The long awaited Meridian, the 12m Wrightbus-bodied MAN full low-floor single-decker first announced in April last year, was launched in late-September. Several larger operators have already expressed interest in an initial production batch of 20 due to be completed by February. rnNeoman Bus UK managing director Vince Welsh says the Meridian marks a coming of age for MAN, which despite building over 7,000 buses and coaches a year, has taken nearly 30 years to secure its current 7% share of the UK market. He hopes to increase that to 10% by the end of 2008, two years ahead of target, and believes the partnership with Wrightbus will open doors to possible new orders for MAN from major groups like First, Arriva, Go-Ahead and Transdev, which already operate substantial fleets of Wright-bodied Volvo, Scania and VDL chassis.
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