Buses IKARUS Budapest Hungary

Ikarus Bus

Type	Private company
Industry	Bus manufacturing
Founded	1895
Headquarters	Budapest, Hungary
Key people	Gábor Széles — Chairman
Products	Buses

Ikarus 415.14B bus in Bielsko-Biała,Poland.

A restored Ikarus 31 (1959) in Miskolc.

Ikarus is a bus manufacturer based in Budapest, Hungary. It was established in 1895 as Uhri Imre Kovács- és Kocsigyártó Üzeme (roughly: “Imre Uhri’s Blacksmith Workshop and Coach Factory”).

1910 Old Ikarus DD regiemelet

By 1913, the company focused mainly on constructing cars and due to increased sales during World War I it made great profits. In 1927, Ikarus had won an international tender and it was this year that large scale production could begin by delivering 60 shuttle buses. Following the Wall Street Crash the company became bankrupt as it did not receive any significant orders and it had to be closed down. In 1935 the company had resumed production and was fully functioning during World War II. On 23 February 1949, Ikarus was officially established when it merged with airplane manufacturer Ikarus Gép és Fémgyár Rt.

1947-1951 Mávag Ikarus 571 db

In 1955 and 1956 with the new front engine models (Ikarus 620, 630 and 31) the company’s foreign sales were boosted and apart from Eastern-European countries,China, Burma and Egypt started using them in several of their cities. By 1962, Ikarus delivered 8,000 buses abroad and in 1970 it won second place at an expo in Monaco showing its prominence in Europe. In 1971, over 100,000 buses were manufactured and sales increased year-by-year. By 1973, Ikarus became the world’s fourth largest manufacturer, but lacking raw materials, orders were not delivered in time on several occasions. Until the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic was one of the most important trading partners of Ikarus, but when Germany was re-unified sales fell to about 10%.

1948-49 Mávag Ikarus Tr 3,5 78db

Ikarus provided body shells (without doors, windows, seats, engine) for Orion Bus Industries contracts to supply Toronto and Ottawa transit systems with articulated buses in late 1986-1987. The Orion Ikarus buses were put on the fast track for retirement by the TTC due to structural corrosion problems. These problems were blamed on poor spot welds made during the manufacture of the bus.

1949 MÁVAG Ikarus A19 1949-50 Mávag Ikarus M5 170db

From 1999, the company was owned by Irisbus, a French-Italian investing group. In 2006, Irisbus sold Ikarus Bus to Hungary’s Műszertechnika group for the full asking price. Műszertechnika signed a contract back in December to acquire 100% of the company, which was established back in 1999 as a 75:25 joint venture between Renault–Ivecoand Hungarian Industrialist Gábor Széles for Ikarus. In 2002, Ikarus placed the Natural Gas (CNG) 18 meter articulated bus in Colombia, which is currently in operation inTransmilenio Rapid Bus Mass Transit System in the Capital City of Bogota. The company has come out in 2007 with a new low-floor model which they plan to produce in Hungary (200-400 per year), Russia (1000-2000 per year) and China (10,000 per year).

1951 Ikarus 31

In 2006, Gary Urteaga, a business entrepreneur from Peru, initiated a project with Ikarus to penetrate the Latin American Market. The Project involves the supply of Natural Gas (CNG) Buses of 8 meters, 12 meters and articulated 18 meters together with the investment in Bus Assembly Plants for the Latin American region. Offers have been made to bidders of the Metropolitano Rapid Bus Transit System of the City of Lima in Peru which is to awarded in 2007 and implemented in 2008-2009. Also, the government of Venezuela has initiated dialogue with Ikarus derived from the strong interest in the market for Natural Gas Buses shown by Venezuelan PresidentHugo Chavez Frias.

1951-57 Ikarus 30 3.175db

In 2010 a new Ikarus V187 and other standard, and articulated models are introduced to the press and publicly tested on BKV lines

1951-59 ikarus 60t 1.744db

As of 2010, a second bus factory is planned to be built in the United States, with new headquarters in Los Angeles. A third bus factory is also planned in Eskişehir, Turkey.

