Show Report: Busworld Kortrijk - the biggest and best attended ever

摘要

Belgium - The presence of four of the biggest bus builders from China - Yutong, King Long, Golden Dragon and electric bus builder, BYD - was clearly a mark of ambition and intent of building buses and coaches that can be sold and meet customer expectations in Western Europe. The challenge, however, is not coming just from the Far East, it is coming from Eastern and Central Europe too with Volgabus of Russia linking up with Avia Ashok Leyland of the Czech Republic to offer a new 8m midi-coach called Rhythmix and new Polish entrant, AMZ Kutno with a new low-floor 12m city bus model for the central and western European markets. However, not to be outdone, many of the established European manufacturers, used Busworld to launch new products featuring alternative drivelines such as full electric and hybrid drives as well as new designs in preparation for Euro 6 emissions standards in 2013/2014. There was evidence to suggest that the bus and coach builders and distributors in Europe are making efforts to strengthen their product and sales positions through collaboration and cooperative agreements in order to deliver better quality vehicles in different niche segments. Scania and Van Hool, for example, signed a collaborative agreement on double-deck and over-deck coaches; whilst French distributor, Dietrich CareBus announced two new initiatives introducing new products from manufacturers in Macedonia and China. In the report that follows, Truck & Bus Builder has endeavoured to highlight some of the key developments announced at Busworld Kortrijk 2011; what is now undoubtedly the world's largest bus and coach fair.