Regular readers might recall the post from May 2009 on foreign businesses translating their marketing material into English. Still available to read, here
This week, someone commented that Arriva might in future buy German buses rather than their preferred vehicles with Wrightbus bodies. At the same time, I stated that the UK needs a solid and robust manufacturing sector. The two comments go hand in hand, for the biggest threat to the UK bus industry is yet to materialise—from the east. "It is revealed that some subsidiaries of Arriva have pay attention to King Long Bus (from King Long)"
It’s very telling that, alongside former London bendy (German) Mercedes Citaros that will be shipped out, Arriva has chosen the Chinese to build its flotilla of buses for its newly acquired Maltese franchise. The announcement came well within Deutsche Bahn’s tenure, even if the planning goes back further.
"Arriva has started to focus on the performance of China buses in EU market 5 years before and made a lot of research. We found that the King Long products developed fast with good brand image in recent several years" (King Long quoting Arriva)The vehicles are in the shape of no fewer than 200 XMQ6900J and XMQ6127J coaches and city buses. Though they look almost like former British vehicle J-reg plates of 1970/71, my guess is that we’d better start getting used to them. If these right hand drive models are successful in Malta, might they also appear in England?
Arriva is already evaluating 20 Temsa Avenue Turkish-built buses, in the north east. These are said to be lighter-weight heavyweights (if you follow me) and their presence if nothing else will spur home-grown producers into shedding the pounds. And when, for example, might we see the promised Optare Olympus integral, if at all, given the Olympus is now built to special order.
"Many customers showed high appraisals for King Long products" (from King Long)Ever since the delivery from 1971 of the first Metro Scania buses initially for London Country’s Stevenage Superbus, followed by Volvo’s B58 coaches arrived from 1972, the writing’s been somewhat on the wall. Operators rose to the heavyweight challenge of express coach deregulation of the early 1980s, extensive motorway mileage and the requirement for stylish opulence by purchasing early MANs, Setras and others rather than home grown products. DAF, Van Hool, Scania later plus Mercedes, Irizar and VDL are now popular but their drawback is their cost, something perhaps King Long will be able to trump.
"It is believed that we felt satisfactory with King Long products and service" (King Long quoting Arriva)So, the UK and indeed European manufacturing sector must now brace itself for an Eastern invasion. Some might argue that it’s sort of already begun, with the tie up between India’s Ashok Leyland and Optare. With Arriva now for the first time committed to significant numbers of vehicles from China, is their arrival in England almost a cert?
3 comments:
Arriva probably went with King Longs for Malta simply because they need so many in such a short timescale. They are a better, updated, version of what Malta has already got running in service.
In its report of the IAA Hannover show (European Commercial Vehicle), trade magagazine 'Coach & Bus Week' (CBW issue 954) managed to get some interesting quotes from Keith Bastow, director of new business development at Arriva. This is the story verbatim:
[headline]King Long announces
arriva Malta tie-up
Chinese manufacturer King Long
is to be the main vehicle supplier
to Arriva’s Maltese operation – it
was formally announced at a
press conference on Wednesday
afternoon.
Ms Rita Hom, general
manager of strategic business
development at King Long said:
“We’re proud to announce King
long is to be the main supplier
to Arriva Malta. This is a dream
come true for us.”
In something of an historic
moment, Ms Hom signed the
agreement alongside Keith
Bastow, director of new business
development at Arriva.
“I was first introduced to King
Long three years ago,” said Mr
Bastow. “Arriva is extremely
impressed by the manufacturer’s
commitment to continuous
improvement. We’ve had a very
interesting journey working with
King Long to date – it’s been a
remarkable feat making changes
to the design. Their response to
customer needs has been mostimpressive. We’re very pleased to sign this co-operation agreement
between King Long and ourselves.
“With the exception of some
modern vehicles, the Maltese
project includes the replacement
of a very old bus fleet. The
average age of the current
fleet is 35. Although it’s rather
quaint, Malta currently has a
1950s transport system. This
investment will bring it into the
twenty-first century.”
Asked why the King Long
product was chosen, Mr Bastow
replied: “Unlike some of our
peer groups, we don’t make
centralised decisions on what
vehicles subsidiary companies
can operate – they’re free to
suggest what manufacturer and
configuration they need.
“In my role, the further east we
go in Europe, the more difficult
it is to sustain the cost of even
second-hand western European
vehicles – hence why we’re
always looking at opportunities.
“In Malta price was a
consideration and we’re confident
King Long will give us excellent
whole life value. The bus is fitted
with UK components, including a
Cummins engine and ZF gearbox
– which gives us an element of
standardisation.”
As previously reported in CBW,
Arriva is currently preferred
bidder for the Maltese contract
– with the formal contract signing
expected shortly.
Explained Mr Bastow: “We’re
currently in the negotiation phase
with the transport authority. That
will lead to the formulation of
timetables and hence the precise
number of vehicles required.”
He did reveal however that the
King Long order would be for
around 200 vehicles.
“Whilst we can re-engineer
some of the modern buses, quite
frankly it’s easier to start from
scratch,” he added.
Asked about the reported use
of bendy-buses, he said that was
still so, but was unable to give
any further details at this stage.
The feelings I've picked up are that Arriva North East are not overly enamoured with the Temsa Avenues. The build and fitting quality leaves a lot to be desired, and there are questions over whether they are significantly lighter and more economical than an equivalent sized VDL, Enviro or Optare model.
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