GERMAN BUS INDUSTRY BUILDS 9 OUT OF 10 BUSES ABROAD
The German bus manufacturers increased their domestic production in the first six months of 2008 by 7 per cent. This growth was fed by the rising domestic demand. New registrations were up by 13 per cent, while exports fell slightly by 3 per cent. The growth in production was primarily due to the urban buses, whose production was up by 73 per cent in the first four months of the year.
The German manufacturers now build nine out of ten buses in other countries. In the first four months they produced 25,400 vehicles, 14 per cent more than one year ago. In Latin America, the most important production region, totaling 13,100 vehicles, bus production rose by 24 percent. In Brazil alone 11,100 buses rolled off the production lines, representing growth of 26 percent. In Europe production rose by 13 per cent to 2,900 units. The greatest contribution came from the relatively new production plant in Poland, where almost 500 vehicles were built, i.e. 62 per cent more than one year ago.
