Pre-production Plaxton
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• Plaxton has won a major order for its new .single-deck all-aluminium city bus body, two months before it is due to reach the production line (CM 29 November-5 December 1990).
It is bodying 15 Scania N113s for Worksop-based dealer Stuart Johnson, which will be delivered during 1991.
It is expected that the Scania N113 rear-engined model will cost around 290,000, but the price will differ for other chassis, which look likely to include the Dennis Lance and Leyland Lynx II.
"In a market where different operators have standardised on different chassis we see it as essential to offer choice," says Clive Hodgson, sales director of Plaxton Coach & Bus.
The first prototype will be complete in about five weeks, when it will undergo further testing. From March, the city bus will tour British operators, and is due to be available for delivery from June.
It is hoped that the new 11.4m bus will help Plaxton diversify from its traditional luxury coach business into urban bus work. The company plans to increase bus sales from 20% of its business to 40% within the next two years. This could be helped by its first doubledecker bus, which is due to be launched early next year.
Plaxton will continue to make its other single-deck bus, the steel-framed Derwent, but says that city bus sales are expected to exceed Derwent sales by 55% in two to three years. It plans to build around 50 city buses this year.
Meanwhile, Plaxton claims that its Paramount coach body will maintain its position as market leader in 1991: "Last year we had the major share of the market for full-size coaches, despite very low prices from one or two of our competitors." says John Torr, commercial and marketing director of Plaxton Coach 8z Bus. "This year, with less stock in the yards of certain importers, and more realistic pricing, 1 anticipate increasing market share." The company sold three times as many coaches as its nearest competitor in 1990, Torr adds.