In only a year, global vehicle and battery manufacturing heavyweight BYD has quickly solidified its presence in the Australasian bus and coach industry.
After cutting ties with Nexport in early 2023 and establishing its own full factory backed commercial vehicle division responsible for commercial vehicles in Australia and New Zealand, BYD Australia has gone from strength to strength.
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“We are a fully BYD factory owned entity – now that we are a 100 per cent company division, we have been dedicated to our BYD brand image,” BYD Australia director of commercial vehicles Jon Tozer told ABC.
With BYD also having no ties to any bodybuilders, BYD has forged ahead, providing direct quotations to local operators with several body solutions on its chassis models available based on customer requirements.
This has paid dividends in 2024, with BYD growing its customer base while prioritising its aftersales support capabilities, all in the midst of unveiling its new B70 model to the local market.
“This year, our main focus has been on building and improving our aftersales team and their skills,” Tozer says.
The focus on aftersales included the appointment of BYD Australia’s new national aftersales manager in Grant Mascord, taking the first step to helping service BYD customers locally.
“From the time the bus is delivered until its end of service life, it’s our responsibility to ensure it’s running the right way,” Mascord told ABC.
“With optimised aftersales care, breakdowns are minimised, and when they do happen, they’re fixed quickly.”
On the product side, BYD launched plenty of products to entice the industry, including its BC12B1 and 12m low-floor city chassis, and in 2024 BYD went smaller when it unveiled its complete B70 seven-metre low floor bus. Much like the 12m low-floor city chassis, the B70 also features BYD’s next generation blade one battery technology, taking electric bus capabilities to the next level.
Tozer says this rapid development wouldn’t be possible without an increased product focus.
“We now have direct access to our R&D departments, allowing us to access these new products and bring them to Australasia,” he says.
“The BC12B1 chassis has a number of improvements over the old D9RA chassis it replaced. These include greater range, less batteries (12), lighter steering and access to a number of ADAS features, plus many more.
“The B70 gives us access to several markets that we didn’t have access to previously, including the on-demand, last mile operations and also the small feeder services.
“These products allow us to cover a wide range of segments in Australia and New Zealand moving forward.”
WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2025
While 2024 was a milestone year for BYD, 2025 should include an increased focus on customer support through the establishment of a company owned national parts centre. Alongside this massive new site, the release of several more new products to the local market should allow BYD to build on its market-leading position when it comes to zero-emissions buses.
“BYD head office is 100 per cent focused on the market now that we have a strong leadership team providing vital feedback on market expectations and demands,” Tozer says.
“This will see a significant increase in both personal and product range, so there’s plenty to look forward to.”
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