SOLARIS ACHIEVES RECORD RESULT IN 2009
Solaris Bus & Coach finished 2009 with a record result despite adverse developments in key markets. Sales of new Solaris buses were up 7.5% to an all-time high of 1114 units. Turnover reached 272 million EUR, up 11.4% from the previous year. For 2010, Solaris also expects a good performance. Defying trends in the bus industry, Solaris Bus & Coach finished 2009 with its best result ever.
In 2009, Solaris Bus & Coach increased its sales of buses by 7.5% to a new record level of 1114 units (2008: 1037 units). 262 of these were for customers on the Polish home market. In Poland, Solaris maintained its unrivalled leading position with a 27.3% share of the overall bus market (2008: 27.3%). In Solaris’s key segment of city buses, the performance was better still with a market share of 53.1% (2008: 52.6%).
A further 852 buses were sold to customers in other European countries (2008: 557 buses).
Export sales thus accounted for 76.5% of total sales (2008: 53.7%). The largest export market was Greece, which received 322 new Solaris buses. 320 of these were for Athens bus company E.THE.L, forming the biggest single order in Solaris’s history. In Germany, 224 new Solaris buses were registered (2008: 185 buses), an increase of 21.1% on the previous year. Solaris’s share of the overall bus market was up to 4.7% (2008: 4.1%). This made Solaris the biggest importer of buses into Germany and ranked the company third on the market. All new Solaris buses registered in Germany in 2009 were city buses, resulting in a share of 9.5% of this key market segment (2008: 9.1%). Solaris maintained its longstanding
position as the largest importer of city buses.
In 2009, the Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. turnover was up 11.4% to a new record level of 272 million EUR (2008: 244 million EUR).
