Allison Transmission, the world’s leading supplier of commercial duty fully automatic transmissions for buses and trucks, has once again announced record transmission sales into the global city bus market. With more than 14,000 units sold into this fast-growing sector worldwide, Allison is poised to further strengthen its position as a global provider of standard and hybrid transmissions within the bus sector.
The No.1 provider of automatic transmissions in China, Allison is now the transmission of choice for Japan’s Isuzu and Hino large city transit buses and is fast becoming a dominant force in the hybrid market in Europe. Other markets are following too with significant orders in markets traditionally dominated by manual transmissions, such as Eastern Europe and Asia.
With over 10,000 Allison-equipped buses now operating in Beijing alone, the company has maintained its strong position on the Chinese market, making the most of the country’s burgeoning economy and the need for better public transport links. “China is a busy marketplace for Allison. Still No.1 in the commercial duty automatic transmission industry, our success reflects China’s overall speed of growth as well as our continued efforts towards building good relationships with end users and OEMs. We remain the primary automatic brand in China, renowned for outstanding quality, reliability and durability,” says Paula Chen, Sales Manager at Allison in China.
In the wider Asia region, Allison is bringing the benefits of automatic transmission to a largely untouched market, still almost entirely populated by manual transmission equipped buses.
“We view the Asia market as a great opportunity for Allison. With manual transmission still very much the norm, we are in an ideal position to showcase and demonstrate the benefits of our automatic solutions to a very receptive audience. Governments in this region are investing heavily on more efficient and modern transport infrastructures. Allison is well-paced to make the most of this opportunity for market growth,” explains Ashwin Gopalaswamy, Allison Marketing Manager for Asia.
Already it is the de facto choice of transmission in Japan’s Isuzu and Hino large city transit buses. Additionally, it is able to reach into territories such as South-East Asia and Australia due to its relationship with OEMs in China, Japan and Korea who export to these countries.
Allison is also experiencing particular success in India, recently acquiring an order for 500 state-of-the-art low-floor, CNG-propelled buses supplied to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) marking Allison’s largest bus order in India to date.
Responding to environmental concerns and government legislation across the region, Europe is embracing the need for hybrid transmissions to create a cleaner, more efficient public transport system. Launched in October 2006, Allison’s hybrids are already gaining popularity following the success in several cities in Germany and Switzerland as city after city introduces the technology to its public transport infrastructure.
In addition, Allison is maintaining an active presence across Europe with its successful range of Torqmatic bus transmission products, including important sales in Bratislava, Slovakia and Warsaw, Poland. “The hybrid market continues to grow as the demand for more environmentally friendly public transport spreads throughout Europe. Our latest success brings hybrid technology to Bochum, the third city in Germany to opt for hybrid buses, and to Istanbul – an important region that opens up the gateway to North Africa and the Middle East markets. With our continued growth in Russia, this promises to be another good year for Allison Transmission in Europe”, says Manlio Alvaro, Allison Marketing Manager for Europe.
In North America, Allison’s hybrid technology has enjoyed a record-setting year. So far, the Seattle King County Metro Transit Authority has made the biggest commitment to the system, ordering 500 of the hybrid buses. In 2007, more than 400 GM-Allison hybrid-powered buses were produced, with 360 units delivered to 36 cities – the highest annual totals since deliveries began in 2003.
South America has already embraced the benefits of fully automatic transmissions, and 2007 continued the upward growth in the bus sector. “Buenos Aires has 100 per cent fitment of automatic transmissions in their city bus fleet. Productivity is key for the fleets, together with low cost of maintenance, passenger safety and availability of buses”, says Allison’s South American Marketing Manager, Cesar Farinelli.
Allison enjoys strong relationships with local OEMs such as Encava, Daimler Argentina, Agrale, Tatsa and Materfer. The relationship is equally strong with the operators. DOTA has the largest fleet in Argentina of over 2000 buses using Allison transmissions. This proves that the benefits are equally applicable to the OEM and the operator alike.
The two-mode hybrid technology in the GM-Allison Hybrid EP-System has served as the starting point for General Motors’ co-development with DaimlerChrysler and BMW Group of the two-mode hybrid system for passenger vehicles.
Allison Transmission is the premier global provider of commercial duty automatic transmissions and hybrid propulsion systems. Its products are specified by over 250 of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers and are used in many market sectors, including bus, refuse, fire, construction, distribution, military and specialty applications. Founded in 1915, the Allison business, headquartered in Indianapolis, and employs 3,600 people. Regional headquarters with dedicated support staff are located in China, the Netherlands, Brazil and Japan. With a global presence in 80 countries, Allison has over 1,500 distributor and dealer locations. It generates annual revenues in excess of $2 billion.
