized by a very particular production model for the Bus sector because it is based on the concentration of the various players in very limited “districts”. What has been the impact of the covid in the various districts and which ones have shown greater ability to react in terms of product innovation and flexibility in production?”

“In Spain there are several “districts” with bus manufacturing Companies.
Covid strongly affected all bodybuilders and especially those who manufactured tourist vehicles, slightly saving those who manufactured urban vehicles.
During this break, the coach manufacturers have taken the opportunity to restructure themselves and invest in the new electric vehicles that they have already brought to the market.
The coach and citybus market is returning to pre-pandemic numbers, so the number of vehicles manufactured in Spain in 2022, although still lower than 2019, continues to grow every day and we trust that by 2023, if we do not suffer new world problems such as wars, pandemics, crises economic and so on, it will be a good year for the bodybuilding sector”

Stuart Woodfield, Sales Manager at Stedall
EURO BUS EXPO | Birmingham, UK | 26-28 October 2022

“The UK is characterized by a very particular production model for the Bus sector because it is based on the concentration of the various players in very limited “districts”. What has been the impact of the covid in the various districts and which ones have shown greater ability to react in terms of product innovation and flexibility in production?”

“The UK bus and coach registrations fell to the lowest recorded level as the pandemic reduced passenger numbers, which then affected bus registrations.
Demand for new buses and coaches dropped -16.8% in 2021. Double-deck bus registrations fell -35.4%, driving an overall decline.
Quarter 4 in 2021 was down by -31.6% rounding off the weakest year since records began in 1996.
We have seen a marginal recovery in 2022 where the new bus and coach market grew by 45.2% in the first quarter of 2022, with registrations increasing to 974. But we have to be cautious, as this is still a long way behind pre-pandemic registration figures.
Product development and innovation by the leading bus manufacturers in the UK was severely restricted, with one of the main manufacturers having to make 270 redundancies, and the other going into administration in 2019. Where development has taken place it has remained focused on the fuel source, which represented registrations of electric at 10.6%, alternative fuels at 10.5%, hybrid at 10.1%, and diesel at 68.8% in 2021.”

Elena Dazzi, Italy Sales account at Prima Industries
IBE | Rimini, Italia | 12-14 October 2022

Rossano Iotti, R&D Manager at Prima Industries
NME | Milano, Italia | 12-14 October 2022

“What was the response of the Italian industry related to mass transit vehicles to this first post-covid appointment, if we can still consider that there is an Italian industry?”

Dazzi: “Certainly NRRP funds are supporting demand for the market introduction of environmentally friendly vehicles. Without this induced demand, the market would certainly be at a “standstill.” From this point of view, each manufacturer has introduced technical innovations within their range that also enable them to cover Market niches.

Iotti: “Undoubtedly, if we now consider IVECO a global player, the imprinting of IIA (Menarini) on the Market where it is characterized as a national player remains strong, despite the increasing integration with Karsan. Certainly very strong is also Solaris’ entrenchment in our market, and the penetration of players from the Netherlands (Van Hool) at the top end of the market should be noted.”