Things have started slowly in terms of new buses delivered to operators in Australia in January 2017, exclusive ABC data shows
Deliveries fell sharply in January 2017 with just 68 brand-new buses delivered to bus and coach opreators all around Australia.
This compared poorly with December 2016, during which 100 new bus deliveries were reported by chassis manufacturers, representing a drop of about 30 per cent.
The January deliveries number also pales in comparison with the 92 new buses delivered in January last year.
For suppliers, the vast majority of deliveries were Volvos (24), followed by MAN (12).
BCI was the biggest surprise in terms of manufacturers, reporting six deliveries for the month of January.
The number of buses delivered by all manufacturers was significantly down compared with December 2016.
The majority of other manufacturers delivered less than two vehicles respectively.
On the bodies front, Volgren led the way by a vast margin with 22, which was slightly down on the 30 reported in December.
Custom Bus had a very strong showing with 11, compared with five the month before.
Express Coaches remained steady in January 2017, equalling last month’s total of four.
In regards to air-conditioning, Thermo King was slightly down compared with the month before and its units were included in the delivery of 33 buses nationwide, a bit short of the 38 it posted just a month before in December in the height of summer.
Coachair had a decrease in January and was involved in the delivery of six buses. Spheros is going strong with 10, and Konvekta is well shy of that on three.
New South Wales and Victoria led the way on a state-by-state basis with 31 per cent each, followed by Queensland (20 per cent) and Western Australia (15 per cent). South Australia had a relatively weak month with just 3 per cent.
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