Leyland ai s high
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• Leyland Bus — bought out by its management some five months ago — is expecting to break even in 1987 and, according to chief executive Ian McKinnon, "We would hope to be in profit by 1988."
Despite the current depression in PSV sales, McKinnon reports that the UK bus market "should bottom out this year and start to recover." Leyland Bus has already seen a return of some of its allimportant export business, with new orders from Hong Kong and Denmark. As part of the management buy-out, Leyland Bus's accumulated debts of some 280 million were written off by the Government.
Speaking at a press conference last week where he announced the joint venture between LB and German gearbox manufacturers ZF, McKinnon said that Leyland Bus has "made some significant steps on the road to a profitable future."
McKinnon expects Leyland Bus to produce around 1,200 buses and coaches this year, and 80 jobs scheduled to be cut at the company's Farington plant have now been saved.