Midi buses recover, but overall October volumes weak
• Overall bus and coach volumes fall 38.2% in month and 12.9% in year to date.
• Midi-buses (8.5-16t) registrations rose by 19.3% in October.
• Coach volumes down 5.9% in October, but up 21.3% over the year to date.
“Overall bus and coach registrations fell for a seventh straight month in October. They dropped for all but one month since April 2008. But it is not all bad,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive. “Coach figures stayed firm over the first ten months of the year, up by a fifth. It was also good to see midi-bus numbers up almost 20% in the month. Some manufacturers still benefit from the Green Bus Fund and some sectors of the market may continue to improve. Changes to concessionary travel from 2011, to the Bus Scheme Operators Grant in 2012 and cuts in Local Authority spending will make for a tough year ahead.”
There are long lead times in the bus and coach sector between orders or sales and registrations and delivery. This ensured the tough economic climate gripped the sector later than other markets and is likely to mean the recovery is slower to take hold.
