The order, valued at approximately USD 60.9 million, includes 50, Volvo 9600 luxury sleeper coaches and 500, Eicher Intercity 13.5m2 AC and non-AC sleeper coaches.

The bus manufacturer said it is looking to fill around 100 skilled and semi-skilled production positions at its factory in Northern Ireland, along with 50 apprenticeships.

The Enviro400EVs are fitted with roof-mounted charging rails that allow their 472kWh battery system to be topped up from pantographs installed at the Harrogate bus station.

The company now aims to acquire certificates from FMVSS, as well as the California Air Resources Board and the Environmental Protection Agency, before the end of the year, making its ‘P7’ vehicles roadworthy and eligible for incentives.

The new test centre, jointly operated by FEV Group, in Oued Zem complements two cold weather sites in Finland, north of the Arctic Circle.

The vehicle presented at the show was a first demonstrator, but Schaeffler and VDL have plans to produce more, with the aim of commencing customer pilots in Germany in 2025.

Latent demand has boosted sales of buses and coaches (7.5t GVW and above) in India, amongst other reasons, with registrations up by 38.9% in the first quarter (April to June) of the financial year 2023-24 to register 10,939 units compared with 7,876 units in the same quarter of the previous financial year (FY2022-23).

Why do tech startups tend to concentrate in certain countries and regions? Or, to put it another way, why are some places more favourable to the growth of new companies than others? These are questions that bear greater relevance to the commercial vehicle industry today, as manufacturers search for partners to work with on the digital technologies which will make our trucks and buses smarter and more connected.

Toyota Tsusho Nexty Electronics Europe GmbH will supply Toyota’s proprietary fuel cell to Pepper Motion, including auxiliary components.

Sales of light-duty buses and coaches (7.5t & below) rose by 24.6% to register 14,438 units in the first fiscal quarter (April to June) of 2023, up from 11,590 units in Q1 of FY2022.

The German company plans to develop 400-volt and 800-volt variants for its electric drive systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

The company announced that after signing an agreement to supply an Italian public procurement company with 80 e-Atak buses in 2021, it is set to provide another 320 electric minibuses, over the course of the next 18 months. The agreement covers Karsan’s six-metre e-Jest electric bus and the eight-metre e-Atak.