Solaris 2023 results reveal 82% share of alternative drive buses (and 95% of backlog)
Besides revealing first rendering of the under-development new intercity zero emission bus platform, Solaris has highlighted its financial and sales results 2023 during the press conference held this morning. Solaris shared that vehicle sales reached 1,456 units (-2.4 per cent on 2022, when the Polish company sold 1,492 units), marking however an 18% growth in […]
Besides revealing first rendering of the under-development new intercity zero emission bus platform, Solaris has highlighted its financial and sales results 2023 during the press conference held this morning.
Solaris shared that vehicle sales reached 1,456 units (-2.4 per cent on 2022, when the Polish company sold 1,492 units), marking however an 18% growth in revenue compared to the previous year (up to 819 million euros). The company solidified its leading position in the electric bus market (taking into account both BEV and FCEV buses, as MAN qualified as leader in the battery-electric bus market), holding a 15.2% share and maintaining its top spot since 2012 with a cumulative 14.5% market share.
Notably, sales of electric, hydrogen, trolley, and hybrid buses surpassed 80% of the total mix for the first time. Last year also saw Solaris enter the Canadian market, a strategic move toward expanding its reach in North America.
Solaris dominated the hydrogen bus market in 2023
In 2023 Solaris delivered its products to customers from 17 countries. Major recipients of Solaris vehicles included, among other carriers, operators from Poland, Spain, Italy, Norway, Germany, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Hungary. In the reported period, Solaris delivered a total of 690 units of battery electric buses. Also worthy of note is the fact that Solaris sold 202 units of trolleybuses and 81 hydrogen buses: 44.5% of all hydrogen buses registered in Europe in 2023 are Solaris vehicles.
“82% of Solaris 2023 production was made of alternative drive buses (a significant jump ahead from 55% last year, editor’s take). Half of the supply consisted of zero emission buses. And 95 per cent of the 1,838 buses now in our backlog are low or zero emission, 80 per cent zero emissions”, added Solaris’ CEO Javier Iriarte.
The most significant contracts achieved in 2023
In 2023, Solaris acquired and also delivered (partially or fully) a number of significant contracts. Below, the list shared by the company itself:
- In April, Solaris delivered 183 Urbino articulated electric buses to Oslo, the largest order in the company’s history.
- Under a framework agreement with Consip S.p.A., Solaris received an order for 98 Urbino electric buses for Cagliari in Sardinia.
- Danish operator AarBus ordered 56 Solaris Urbino 18 articulated electric buses for delivery in 2024 and 2025.
- BVG Berlin ordered 50 Solaris Urbino 18 electric buses for delivery in 2024 and 2025.
- TPER in Bologna ordered 130 Solaris hydrogen buses, the largest single order for hydrogen vehicles in Europe to date. First deliveries are scheduled for 2024.
- Azienda Veneziana della Mobilita of Venice has ordered 90 Solaris hydrogen buses for delivery from November 2025.
- In-der-City-Bus GmbH of Frankfurt am Main has ordered 10 Solaris hydrogen buses for delivery in the first quarter of 2024.
- Rebus Regionalbus Rostock in Germany ordered 52 hydrogen buses, including five articulated models, for delivery by the end of 2024.
- The public transport authority in Duisburg ordered 25 Solaris hydrogen buses as a first step towards a fully zero-emission fleet by 2030.
- Regionalverkehr Köln GmbH (RVK) in Germany has announced its third order for articulated hydrogen buses, with 18 units to be delivered in the second half of 2024.
- Continuing to invest in zero-emission public transport, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) has ordered a total of 36 Urbino 12 buses and two Solaris articulated hydrogen buses for delivery in 2024.
