The Expo provided Challenger Bus & Coach with an ideal chance to show its meticulously-built buses and coaches to operators
Following a highly successful period in the lead-up to the Bus & Coach Expo, Challenger Bus & Coach sales manager Dan Campbell couldn’t help but be proud of his two-vehicle fleet on show at Sydney Showgrounds.
“We’re lucky to have two models on show in our V10 and V12,” Campbell told ABC. “Our whole philosophy is about using premium parts. We have OEMs supply it, before we then assemble it and build a reliable vehicle.”
In Challenger’s short history, the theory has worked. The V10 is a 10-metre, 45-seat bus that was driven up from Melbourne, while the V10 has been a hot item for the brand.
“The V12 has actually already been purchased,” Campbell says. “It’s wrapped in the Western Australian orange school bus colours ready to go. From here it goes over to Perth and it’ll be on a school run before we know it.”
In the lead-up to the Expo, Campbell admits Challenger had to be versatile to change plans. One bus originally slated to be shown in Sydney was delivered a few weeks before the Expo.
It certainly wasn’t a heartbreaking situation for Challenger.
“For the V12 not to even make the Expo is proof that what we are doing is right,” Campbell says.
To prove Challenger’s commitment to quality, the brand positioned an old chassis front and centre at the stall. The stainless steel chassis frame was a hit among visitors due to its backstory.
“We have this little piece of a Challenger chassis on display at the front,” Campbell says. “We had it sitting out in regional Victoria for four and a half years to see how it would be affected.
“The quality of the stainless steel we use means it has no rust or corrosion on it.”
Having started as a brand during COVID-19 and having to keep new models on the backburner, Campbell is excited to now spread the V10 and V12 products far and wide.
Campbell says the Challenger sales crew is still learning about buses, making the Expo a valuable experience to meet new people in the industry.
“We want quality relationships with people we hope will be repeat customers,” Campbell says. “We believe good products and relationships result in happy customers.”
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The Expo has come at the perfect time for Challenger. The brand can now pair recent sales with exposure in the industry. Campbell says everyone at Challenger knows that the buses sell themselves. This means the team simply want to get the models in front of as many people as possible to show the reliability that goes into making a Challenger vehicle.
The Challenger team is also excited to spread the word about its spare parts business in Australasian Bus and Coach Parts. Campbell says the team will stock extremely well priced parts for all vehicle brands, not just Challenger, and will announce exciting offers in the coming weeks.
“There’s a lot happening for us in the next 12 months,” Campbell says. “Our V10 and V12 models will be shifting to Euro 6 engines as we step towards the electric vehicle side of operations.
“We also have an electric vehicle in the works that’s 12 to 18 months away and a V8 coming that will have 25 to 30 seats. We expect these models to be really popular and a quality member of the market, so if we build on the relationships we’ve started then we’re hopeful we can gain a foothold in this industry.”