Yutong's origins can be traced to the Zhengzhou Bus Repair Factory, which was established in 1963.[4] Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., Ltd. was founded in 1993; and in March 1997, Yutong became the first bus company in China on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.[5] The following year, Yutong opened its ¥400 million ($50,000,000 in 1999) Yutong Industrial Park in Zhengzhou, which was the largest bus factory in Asia at the time.[6]
By 2005, Yutong had a 22% market share of buses and coaches across China, becoming China's biggest bus manufacturer, and had won an award for being the best manufacturer in China by the World Bus Alliance. In March, Yutong began exporting buses worldwide to markets such as Latin and South America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.[6]
Yutong first entered into the electric bus market with the opening of its 'New Energy' manufacturing plant in 2012,[7] and in 2014, opened the National Research Center on Electronic Control and Safety Engineering Technology of Electric Buses in conjunction with the Chinese government.[8] In 2015, Yutong conducted the world's first road trials of an autonomous bus, demonstrating self-driving technology on a 32.6 kilometres (20.3 mi) drive on a highway between the cities of Zhengzhou and Kaifeng.[9][10]
As of 2018, Yutong had exported more than 64,000 buses and coaches, with nearly 25,000 of these in 2017 being either battery electric or CNG-powered.[2] The company's sales and service network covers six regions worldwide: Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Latin America, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Yutong buses and coaches have been delivered to countries and regions such as France, the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, Chile, Ethiopia, Cuba, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Bulgaria.[11][better source needed]
Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., Ltd. (referred to as Yutong Bus) is a large-scale modern manufacturing company specializing in the research and development, manufacturing and sales of bus products. Its main plant is located in the Yutong Industrial Park (宇通工业园) in Guancheng Hui District, Zhengzhou, and covers an area of 1.12 million square meters. The 'New Energy' manufacturing plant of Yutong Bus which was put into operation in 2012, covers an area of over 1.33 million square meters and has an annual production capacity of 30,000 buses and coaches.
Yutong Bus also operates a number of completely knocked down manufacturing plants worldwide. A manufacturing plant in the western Venezuelan state of Yaracuy was opened in December 2015,[12][13] and in collaboration with Pakistani heavy vehicle manufacturing company Master Motors, Yutong Bus opened a manufacturing plant at Port Qasim in Karachi in 2016, where buses are manufactured under the brand name Yutong-Master.[14] Yutong Bus also plans to open a final assembly plant in Castleford in the United Kingdom, where Yutong buses and coaches are distributed in UK and Ireland through the Pelican Bus and Coach dealership.[15]
Yutong trialled its first autonomous bus in 2015 and has produced a wide range of autonomous models since.[9] Public trials of its first generation 8-seat Xiaoyu vehicle commenced 2019 at the Boao Forum for Asia and in Zhengzhou.[17][18] Autonomous buses have also been used to transport workers around Yutong's Zhengzhou assembly plant.[citation needed]
In June 2021, Yutong claimed to have delivered 100 models of its 10-seat Xiaoyu 2.0 autonomous bus for use in Zhengzhou. The Xiaoyu 2.0 has also been delivered to the cities of Guangzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Sansha and Changsha, with public trials due to commence in July 2021 in Zhengzhou.[19][20][better source needed]
Exports
This section needs expansion with: more of Yutong's export activities across Europe, Asia and the Americas. You can help by adding to it. (March 2023)
Cuba
Yutong holds a strong presence in Cuba since entering the Cuban bus market in 2005. That May, Yutong exported 400 buses to the country, which at the time set an export record for a Chinese bus manufacturer. This record was broken in October by an order for 630 buses, then broken again in May 2007 by an export order for 5,348 buses.[21] By 2017, Yutong had sold over 6,000 buses and coaches for service across Cuba.[22]
In November 2017, Yutong delivered Cuba's first electric bus, a Yutong E12, which entered service in the country's capital with the Havana Transit Company.[22]
Nordic countries
This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (March 2023)
Spain
Ten Yutong ZK6140BD airside buses, equipped with six doors and capable of carrying 160 passengers, were delivered to Madrid Airport in April 2019.[23]
Yutong first entered the United Kingdom bus and coach market in 2014 through supplying diesel-powered coaches through Pelican Bus and Coach to independent coach operators.[24]
Yutong would become a major supplier of battery electric single-deck city buses to operators across England, Scotland and Wales through the Yutong E10 and the longer E12. Both buses are in service with a number of large operators, including McGill's Bus Services, the largest operator of Yutong buses in the United Kingdom,[25]Newport Bus,[26]Cardiff Bus,[27]Go North East,[28]Stagecoach Highlands,[29]First West Yorkshire[30] and Centrebus in Leicester.[31] Yutong's battery electric TCe12 coach has also sold to a small number of coach operators across the United Kingdom, with Ember Core's fleet of TCe12s being used to operate a network of intercity express services across Scotland.[32]
Yutong continued to expand its range of battery electric buses for UK operators from 2023 onwards, initially through launching the E9 midibus, with the first examples being delivered in early 2023 to Centrebus for the free Hop! bus service in Leicester.[33][34] Two U11DD 10.9 metres (36 ft) electric double-decker buses, based on similar buses sold in the Chinese and Singaporean markets, entered service as UK market demonstrators in late 2023,[35][36] while National Express Coaches took delivery of a GTe14 tri-axle electric coach for trials on coach services between Victoria Coach Station and London Stansted Airport during March 2024.[37]
Malaysia
Public bus operator Handal Indah (Causeway Link) procured low-entry diesel Yutong ZK6118HGA, ZK6126HG, ZK6128HG and ZK6800HNGAA buses in huge quantities. The buses are deployed on routes 7B, 52T, CW1, CW2, CW3, CW4, CW5, CW6, CW7, and government routes such as P101 and T32.
