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Ritchies invests $21 million in school bus fleet
Immediate release
December 1,
2009
Ritchies Transport invests $21 million in new
school bus fleet
Photo caption: A DesignLine bus, part
of Ritchies Transport fleet
Ritchies Transport Holdings is
to buy 120 new buses from DesignLine over the next four
years to bolster its nationwide school bus
fleet.
The $21 million investment will be the
single biggest by a New Zealand company in the school bus
market and will replace Ritchies’ existing school bus
fleet.
Andrew Ritchie, a director of Ritchies, New
Zealand’s largest operator with a fleet of over 900 buses,
said it was investing in New Zealand-made buses because of
their quality and safety features.
“We wanted to
invest in a New Zealand company, after all, it is New
Zealanders who we are carrying around the country. We could
have looked at second hand Japanese buses, but their
emission levels are too high, and we could have gone for a
cheaper Chinese version, but they are just not the quality
of DesignLine’s buses,” he said.
The buses will
be a mix of 40 and 48-seaters and will have the latest in
emission controls. The first is expected to roll out of
DesignLine’s new Rolleston factory in
March.
“Another reason we signed with DesignLine
is because they have the capacity to handle such a big
order, and if we need to accelerate the programme at any
stage, then they are able to do this,” he
said.
Andrew Green, managing director of
DesignLine, said that this type of order vindicates the
company’s decision to invest in a totally new production
facility at Rolleston, near Christchurch.
“Last
year DesignLine produced 200 new buses. This year it expects
to complete 250, but with the investment in new jigs, a
state-of-the-art paint booth and other associated equipment
we will have the capacity to produce 500 buses a
year.
“We have been absent from the school bus
market in the last few years, but with our new facility able
to produce a very cost-efficient, lightweight aluminium
extrusion body we are now a serious player in this
market.
“There are many Japanese imports on
school bus routes throughout New Zealand that are due to be
replaced and we believe that the confidence shown by New
Zealand’s biggest bus operator in our vehicles will be
reflected in what other operators do when it comes to
ordering replacements,” he
said.
ends
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