1952 Ikarus 31 autobus

1952 Ikarus 31 autobus inside

In 2014 the Hungarian city of Szeged started operating new Ikarus-Skoda trolley busses. De busses are produced in Székesfehérvár, the motors in Czech republic.

Models

Model	Engine	Type/length/Length/Notes/Image
30	front
31	front8.5 m/x
55	rearcoach/11.4m
60	front/9.4 m
66	rearcity/suburban/11.4
180	midarticulated city/16.5mextended version Ikarus 556
190	rear11 m/ like West German standard; 1973–1983
194	mid/city/suburban/on Volvo B10M chassis
196	mid/city/suburban/on Volvo B10M chassis
196.02	mid/articulated/18 m/on Volvo chassis
196.03	rear/articulated/on Scania chassis, 1984	impossible to find
208	rear/suburban/8.5 m
210	rear/coach
210	rear/suburban—Ikarus 200 serie
211	rear/midi bus/coach
212	rear/midi bus/coach
216	rear/midi bus/coach
220	rear/suburban/9.5 m/no series production
230	rear/coach
240	rear/city/suburban
242	rear/city/suburban/11 m
246	rear/city/suburban
250	rear/coach/12 m/produced in large numbers
252	rear/coach/11 m
255	rear/interurban/11 m
256	rear/coach/11 m
260	mid/city/11 m
260T	mid/trolleybus/11 m
261	mid/city/11 m/Right-Hand Drive
263	mid/city/12 m/Upgraded, 12 m version of model 260
266	rear/city/suburban/11 m
280	mid/articulated/16.5 m
280E	articulated trolleybus
280T	mid/articulated trolleybus
281	mid/articulated/16.5 m/Right-Hand Drive
282	mid/articulated/18 m
283	mid/articulated/18 m
284	rear/articulated/17.9 m
286	mid/articulated/18.2 m/2.59 m wide for USA;see Crown-Ikarus 286
290	front/airport/14 m
293	mid/double articulated/prototype
303	rear/coach/8.7 m/only 9 prototypes built
311	front/8.5 m/1957–1972
380NE	rear/coach/12 m/only 1 prototype built
410NE	rear/city/11.4 m/only prototypes built
440NE	rear/city/11 m/only 1 prototype built
553	front/minibus
556	mid/city/10.9 m
620	front/city/9.4 m
630	front/interurban/9.4 m
695	mid/articulated/17.9 m/”PALT” apron bus

Modern types

Model	Type	Length/Notes/Image
405	city bus/7 m
411	low-floor city bus/11 m
412	low-floor city bus/11.9 m
412T	trolleybus
415	city bus/11.4 m
415T	trolleybus
417	low-floor articulated city bus/17.6m/only 30 ever produced
435	articulated city bus/17.8 m
438	articulated bus/only 1 prototype built
480	city bus/12 m/DAF
481	low-floor city bus/12 m
489	low-floor city bus/12 m/Polaris
EAG E91	mini city bus/7.8 m
EAG E92	city bus/9 m/only 1 prototype built
EAG E94	urban bus 12 m
EAG E94G	articulated urban/suburban bus/18m/only a few built
EAG E95	interurban bus/12.0 m
EAG E97	highdecker coach/12.0 m
EAG E98	coach/12.0 m
EAG E99	double-deck coach/12.0m
E127 / 127E	low-floor suburban bus/12.725 m
E134 / 134E	low-floor suburban bus/13.4 m
V134 / 134V	low floor city /bus13.4 m
V187 / 187V	low-floor articulated city bus/18.75 m/pre-production

 

	Buses portal
	Hungary portal

• Crown-Ikarus 286

1993 Crown-Ikarus 286 bus of TriMet (Portland, Oregon)

• Orion Bus Industries
• North American Bus Industries

References

1. Jump up^ The Orion Ikarus Articulateds
2. Jump up^ Vezess.hu article
3. Jump up^ Vilaggazdasag.hu article
4. Jump up^ TotalCar.hu article

External links

• Article about “Ikarus Bus and Coaches” from busexplorer website
• Polish page about Ikarus and Man buses
• Hungarian website featuring many Ikarus buses
• Ikarus in Czech Republic (in Czech)
• Technical description of Ikarus buses (in Ukrain)