Sales are up! The American Bus Association Foundation (ABAF), the scholarship arm of the American Bus Association, released its most recent Motorcoach Builders Survey, which tracks data from the industry’s major coach manufacturers that sell in North America. So far this year, manufacturers are seeing their strongest Q1 sales since 2020, according to the report, and year-over-year, represents a 17 percent increase in over the same period of 2022.
"We are finally seeing some sectors in the private motorcoach industry start to recover from the effects of the COVID pandemic,” said ABAF President Peter Pantuso. “As our industry recovers, we see the positive effects on industry suppliers and manufacturers. We have a long road ahead of us until we see pre-2019 numbers again but we are heading in the right direction.”
ABAF President Peter Pantuso
According to the report, manufacturers sold 260 new and 92 pre-owned coaches, for a total of 352 motorcoaches. This compares with 300 during the first quarter 2022. The increase in sales was led by the private sector buying 130 percent more vehicles over last year as the private motorcoach industry continues to strengthen post-COVID. The public sector buying fell more than 33 percent more vehicles year over year.
ABAF worked with John Dunham & Associates to collect the data.
The full report is available here.
Visit buses.org/aba-foundation for more information on ABAF.
[06.13.23]