We will survive MCW tells FT
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METRO-Cammell Weymanti will survive its loss of London Buses business next year, its general manager has told a national newspaper.
A report in The Financial Times last week quotes gen
eral manager Peter Steadman as saving that the British bus industry will go through a "difficult hand-to-mouth existence" over the next two years, but he expects no major collapse in this period.
The report highlighted the collapse of bus and coach sales in Britain from 5,800 in 1979 to 3,400 last year, and the rise in imports from four to 23 per cent over the same period.
But Mr Steadman said MCW's diversification into the double-deck coach market, with its Metroliner range, would help cushion the blow inflicted by the loss of London business.
Ironically, its business with London this year is running at a peak as it is supplying all of the capital's vehicles for this year, and output is likely to be up from last year's 400 buses to 500.
Mr Steadman said: "We can reduce volumes and people at will, because we've now got highly flexible work practice arrangements which let us move the workforce around within both the site and products."
• Leyland Bus, which beat MCW for London's 260-bus order for next year, is also counting on winning a 1,500bus and back-up contract from Thailand for services in Bangkok.
But although Leyland was making very confident predic tions earlier in the year that the Bangkok contract was as good as secure and, if any thing, was more confident
now, another Financial Times report quotes Renault Vehi
cules Industriels commercial director Herve Guillaume as saying the French giant is still in the running for the business.
Renault has also broken into the Australian market with an order for 60 buses for service in Perth, where Leyland has been demonstrating a prototype Lynx city bus.