With the option exercise for delivery of a further 198 Environ500 double decks for BVG in Berlin, Alexander Dennis Ltd (ADL) of Larbert, UK has opened a new office, service workshop and parts warehouse in Berlin.

Alexander Dennis Ltd of Larbert, UK has confirmed the Berlin bus operator, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe has exercised options for 198 Enviro500 double deck buses, to be delivered to Berlin by the end of 2022.

Van Hool NV of Koningshooikt, Belgium, has set up a new subsidiary in the UK called Van Hool UK Ltd. Based in Wellingborough, it will undertake the import, distribution, sales and aftersales support of the company’s bus and coach products.

Spanish bus and coach bodybuilder, Industrial Carrocera Arbuciense SA of Arbucies, Gerona, has entered a new partnership agreement with Iveco Bus of Turin, Italy for the manufacture of a new range of low entry urban minibus to be marketed under the name Daily Access.

Irizar e-mobility of Aduna, Spain, starting September 2021 is to supply 44 electric ie buses to Burgas Bus in Burgas, Bulgaria. These are the first electric buses acquired by Burgas and, according to Irizar, its electro-mobility project is currently one of the largest in Bulgaria.

The BYD-ADL partnership for the British market is introducing additional electric bus charging options to improve operational flexibility. In addition to AC plug charging, all zero emission buses can now be specified with DC sockets, while double deck buses also have the option of roof-mounted connector rails for OppCharge pantographs.

Electric bus producer, Ebusco Holding BV of Deurne has appointed Bob Fleuren to head its Production and Project Management departments. A specialist in lightweight composites technology, Fleuren gained experience from the aerospace industry via roles within the Dutch Royal Air Force and aircraft manufacturer Fokker, among others.

Bus builder, Blue Bird Corporation of Fort Valley, Georgia has voiced its support for the newly introduced 'Clean Commute for Kids Act of 2021.' The Act provides purchase assistance for electric school buses and is authorised to provide funding of up to USD2.5bn a year for districts, allowing affordable purchase of electric school buses. 

The Peruvian market ended the first quarter of 2021 with the sale of 4,401 commercial vehicles, an increase of 42.1% compared with 3,098 units in the first three months of 2020. This was the best first quarter result in seven years, since 2014, when 5,382 units were sold.

Bus and coach body builder, Metalsur Carrocerias SA has reported record sales growth of 321.8% for 2020 with registrations of 232 bus and coach bodies compared with just 55 units in 2019.

BYD and Marcopolo in March announced delivery of the first articulated electric bus to be made in Brazil to the city of São José dos Campos. The vehicle is to be used for city public transport as part of the Linha Verde project.

The São Bernardo do Campo factory belonging to Mercedes-Benz do Brasil reached an historic milestone in March as it celebrated 50 years of manufacturing the OF front-engine bus chassis range.