Solaris Bus & Coach
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| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive industry |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Bolechowo, Poland |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Solange Olszewska, Krzysztof Olszewski |
| Products | Buses |
| Revenue |  €292.2 million |
| Operating income | €20.6 million |
| Profit | €13.5 million |
| Total assets | €126.1 million |
| Total equity | €87.6 million |
| Employees | 1562 |
| Website | www.solarisbus.com |
Solaris Bus & Coach SA is a bus, coach, trolleybus and tram manufacturer based in Bolechowo near Poznań, Poland.
It is a family-owned business, with Krzysztof Olszewski as co-owner and his wife Solange as CEO. It is located in a former weapons factory, and was featured by BBC World in a program related to EU expansion in May 2004, as an example of a post-communist success in Poland.
History
Solaris started as Neoplan Polska, founded in 1994 by Krzysztof Olszewski. Neoplan Polska was selling, and since January 1996 also building under German licence, low-floor Neoplan city buses. In 1999 it released first buses under its own Solaris brand (model Urbino). On 1 September 2001 Neoplan Polska was renamed to Solaris Bus & Coach Sp. z o.o. In 2005 it was transformed into a joint stock company.
In the 1990s, the company developed its own research office and used computer software originally developed for the design of space shuttles. It reduced the time needed to design and build new prototypes to about six months. Another six months are needed to build a new bus prototype.
Trolleybuses are made in co-operation with the Hungarian company Ganz Electro or (the Czech division of) the company Cegelec and Polish company Medcom. Both companies make the electric devices for the vehicles. Solaris produced the first European bus model using hybrid technology, the Solaris Urbino 18 Hybrid. That hybrid model was delivered in November 2008 to the Polish city of Poznań.
In 2007 Solaris was employing about 1,200 workers, in 2009 about 1,600 workers. Now “Solaris Bus & Coach” builds about 1,000-1,200 buses a year.
In 2013, Solaris sold 1,302 buses and trams.
Products
Current models
- Solaris Alpino – low-floor city bus
- Solaris Urbino – low-floor city bus in lengths of 10m, 12m, 15m (three-axle rigid, 18m or 18.75m articulated
- Solaris InterUrbino – intercity bus/coach
- Solaris Vacanza – coach
- Solaris Trollino – low-floor trolleybus in lengths of 12m, 15m (three-axle rigid) or 18m articulated
- Solaris Tramino – tram (introduced in 2010)
Discontinued models
- Solaris Valletta – city bus
Gallery
City buses
Solaris Urbino 10
Solaris Urbino 12 LPG-GPL-CNG
Solaris Urbino 12 in Chur, Switzerland
Driver’s area of Solaris Urbino 12
Interior of Solaris Urbino 12
Engine of Solaris Urbino 12
2010 Solaris Urbino 12 Hybrid in Brno
A Solaris Urbino 18 of RSV (Reutlingen, Germany
Solaris Urbino 10 at Warsaw Okęcie Airport, Poland
Trolleybuses
A Solaris Trollino 12 trolleybus in Landskrona, Sweden
Solaris Trollino 18AC inTallinn in Estonia
2006 Solaris Trollino 15 in Vilnius in Lithuania
Solaris Urbino 18 Hybrid Vossloh Kiepe
Solaris Trollino 18 “Metrostyle” in Salzburg
Solaris Tramino LF 32 in Poznań
Interior of Solaris Tramino LF 32
Solaris Tramino S109j for Jena, Germany
Solaris Urbino 18 Hybrid MetroStyle
Solaris Vacanza 12 pierwszej generacji z 2002 roku w Katowicach jako ruchome centrum krwiodawstwa
Solaris Trollino 18 MetroStyle
Solaris Tramino w Poznaniu
Solaris Tramino
Special version of Solaris Vacanza 13 als mobiele bloed donatiemobiel in Grodzisk Mazowiecki Ambulance
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Solaris Trollino 18 “Metrostyle” in Salzburg
Intercity buses and coaches
A Solaris Vacanza 13
Solaris Valletta in Kielce, Poland, Transexpo 2007
Solaris Interurbino 12 at Transexpo 2010
Solaris Interurbino 12 interior
© O.Nordsieck
© O.Nordsieck
That’s it
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