The industry could’ve been excused for thinking the lofty bus and coach deliveries seen throughout this year to date was finally dropping to usual levels in July. However, the August data, sponsored by Kempower, suggests the market is well and truly back to its booming levels after a stellar month that saw 128 deliveries.
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There was more challenge to Volvo’s throne in the chassis market, but not from the second placed supplier in recent months. While Volvo still took home the crown with 35 deliveries in August, Scania rose to second and nearly snatched the crown in August with 31 units delivered. Yutong, with its 13 heavy bus and six light bus deliveries, had to resort to third spot. It still finished comfortably ahead of the fourth placed Custom Denning (12), while the I-Bus (nine light bus deliveries) continued to sit strongly in the market. MAN (seven) wasn’t far behind, while King Long (four), Nexport, BLK and Challenger all recorded the three deliveries ahead of BCI (two).
There was no similar competition in the bodybuilder sector, as Volgren romped to another win with 38 August deliveries. Yutong was able to secure second place with 18 deliveries for the month (12 heavy, six light bus) ahead of Irizar (15) and Custom Denning (12). I-Bus had the nine deliveries while BLK registered eight, with Scania Higer (six) the next best. In the final run home, BCI delivered five units, King Long the four, and Nexport and Challenger both had three, while the final eight deliveries were shared across six brands.
It should come as no surprise that the seating market was all McConnell’s, as the perennial sector leader romped to an August win with 55 deliveries. It enjoyed a larger spoil of the market last month and more than doubled the next best Sege with 25 deliveries. StyleRide continued to improve its consistent deliveries with the 18 units, while Yutong had the 11. On the single digit side, APM had the nine deliveries and Fainsa the six, with King Long (four) bringing it home.
For the first time in recent memory, the air-conditioning market saw a tie, as Coachair and Hispacold couldn’t be split with 26 units apiece. Cling-Yutong sat next behind the tense finish up top with its 19 deliveries, with Spheros (16) and Songz (14) both turning up the pressure in a competitive market. Thermo King and Konvekta (seven apiece) couldn’t be separated, while Valeo (six) finished ahead of King Long (four), MCC (two) and Denso (one).
A similarly close finish was seen in the state-based battle, with NSW staying ahead to take out top honours with 37 deliveries. Queensland was a close second with 33 units, while Victoria shot up to third with 32. South Australia remained consistent with the 12 units, while WA (eight) kept ahead of the ACT (five) and Tasmania’s sole delivery.
Zero-emissions buses continued to slowly climb in the power split, recording 21 out of the 132 deliveries. In that space, Custom Denning (12) took top honours ahead of Yutong with six. On the diesel side, Volvo (35) dominated the 95 diesel deliveries, with Scania adding 12 diesel hybrid models on top of its 19 diesel deliveries in an impressive month.
Click here to see all ABC bus and coach deliveries data.
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