Wrightbus have entered administration, Blaming less buses being built for the uk market.
Quote from: JIM C on September 25, 2019, 12:18:21 PM
Wrightbus have entered administration, Blaming less buses being built for the market.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49818156
Or more like Wrightbus have screwed up by focusing too much on integrals that are inferior / not the most reliable & have lost a lot of their regular customers to ADL.
Streetlites orders have fallen off the face of a cliff in recent years, and Streetdeck orders were heading the same way with First Group cancelling a large order for Leeds that were going through production. Plus no further Borismaster have been ordered after a change in London Mayor etc.
Rotala are their only main large customer currently.
Quote from: Winston on September 25, 2019, 12:50:42 PM
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49818156
Or more like Wrightbus have screwed up by focusing too much on integrals that are inferior / not the most reliable & have lost a lot of their regular customers to ADL.
Streetlites orders have fallen off the face of a cliff in recent years, and Streetdeck orders were heading the same way with First Group cancelling a large order for Leeds that were going through production. Plus no further Borismaster have been ordered after a change in London Mayor etc.
Rotala are their only main large customer currently.
Do you think they should of focused on the Volvo range I.e made a new Gemini 4 and new eclipse 4? And let Volvo do the chassis?
Quote from: SL 16 YPN on September 25, 2019, 01:23:37 PM
Do you think they should of focused on the Volvo range I.e made a new Gemini 4 and new eclipse 4? And let Volvo do the chassis?
I think they should have provided more choice of chassis/body combinations including potentially Scania DD's (Scania seem to be growing in popularity again) & they've also lost a lot of ground to MCV with London orders & for the few B8RLE that are selling.
Wrightbus /Volvo was a great combo should have stuck to that recipe.
Just learnt ADL is now a Canadian company , so no British bus builder left.
Quote from: 2900 on September 25, 2019, 03:00:48 PM
Wrightbus /Volvo was a great combo should have stuck to that recipe.
Just learnt ADL is now a Canadian company , so no British bus builder left.
I agree but Volvo don't sell the same quantity of buses in the UK compared with what they used to, especially single deckers as Volvo don't have a light weight product like E200MMC's or Streetlites. Also First Group was a big Volvo/Wright customer, all that business has gone for various reasons.
I personally don't think the build quality of the Streetlite & Streedeck is anywhere near the Eclipse or earlier Gemini's, and the latest Gemini 3 styling isn't to every operators taste.
It's quite sad news really, no-one likes to hear about 1200 people losing their jobs, but clearly the bus market is changing and while new bus sales may have fallen, companies are still buying buses, just not as many from Wrightbus. So I see it as a failure for the company to adapt to the 'challenging conditions' it was facing, and perhaps it was focusing its efforts in the wrong area.
The 'integral' bus concept obviously worked with the New Routemaster, and the company was helped by large orders from TfL. But perhaps Wrightbus should have stuck to what it was good at, building good quality bus bodywork onto already existing chassis designs.
Looks like Wrightbus have been saved from liquidation:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-50013959
Quote from: Winston on October 11, 2019, 10:34:50 AM
Looks like Wrightbus have been saved from liquidation:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-50013959
That's nice to hear. Hopefully NX order more Streetdecks or even Gemini 3s but that's wishful thinking.
Quote from: Busboy105 on October 11, 2019, 10:40:01 AM
That's nice to hear. Hopefully NX order more Streetdecks or even Gemini 3s but that's wishful thinking.
Doubt NX will consider buying anymore Streetdecks until Wrightbus improve their products.
Quote from: Winston on October 11, 2019, 12:30:02 PM
Doubt NX will consider buying anymore Streetdecks until Wrightbus improve their products.
I think the build quality of the street decks is pretty good? What's wrong with them?
I know, I haven't really said anything about them but people say that it's ugly and such.
Quote from: Trident 4194 on October 11, 2019, 12:48:14 PM
I think the build quality of the street decks is pretty good? What's wrong with them?
when was the last time we had all five on the road
Quote from: karl724223 on October 11, 2019, 02:39:04 PM
when was the last time we had all five on the road
If they continued to just do the bodywork and leave the chassis to Volvo etc they would of been ok
They have been saved
Does anyone know what's happening with WrightBus now as the news has gone quiet after they were saved
Quote from: SL 16 YPN on November 09, 2019, 03:07:19 AM
Does anyone know what's happening with WrightBus now as the news has gone quiet after they were saved
Deliveries have resumed at Leeds for their Streetdecks from what I've seen.
Quote from: MW on November 09, 2019, 04:59:39 AM
Deliveries have resumed at Leeds for their Streetdecks from what I've seen.
Deliveries have resumed this week, however, I understand what's being delivered was already built prior to Wrightbus going in to administration.
I believe production re-starting is still a way off.
What I don't really understand why the administratòrs didn't keep staff on to finish buses in build - they must have run the risk of the company thus becoming unsaleable because existing customers had gone elsewhere.
Quote from: MW on November 09, 2019, 04:59:39 AM
Deliveries have resumed at Leeds for their Streetdecks from what I've seen.
First West of England are hoping that First Leeds get their delivery of new Wright Streetdecks as soon as possible as they have pressed withdrawn buses back into service due to the expected cascade from Leeds being delayed, causing a lot of breakdowns.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/first-bus-timetable-times-complaints-3506981
I myself am a fan of the wrightbus/Volvo combo I think these were the company's best products, I think wrights have lost there way some where along the line, they need to come out and do what ADL did with Enviro 400mmc, engage with the bus operators and design a bus for them.
I am sure Lord bamford and family should be able to turn it around, JCB products very well known through out the world.
Quote from: Winston on November 09, 2019, 04:03:42 PM
Deliveries have resumed this week, however, I understand what's being delivered was already built prior to Wrightbus going in to administration.
I believe production re-starting is still a way off.
When will Leeds get them then?
Quote from: Busboy105 on December 13, 2019, 10:25:10 AM
When will Leeds get them then?
They've already taken delivery of some over the past few weeks.
Any news in what the future will bring for Wright Bus after the takeover, they have been quiet since minus delivering the orders made before the administration
Quote from: SL 16 YPN on January 30, 2020, 02:47:07 PM
Any news in what the future will bring for Wright Bus after the takeover, they have been quiet since minus delivering the orders made before the administration
Not yet, but they have missed out on a big order on their doorstep:
https://www.alexander-dennis.com/media/news/2020/january/adl-enters-framework-agreement-with-nta-ireland-for-up-to-600-double-deck-enviro400er-plug-in-hybrid-buses
Quote from: SL 16 YPN on January 30, 2020, 02:47:07 PM
Any news in what the future will bring for Wright Bus after the takeover, they have been quiet since minus delivering the orders made before the administration
https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/northern-ireland/new-owner-has-big-plans-for-wrightbus-after-translink-deal-38908650.html?fbclid=IwAR2QBzqLropyelnjsh21uSMgElKx8tcKjF2T3wZAfgqayYPa4zigHVfPvLM
Are there any Gemini 3's being built right now? Haven't seen a lot of them on the roads.
Quote from: Busboy105 on February 18, 2020, 07:40:33 PM
Are there any Gemini 3's being built right now? Haven't seen a lot of them on the roads.
Have you been anywhere looking for them?
I put photos of 18 delivered since the collapse on the main site on Saturday
Job losses at Wrightbus:
https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2020-05-21/wrightbus-announces-redundancies-and-job-losses-at-ballymena-site/