Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. in 2006 - business report

In 2006, Solaris Bus & Coach S.A., the bus maker from Bolechowo near Poznan, has celebrated its 10th birthday. This anniversary year turned out to be a record year at the same time on the

domestic market, and a year of success on foreign markets: in 2006, Solaris has delivered 212 vehicles to Polish customers and 367 buses to customers abroad. Among them, there were city buses, coaches and trolley buses of the Solaris brand.

All together, Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. has sold a total of 579 buses last year. As through the previous years, in 2006 the low-floor city buses of the Solaris Urbino series were the most sought for, selling 517 units (among them a hybrid bus), followed by the trolley buses Solaris Trollino (with 50 units sold), and the coaches Solaris Vacanza (with 12 units).

Solaris on the Polish market

In 2006, a total of 614 buses of various manufacturers were sold in Poland, 218 vehicles more than during the previous year. With 202 buses sold, Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. has once again confirmed its strong leading position in the bus manufacturing branch: in 2006, the Bolechowo-based company was able to report record-breaking sales figures and to achieve the largest ever share (33 percent) on the Polish bus market. Referring to the production of low-floor city buses with a curb weight of over 8 tons alone, the market share rose to 44 percent.

source: Solaris Bus & Coach S.A.

In 2006, Solaris buses were purchased by 30 municipal transportation companies, among them five new customers: the Głogów Community, MPK Olsztyn Public Transportation, the Rędziny Community, Wrocław Polbus from Wroclaw, and MZK Zamoœć Public Transportation. All Polish customers of Solaris Bus & Coach are listed below:

Ever since production started in Bolechowo, i.e. since 1996, until the end of 2006, Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. has sold city buses with a total value of over one billion PLN on the Polish market alone.

In the coach branch, Solaris has sold 8 vehicles last year: to Heliotur from Torun, Mistral from Cracow, Trans Bis from Myszkow, Euro Tours from Słupsk, Hel Tour from Cracow, Transpol from Biskupice, Machura from Gliwice, and to Lapus from Niemodlin. In addition to that, the bus maker has built two special vehicles, mobile blood donation centers based on the Vacanza 13, for the regional blood donation and blood treatment center in Warsaw.

“The European Union‘s subventions for bus carriers have greatly contributed to these good sales results on the Poish market. I hope this trend holds over the next years. I figure we should be able to achieve similarly high sales figures in 2007 as in 2006; we already anticipate the delivery of 50 city buses to Warsaw, with further public tenders pending. I‘m expecting to reach a sales rate of 200 buses this year as well” - says Krzysztof Olszewski, president of Solaris Bus & Coach S.A.

Export sales

On the foreign markets, the year has brought a noticeable stabilization of trade, which may be explained by the temporizing attitude of customers concerning the announced changes regarding exhaust emission peak values: As of October 2006, the next level of exhaust reduction, Euro 4, was to take effect. Still, Solaris has been able to achieve very good sales results abroad, especially in Germany (209 buses sold). There, the Polish bus manufacturer was once again able to reach the number-one position among non-German suppliers and, as the first foreign manufacturer, the third place in overall statistics.

Apart from that, Solaris Bus & Coach has delivered buses and trolley buses to the following countries during last year: The Czech Republic, Italy, France, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, Estonia, Slowakia, Lithuania, and Switzerland. Solaris buses were, for the first time, sold also to Denmark and Norway. Thus, the company from Bolechowo has now customers in 18 European countries. All together, 367 Solaris buses and trolley buses, as well as two Solaris Vacanza coaches have been exported.

The following chart gives an overview of export sales in 2006:

source: Solaris Bus & Coach S.A.

Gains and investments

In 2006, the companies gains have totaled 541 million PLN. During tjis year, Solaris has implemented a part of the expansion investments. The whole building project will cost a total of 40 million PLN. The first new production halls were taken into operation in April 2006. All construction works are expected to be finished by the end of the current year.

Product premieres of the year

During the last year, Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. has been able to present an exceptionally large number of premiere vehicles - the product range has been extended by three new types.

The most sensational novelty was, beyond any doubt, the innovative Solaris Urbino Hybrid, a bus with a hybrid drive. The presentation of this new type of bus combining two drive systems, an electric motor and a Diesel engine, was counted among the most important events of last year‘s international car exhibit IAA Utility Vehicles in Hannover. In September 2006, the latest release of the Solaris family, built with the support of the American company GM Allison, was presented to the public for the first time. The first hybrid bus was sold to Dresden, Germany. A Swiss operator, the Eurobus company, has meanwhile another unit. In addition, the successful Solaris Urbino Hybrid has been awarded the gold medal for the best exhibit at the Transexpo trade fair in Kielce, Poland.

Also during last year‘s IAA in Hannover, Germany, Solaris has presented another novelty. The Solaris Urbino 18 EEV, ordered by BSAG from Bremen, Germany, has been equipped with a special engine and additional filters, allowing the bus to fulfill the rigid exhaust standard EEV, not to come into effect before the year 2009. This future-oriented articulated bus is the very first ecological Diesel-powered vehicle of its kind in Germany, making the Polish manufacturer a European pioneer in the field of ecological innovation in bus manufacturing.

The third novelty of the year 2006 is the Solaris Alpino. This is the smallest low-floor bus of the Solaris family. This city bus with a total length of 8.6 meters is 15 centimeters less in width compared to standard buses. It was presented for the first time during the Kielce Transexpo automotive trade fair. Ever since, the company has faced a high demand for this model. The first sales contracts are currently under negotiation.

Prizes and awards

As in previous years, Solaris‘ achievements have found recognition among numerous contest juries. Last year, Solaris has won the “Best of Business” contest in the advancement category. This contest, organized by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and CNN TV, was performed in 10 countries of the European Union: the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, and Poland. The contest was aimed at positioning Europe‘s best and most effective enterprises. The top three of Polish business, PKN Orlen (in the ‘fusions and takeovers‘ category), Inter Groclin (in the ‘belonging to Europe‘ category), and Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. (in the ‘advancement‘ category), will represent Poland in the European finals in Brussels, Belgium, to take place in March 2007.

“One of the most highly valued prizes in the year 2006 was the Tadeusz-Kotarbiński-medal, an award of the Polish Academy of Sciences, named after the author of the „tractate about good working“. It was granted for â€˜achievements in the field of organization and management‘” - said Solange Olszewska, vice president of Solaris Bus & Coach S.A.

In the “entrepreneur of the year” contest, organized by Ernest & Young, Solaris has been awarded a prize in the ‘production‘ category for â€˜manufacturing buses representing Formula 1 in their category‘.

On the regional level, the Bolechowo bus maker has been awarded the first prize in the „golden companies of Greater Poland“ contest, organized by the „Głos Wielkopolski” newspaper.

“On behalf of our customers, but also of ourselves, we would wish this year to be as full of interesting and pleasant events. As always, we will take all efforts to surprise the public with novelty products. Also concerning our sales forecasts, we‘ll be reaching high. I hope we‘ll manage to make all these good intentions come true for the year 2007” - Solange Olszewska sums up.

Plans for the year 2007

“This year, we‘re planning to further develop our company on a number of levels. We‘re planning further new products, which I‘d like to keep secret until the Kortrijk / Belgium Fair in October. We will certainly continue to optimize our production processes to increase our productivity; after all, our production and sales forecasts are closely related to that - if things go well, we will finally cross the European borders this year.” - says Krzysztof Olszewski, president of Solaris Bus & Coach S.A