Archive, Industry News

Shanghai slinged

This week’s Busworld Expo in Shanghai appears to have missed its mark with low crowds and major Asian and Euro bus builders staying away

By David Goeldner | April 1, 2011

Reports from this week’s Busworld Asia Expo in Shanghai indicate crowd numbers were down and some previous exhibitors opted out, choosing instead to show their wares at Beijing in May.

An Australian-based industry source says one of China’s biggest bus builders boycotted the Shanghai show over a disagreement with event organizers.

“The Shanghai organizers had resisted demands to hold the show every second year, alternating with the Beijing Bus and Truck Show,” the source says.

Consequently there were leaner numbers of exhibitors at this year’s Busworld Asia Expo in Shanghai which ran from Wednesday finishing today (1 April).

Exhibitors who did turn up included Alfa Bus, Ankai, BLK , FAW, Hengtong, Songz, Toyota and Zonda.

The winner of the BAAV Environmental Award was Ankai with a luxury 12 metre energy coach (pictured).

Sharad Agarwal of BCA in Santa Monica says he was excited to attend the show based on photos from years past and talking to attendees from 2007.

“This show was smaller than any of our US shows and had very few manufacturers,” Agarwal says.

“Two sides of the exhibit hall had 10 small booths reserved for trades and over half were empty.”

The Beijing show is shaping as a much larger event with some big bus names attending.

Held from 12-14 May, exhibitors include Ankai, BCI, Golden Dragon, King Long, Scania, Volvo and Yutong.

BCI has timed its annual Bus Operators Tour with the Beijing Bus Show, taking a contingent of 150 customers from Australia, NZ, North America, Syria and the Philippines on the week long trip that includes the opening ceremony of BCI’s state-of-the-art production facility in Xiamen.

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