This multi-year investment, said to exceed USD100m, aims to double the current manufacturing footprint.

Initially, the facility will have a production capacity of 50,000 packs a year; MAN is hoping to expand this to 100,000 by 2030.

Vehicle production also saw a rise of 13.8% in the first half of FY 2024-25.

At the 2024 Euro Bus Expo, T&BB sat down with Paul Davies, the CEO of Alexander Dennis, to discuss the company’s new product range.

The ‘StreetDeck Ultroliner’, which was originally launched in 2014, will now be offered with a Cummins ‘B6.7’ engine, replacing the six-cylinder Daimler ‘OM936’ which was used before.

Production saw a more significant decrease of 13.7%, dropping from 37,014 units to 31,938 units.

At last year’s Busworld, Voith Turbo celebrated the 70th anniversary of its ‘DIWA’ line of automatic transmissions for urban and suburban buses. The German manufacturer had just brought out the latest addition to the DIWA range, the ‘DIWA NXT’. This reimagining of the city bus transmission, incorporating a mild hybrid system (optional), appeared on the scene when it still seemed that fully electric was the only way to go. Markus Bischoff – who is responsible for the DIWA product line – believes the company made a “brave decision” in supporting the development of the mild-hybrid transmission; today, he feels vindicated by the resurgence of interest in hybrids. “The main request we get from our customers,” Bischoff told Truck & Bus Builder, “is affordability.”

The company is bringing its electric minibus (the 6-metre e-Jest) to British consumers through Horsham-based dealer, EVM UK Ltd.

Nova Bus announced last year that it would cease production at Plattsburgh by 2025, citing the location’s weak profitability.

Medium and heavy rigid truck (7.5t GVW and above) sales slipped by 8% to 108,018 units from 117,351 units in the same period of FY2023.

Iveco Bus is authorized to supply more than 7,000 school buses under the Caminho da Escola programmes.

The German manufacturer says the order for 27 battery electric buses from Ledermair is the largest order for electric buses the company has received thus far from a private operator in Austria.