BusTech

BusTech Group
IndustryBus manufacturing
Founded1995; 29 years ago (1995)
FounderTony and Joe Calabro
Headquarters
Rocklea, Queensland Edinburgh, South Australia
,
Australia
Key people
Christian Reynolds, Director and Chairman

Mathew Fitch, Director

Dan Marks, Director
OwnerGoZero Group
Websitebustechgroup.com.au

BusTech Group is an Australian bus-building manufacturer with production facilities in Rocklea, Queensland, Edinburgh Adelaide, South Australia and Burnie, Tasmania. BusTech Group produces fully built up integral route buses, school buses and double deck buses and also produces single deck bus bodies, largely built on European chassis from manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Scania, predominantly under their VST model line.[1] As of 2022, BusTech Group was actively delivering new buses into Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and the ACT.[2]

The company was originally established as Bustech in 1995 by the then owners of Gold Coast, Queensland bus operator, Surfside Buslines the Calabro family. Early production generally focused on producing low entry, route bus bodies with smaller numbers of school buses and charter/touring vehicles were also produced.

Bustech produced its first integral bus in 2007, a midi-sized route bus with production subsequently expanding into full size route and school buses by 2008. An urban double deck bus began production in 2011 and Australia's first locally engineered and built electric bus was completed by Bustech in 2015.[3]

Bustech formed part of the Transit Australia Group from 2008 under Calabro family ownership, until the latter was dissolved in 2019 upon the sale of bus operations to AATS Group.[4]

Bustech formed a joint venture agreement with Precision Components, owned by Fusion Capital and began producing buses under the Precision Buses name in 2017. In addition, Elphinstone Engineering in Tasmania began assembling buses under agreement in 2017.[5] Bustech and Precision Buses formalised a merger in 2019, with management of the two operations initially known as the Australian Bus Corporation.[6] The company was rebranded and relaunched as BusTech Group in December 2020.[7][8]

In February 2021 it was announced that a factory is being planned near Newcastle, New South Wales to build electric buses for New South Wales operators.[9][10]

BusTech Group entered administration on 12 August 2024.[11]

  1. ^ "About". BusTech Group. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Australian Bus-Manufacturing Joint Venture Announced". BusNews.com.au. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  3. ^ "First all-Aus electric bus". BusNews.com.au. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Skybus Operator to Acquire Transit Australia Group – Bustech Not Included!". BusNews.com.au. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  5. ^ "First Bustech XDi delivered in Tasmania". BusNews.com.au. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Bustech and Precision to Merge". www.truckandbus.net.au. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  7. ^ "'Bustech Group' Announced; Aust Bus Corp Rebranded". BusNews.com.au. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  8. ^ "BusTech Group formed from Precision Buses and Bustech". BusTech Group. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference February2021a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference February2021b was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Notice Details". publishednotices.asic.gov.au. Retrieved 13 August 2024.