UK / Ireland - Harris Group of Dublin, Ireland, has, as part of its recently announced commercial vehicle expansion initiative, set up a new company, headquartered in Liverpool called Harris Bus & Coach. Harris Bus & Coach is a new, dedicated operation for bringing the Higer Bus bus and coach brand to the UK market; Higer Bus Co Ltd* of Suzhou, Jiangsu, China is one of China’s largest bus exporters. It is worth noting that Harris has been importing Higer products into Ireland for 10 years, claiming that it is now one of the market leading bus and coach propositions in Ireland and that the product is now ready for sale in the UK.

The new company, under the leadership of Bill Laidlaw, Managing Director of Harris Truck & Bus (see biography below), will be supported by a 10-location regional UK dealer and service network, supported by factory-trained technicians at the Higer factory in Suzhou, China. Laidlaw stated that the network is being built up based on expanding carefully chosen dealerships from its existing Maxus network across the UK. At a press conference in Dublin, Ireland in August, Laidlaw said: