Component suppliers add technology touch
China, the world’s largest bus and coach market, produced around 79,000 heavy-duty (HD) buses in 2015 and is expected to reach close to 115,000 units by 2022. The market has been the trend-setter in hybrid and electric vehicles thanks to the Government’s thrust and incentive packages for OEMs to develop new energy vehicles (NEVs) in a bid to reduce the pollution levels across the country.
Busworld China 2016, the Chinese edition of the world’s largest trade fair for buses, coaches and components, was held at Beijing between May 23 and 25 this year. The fair, which used to take place in Shanghai, was conducted as part of the 13th China Transpo exhibition, recording good response from visitors.
The event attracted participation from all major bus and coach builders in the country including Yutong, HIGER, King Long, Golden Dragon, Foton, Zhongtong, Ankai, BYD, JAC, North Bus and Changlong, while it also provided a perfect platform for renowned component suppliers such as Allison Transmission, Mahle, Vibracoustic, GEA, Weichai, Alcoa, Konvekta, SAF-Holland, Kendrion, Hübner, Jingyi, Firestone and Actia, among others, to present their latest products and technologies for the Chinese bus market.
A conference on ‘Smart city and intercity passenger transport by bus and coach’ organized by Busworld Academy and IRU was held on the second day of the fair, providing an excellent forum for exchanging thoughts and ideas on the chosen theme. While the forenoon session saw Chinese delegates talk about issues related to e-mobility, the afternoon session focused on the ‘Introduction of clean energy applications in passenger transport’.
Commencing the afternoon session, Mr. Jim Gibbins, Editor & Publisher, Truck & Bus Builder, presented an ‘Analysis of the Bus and Coach Market for Chinese OEM’s’, setting the tone for the other speakers to follow. Mr. Gibbins, in his stat-filled presentation, gave a very good outline of the Chinese bus and coach market. While he detailed out China’s aggressive strategy to promote NEVs, he maintained that the IC engine is here to stay for the long run.
Mr. Jacques Marmy, Head – Technical Affairs, IRU, speaking on the topic ‘Technical innovations in Bus and Coach’, enlightened the audience about the 30 by 30 resolution – a 30 per cent reduction in CO2 by 2030 – which could be achieved through emission reduction, better vehicle engineering and better driving & driver assistance.
Mr. Nicolas Hauw, Policy Officer, POLIS, revealed that 17 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions come from interchanges, as he addressed the gathering on ‘The deployment of public transport innovations in European cities and regions’. Mr. Hauw also shared updates on some of the key projects undertaken for improving public transport in Europe such as ZeEUS, Unplugged and NODES.
Mr. James Wong, Editor-in-Chief, China Bus & Coach Yearbook, made a presentation on the ‘Introduction of zero emission vehicles, comparison between Europe and China’, wherein he touched upon some of the practical issues related to zero emission vehicles.
Mr. Sergio Fernandez Balaguer, Representative of the city of Madrid, gave a testimonial on how his city’s customer-centric approach has attracted passengers towards public transport, followed by Mr. Oleg Kamberski, Policy officer at IRU, who concluded the session with his insights on translating ‘technology to policy innovation’.
Busworld Europe moves from Kortrijk to Brussels in 2019
Busworld Europe, hitherto always staged in Kortrijk, is to move to a new home at the Brussels Expo in Belgium’s capital city of Brussels in 2019. The biennial event has been staged at the Kortrijk Xpo for 24 editions over 45 years. The move is required as the exhibition has outgrown the current site. During the last edition, in 2015, the visitor numbers grew again and this led, amongst other issues, to mobility problems around the venue. As well as the Brussels site having a larger capacity, it also has the benefit of an international airport and train station and a larger hotel room capacity. Despite the relocation, the experienced Kortrijk Xpo team will remain the provider of the extra services for the exhibitors. In 2017, Busworld Europe will be organised in Kortrijk Xpo, for the last time, from October 20 to 25. In 2019, the dates for the very first Busworld Europe (Brussels), have been set as October 18 to 23.
