GoZero Group has announced today it has sold its 50 per cent shareholding in electric bus and truck manufacturer Foton Mobility Distribution (FMD).
The strategic move sees the 50 per cent share go to FMD joint owner and CEO Neil Wang and bus industry veteran Scott Riley. In 2023, GoZero Group acquired operator North Sydney Bus Charter from Riley.
The sale of FMD to Wang and Riley will allow GoZero to instead focus on building towards its goal of being Australia’s largest owned manufacturer of battery electric buses through its Nexport and BusTech brands.
In September last year, GoZero acquired BusTech Group, including its pre-existing factories in South Australia and Queensland. Now, the acquisition of BusTech Group sees GoZero swap FMD for BusTech as it looks to build its manufacturing capacity.
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“GoZero Group is now able to fully focus on investing in its domestic capability to rapidly grow its Australian bus manufacturing business, under the Nexport and BusTech brands. Our future local manufacturing strategy is clear,” GoZero Group executive chairman Stephen Cartwright OAM says.
Having successfully completed the acquisition of NSBC in 2023 and then doubling its revenue by offering high quality electric buses and coaches, particularly for schools, Cartwright says GoZero is now focused on completing the BusTech acquisition with the same success.
Once complete, he says the BusTech acquisition will position GoZero as the largest Australian owned bus manufacturer in the country. With established factories in Adelaide, Brisbane and Western Sydney, and plans for future expansion into Victoria, GoZero Group is dedicated to building a truly national “Australian Owned, Australian Made” bus manufacturing and charter business.
“This local manufacturing capability will support state and local governments, and private bus operators, with access to world class zero emission buses made right here in Australia using local supply chains and creating secure jobs for Australian workers for decades to come, including the employment of highly skilled apprentices,” he says.
The transaction ends a four-year partnership between the parties, with FMD announcing Riley will now join the board as a director. He brings with him decades of experience in the industry, having grown NSBC before its sale to GoZero in 2023.
“I am looking forward to continuing a long-term association with Neil Wang and the FMD team,” Riley says.
“With Neil’s undoubted enthusiasm for the zero-emissions transition, and my experience founding, building and running a 250-bus fleet, I believe together we can elevate the customer experience to new heights.”
After being one of four companies to be awarded a contract to run battery electric city buses to Transport for NSW, FMD and its associated entity KRW Hydron will open a new facility in South Nowra, NSW, to assemble and deliver 126 buses between June 2025 and January 2027.
GoZero’s manufacturing subsidiary, Nexport, supplied the first 60 battery electric city buses to Transport for NSW (TfNSW) in 2021. Since then, these electric buses have travelled millions of kilometres transporting commuters throughout Sydney.
Nexport electric buses and coaches are also currently operating in regional NSW under a TfNSW Regional ZEB trial, which is examining the best zero emission bus solutions for commuters in regional towns and cities.
Nexport is an approved supplier of battery electric buses on TfNSW’s Bus Procurement Panel 4.
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