Saudi Arabia
Following a trial of a Yutong ZK6772BEV at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, a Yutong E11, Saudi Arabia's first electric city bus, was delivered for service in Jeddah in March 2023, part of the Saudi Vision 2030 framework towards reducing the Kingdom's dependency on oil.[38] 550 diesel-powered Yutong C13 PRO coaches for use in Riyadh and on intercity bus routes were subsequently delivered to the Saudi Public Transport Company over the course of 2023, with ten of these allocated to and specially upgraded for transporting members of the House of Saud.[39]
In 2009, SMRT Buses received a Yutong ZK6126HGC diesel trial bus. It was the first China-made bus to be operated by a Singapore public transport operator. Registered as SMB135E, it was permanently deployed on Route 854 until the end of its trial in 2010. No further purchases were made. SMB135E was deregistered, returned to the dealership, and re-registered as PH8811S under private transport operator Bedok Transport after the trial. Bedok Transport deployed the bus on Scheme B route 621.
In preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar, 888 Yutong battery electric buses, an increase from an initial order of 741 made in 2020, were delivered to state-owned bus operator Mowasalat (Karwa). Some of these buses, which operated shuttle services to and from football venues and subway stations over the course of the World Cup, were based in a 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2) purpose-built bus depot in Lusail that was described as the world's largest, with space to store and charge 478 electric buses, as well as hosting 24 ancillary buildings on the site.[43][44]
Yutong's involvement in the 2022 World Cup was followed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding in April 2023 between Yutong and Mowasalat, with the companies planning to co-operate on the development of electric commercial vehicles in Qatar.[45]
168 Yutong ZK6122H9 intercity coaches were delivered to Uzbekistan operator Uzavtoservis in 2019, with the first 100 being delivered by March and the remaining 68 delivered in April.[46]
Twenty Yutong ZK6126BEVG battery electric single decker buses, as well as ten battery chargers, were delivered to Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent in February 2022, entering service with the city's bus operator Tosh-Shakhar-Trans-Khizmat. These were followed by 40 Yutong T7 minibuses, delivered to Samarkand in April 2022 in advance of the 2022 SCO summit, which was being held in the city.[47]
Yutong received an order for 500 CNG buses and 300 Yuwei E12 battery electric buses for operators across Uzbekistan, the largest export order for the company to date. The first batches of buses from this order began to be delivered from early 2023.[48]
In 2010, Yutong signed a 490-unit order with Ghana, following the 250-unit order signed with Ghana in 2008.[51]
In 2011, Yutong signed a 1,216-unit procurement contract with the VenezuelanMinistry of Transport to help them establish and complete the first BRT system in Venezuela.
In 2012, Yutong signed an SKD order of over 100 units with Ethiopia, and in 2014, Yutong signed a CKD order of over 200 units with Ethiopia again.
In 2012, a Yutong tourist coach has entered the Israeli market for the first time.[52]
In 2013, Yutong delivered 300 LNG city buses to Peru.
In 2013, Yutong signed a 160-unit order with the Philippines.[53]
In 2013, Yutong delivered over 300 buses to Israel, which hit a record high in the bus import history of the country.
In 2014, Yutong got a 1,500-unit bus order from Venezuela.
In 2015, Yutong signed a KD contract of 2,300 buses with Venezuela.
In 2015, Yutong was invited to attend the 23rd annual conference of FNTV. In addition, Yutong was also involved in the “BUS 2025” program of RATP and provided a full electric bus for trial operation, which was also showcased at the UN Climate Change Conference.
In 2016, Yutong signed the Cooperative Framework Agreement on Cuban Public Transport Improvement & Bus Capacity Enhancement Program.[54]
In 2016, Yutong successfully delivered 110 buses to Bulgaria.[55]
By the end of 2017, Yutong totally delivered more than 3,000 buses and coaches to France, UK, Israel and other countries that applied European standards.[56]
In 2017, 500 units of Yutong natural gas city buses were delivered to Yangon, the largest city of Myanmar.[57]
In 2022, Yutong delivered 183 electric buses to Colombia, to be used for public transportation in the city of Bogotá.
In 2024, Yutong delivered 250 electric buses to Greece (Model E12), to be used for public transportation of Athens (140 buses) and Thessaloniki (110 buses)
Another core part of the Yutong Group is Yutong Heavy Industries, a manufacturer of construction equipment formed in 2003, and with about 3,500 employees and more than 120 products.[59]
^Chen, Jia (11 October 2018). "China's success in clean energy inspires Poland". China Daily. Retrieved 15 March 2023. The company launched the National Research Center on Electronic Control and Safety Engineering Technology of Electric Buses, China's first technical center for new energy buses.
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