The contract is the second major order from a North American customer announced by Solaris since it laid out its strategy for entering the market at UITP 2023.

Volvo says the order books are “open” for the UNVI-bodied coach, which is based on the ‘B13R’ chassis produced by Volvo at its factory in Boras, Sweden.

Bus and coach sales (7.5 tonnes & above) surged by 31.2% in the first three quarters (April-December) of 2024-25, reaching 43,531 units.

MCI’s engineering team has reportedly added more than 20 quality upgrades to the tri-axle coach, displayed at the United Motorcoach Association’s 2025 expo between 20-23 February.

Sales in Q3 totalled 13,627 units compared with 10,828 units.

Wrightbus’ ‘Streetdeck Hydroliner Gen 2.0’ was developed over four years as part of a project which was 50% funded by a grant from the Advanced Propulsion Centre.

The contract stipulates a firm order for 75 ‘Xcelsior’ hybrid electric buses (40 feet in length) and 25 ‘Xcelsior Charge NG’ battery electric buses (35 feet in length).

The contract stipulates a firm order for eighty 45-foot ‘D45 CRT’ commuter coaches, with additional unspecified options.

Škoda says the value of the contract, including comprehensive service and maintenance up to 400,000 kilometres, exceeds EUR50m.

Solaris has agreed to supply up to sixteen buses to the King County Metro Transit Department, the public transit authority which serves King County and the city of Seattle in the state of Washington.

The coaches will serve on Houston’s park-and-ride service routes, connecting the suburbs with the downtown area.

According to the terms of the contract, MAN will supply New Flyer with “several thousand” ‘V0K-08’ front axles and ‘HY-1350’ rear axles which, together with accompanying spare parts, are worth more than USD200m.