Alexander Dennis
| Alexander Dennis Ltd. | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Ltd. |
| founding | January 1, 2001 |
| Seat | Falkirk , Scotland |
| management | Colin Robertson |
| Number of employees | +2500 (2018) |
| sales | £ 631m (2018) |
| Branch | Bus manufacturer |
| Website | www.alexander-dennis.com |
| Stand 2013 | |
Alexander Dennis Limited (until 2004: TransBus International ) is a Scottish manufacturer of buses based in Falkirk . The company is the largest bus manufacturer in the United Kingdom , alongside Wrightbus (Northern Ireland), and one of the fastest growing in its industry worldwide, with manufacturing operations, holdings and joint venture partners in Australia, Canada, China, Europe, New Zealand and the United States.
Alexander Dennis Ltd was formed through the merger of the last remaining British manufacturers who had already produced buses before World War II : Alexander , Dennis and Plaxton .
Company history
Alexander Dennis was formed on January 1, 2001 as TransBus, through the merger of Dennis and Alexander, who previously belonged to the Mayflower Corporation , and the Henlys holding, Plaxton. Transbus thus had numerous manufacturing plants in the United Kingdom: Earlier Alexander factories in Falkirk ( Scotland ) and Belfast ( Northern Ireland ), former Plaxton factories in Anston and Scarborough , the former factory of Northern Counties in Wigan and Dennis factory in Guildford .
At its peak, TransBus produced a wide variety of chassis and superstructures for city buses and coaches as well as fire engines . The chassis included the Dennis Dart , one of the best-selling single-decker bus models in the UK, and the Dennis Trident 2 . TransBus also produced export models for use in New York City , Hong Kong and other cities. The Dennis Trident was the most popular single deck bus model in London. Since the body manufacturers Plaxton and Alexander were merged through the founding of TransBus, the TransBus range comprised both Plaxton coaches and two double-decker bodies ( Plaxton President and Alexander ALX400 ), the Citybus Alexander ALX300 Citybus and the Pointer body, which in large Number of pieces was mounted on the aforementioned Dennis Dart chassis and thus replaced the Alexander ALX200 superstructure, which had previously been mounted on the Dart chassis.
On March 31, 2004, the Mayflower Group and consequently TransBus filed for bankruptcy. On May 17, 2004, the Plaxton coach business was sold to its management; this company returned to its brand after TransBus had previously given up traditional brands. Four days later, on May 21, 2004, independent businesspeople bought the rest of TransBus (Alexander and Dennis). One of the investors was Brian Souter , owner of the Stagecoach Group , who kept his new acquisition separate from the bus and train company. The new company was called Alexander Dennis Ltd (ADL). The sale did not include the former Alexander factory in Belfast, which was later closed. The Wigan factory closed on January 26, 2005.
After the bankruptcy period and restructuring, Alexander Dennis has received numerous large orders from UK transport companies and is the preferred supplier to the Stagecoach Group. With the Enviro500 model, the company was also able to build on the success of its predecessor companies in traditional markets such as Hong Kong and Ireland. The ALX400 double decker remained the standard model of Dublin Bus until production ended in 2006 .
In the North American market, Alexander Dennis secured £ 25 million orders for his Enviro500 model in 2005 from customers in Victoria, British Columbia and New York City , San Francisco and Las Vegas . With well-filled order books, the company presented two new models in the first quarter of 2006, the double-decker Enviro400 and the midibus Enviro200 Dart .
In early 2007, Colin Robertson replaced Jim Hastie as CEO. In May 2007, Alexander Dennis took over Plaxton again, bringing the two former TransBus divisions back together. As a result of the financial crisis of 2007–2010 , the company recorded falling order numbers, laid off almost 100 employees in Falkirk in spring 2009 and introduced short-time working at the end of 2009. On the other hand, companies like Stagecoach and Transport for London (TfL) have been buying several hybrid buses for ecological reasons since 2009 .
In May 2012, the Canadian manufacturer New Flyer Industries Inc. and Alexander Dennis Limited announced a joint venture to develop and produce midibuses for the North American market. New Flyer takes on production and marketing, Alexander Dennis takes on development and testing. On June 7, 2012, Alexander Dennis Limited acquired the Australian manufacturer of bus bodies and seats Custom Coaches .
In November 2015, the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) tested an Enviro500 as a possible successor to the now outdated three-axle double-decker MAN A39 Lion's City DD , referred to as the "DL" series by BVG. After a Europe-wide award procedure, Alexander Dennis was awarded the contract in October 2018 for the delivery of initially 200 new double-decker Enviro500 buses. The first buses are to be used in Berlin from mid-2020.
New Flyer Industries Inc. took over Alexander Dennis in May 2019.
Products
Current
Complete diesel buses
- Enviro200 Dart (2006–)
- Enviro300 (2001–)
- Enviro400 (2005–)
- Enviro500 (2002–)
Complete hybrid buses
- Enviro200H ( midibus )
- Enviro350H (monoplane)
- Enviro400H (two-axle double decker)
- Enviro500H (three-axle double decker)
Superstructures on chassis
- CB30 ( Custom Coaches , 2000–)
- CB80 (Custom Coaches, 2009–)
- SB50 (Custom Coaches, 2010–)
Previous series
Superstructures
- ALX200 (2001, originally manufactured by Alexander , replaced by Enviro200 / Enviro200 Dart )
- Pointer (2001-2007, originally manufactured by Plaxton , replaced by Enviro200 Dart)
- ALX300 (2001-2007, originally manufactured by Alexander, replaced by Enviro300 )
- ALX400 (2001-2006, originally manufactured by Alexander, replaced by Enviro400 )
- President (2001-2005, originally manufactured by Plaxton, replaced by Enviro400)
- ALX500 (2001-2002, originally manufactured by Alexander, replaced by Enviro500 )
- DM5000 (2001-2002, originally manufactured by Duple Metsec , replaced by Enviro500)
City bus chassis
Complete buses (or just chassis or body)
- Enviro200 / 200H (2003-2007)
Coach chassis
Fire fighting vehicles (chassis and cabins)
TransBus / Alexander Dennis manufactured emergency vehicles for fire brigades until 2007:
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c NFI Group takes over Alexander Dennis (German, accessed May 17, 2020)
- ↑ New Flyer In Bus Joint Venture ( Memento from May 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ BVG press release of October 22, 2018 , accessed on October 22, 2018
- ^ Alexander Dennis sold to Canadian firm for £ 320m . Retrieved May 17, 2020.
