South Australia could be where it’s at, with Scania recording its best bus delivery result in months – moving new low-floors onto the streets of Adelaide
May 6, 2011
Something happened in April, and whatever it was it looks good. Deliveries trended up by 25 units from 113 to 138 over the previous month, and accounting for the increase was a resurgent Scania (25 units) posting the Scandinavian supplier’s best result this year, and there was a doubling of deliveries from Mercedes-Benz (24).
The biggest single order for the month was delivered by Scania to South Australia’s Public Transport Division (PTD) with 16 low floor K230UB4X2’s about to work the streets of Adelaide.
Scania made its intentions known in January that South Australia would be a target, and their confidence appears to paying off. Watch for more units delivered to the Festival State in coming months, it might not be the end of this purple patch.
While Scania was beating off the opposition to feast on crow pie, Volvo kept chugging along, and with a new man at the helm of the Australian operation – Peter Duncan.
Duncan says he is not from the same mold as his predecessor David Mead, who now handles broader Asia Pacific region matters. But Duncan did say, however, he would continue to innovate and push Volvo’s market position higher in Australia.
Although Volvo – again – holds the monthly top sales position (53 for April), delivery numbers have flat-lined somewhat but still twice the volume of their nearest rivals.
BCI have slid down the table, but that could be due to an all hands on deck approach to launching new plant and facilities in Sydney, and Xiamen in China.
The Xiamen scenario could be fascinating to watch, with a new factory being launched in China’s bustling Fujian province economic zone in May.
BCI’s principals host their fifth operators’ tour to China in May, which includes dropping by the Xiamen, Fujian province plant to see where their Classmasters are assembled.
The hope for BCI, of course, is with a large contingent of operators making the trek from Australia, the cheque books could start filling up with black ink as the orders are placed.
The sweetener could be the second leg of the week-long tour, as the Australian contingent of largely school and charter operators head on from Xiamen to the Beijing Bus and Coach Show – and then a side tour to see that big fence keeping all the rabbits out.
It’s a clever marketing strategy on BCI’s part, potentially resulting in more of the shiny white BCI-badged product coming to a town near you over the coming months.
ABC’s exclusive bus delivery data for April is here