 | |
 A 2018 Sunsundegui SC5 | |
| Type | Sociedade Anónima (S.A.) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Commercial vehicles |
| Founded | 1944 |
| Headquarters | Alsasua, Spain |
Key people | José Ignacio Murillo (MD) |
| Products | Buses and coaches |
| Revenue | €16 million (2022) |
Number of employees | 250 (2022) |
| Website | www.sunsundegui.com/en/ |
Sunsundegui is a bus and coach manufacturer based in Alsasua, Spain.
The company namesake is businessman José Sunsundegui, who founded the company in the Basque Country town of Irún in 1944. Sunsundegui initially started out as a rolling stock repair workshop for Renfe, the Spanish state railway company. [1] This practice continued until the 1980s, when Renfe began to open their own engineering workshops and ceased to use Sunsundegui's services; the company changed focus as a result, launching their first production coach, the Sunsundegui Korinto, in 1987. [1] In 2017, Sunsundegui moved into a €5.5 million new factory in Alsasua. [2]
The first model to see significant export success was the Sunsundegui Sideral, which was exported to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland in large numbers in the early to mid-2000s. [3] In the late 2010s and early 2020s, the Sunsundegui SB3 and SC5 were ordered in large numbers by Bus Éireann, Go-Ahead Ireland and Ulsterbus for intercity bus services on the island of Ireland; [3] Israel also emerged as another strong export market for the company. [4] Translink Ulsterbus ordered 30 tri-axle Sunsundegui SC5-bodied Volvo B11R coaches for intercity routes in September 2019, [5] followed by a further 30 identical vehicles in September 2020 for Goldline services. [6]
Sunsundegui produced 462 buses and coaches in 2019; by 2022, exports to other countries made up 86% of Sunsundegui's total production. [7] Sunsundegui received a loan of €8.9 million from the provincial government of Navarre in May 2022, after struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic due to a reduced demand for new vehicles. Prior to the pandemic, Sunsundegui employed 550 people; this reduced to 250 employees by March 2022, although plans were in place to begin new recruitments. [7] After being granted the loan, Sunsundegui announced their intention to commence construction of electric vehicles from 2024. [8]
Sunsundegui have predominantly produced high-floor coaches throughout their history, diversifying into low-floor city bus models in the late 2010s. [1]
Scania AB is a major Swedish manufacturer headquartered in Södertälje, focusing on commercial vehicles—specifically heavy lorries, trucks and buses. It also manufactures diesel engines for heavy vehicles as well as marine and general industrial applications.
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Mercedes-Benz has been producing buses since 1895 in Mannheim in Germany. Since 1995 Mercedes-Benz buses and coaches is a brand of EvoBus GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler Truck.
The Volvo B10M was a mid-engined city bus and coach chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1978 and 2003. It succeeded the B58 and was equipped with the same 9.6-litre horizontally mounted Volvo diesel engine mounted under the floor behind the front axle. An articulated version under the model name Volvo B10MA was also offered, as was a semi-integral version known as the C10M, with the engine in the middle of the chassis.
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Saracakis Group of companies is a major Greek commercial and industrial group, for two decades a traditional competitor to Biamax. Two of the most talented Greek vehicle engineers who had worked for Biamax, A. Rizos and I. Dracoulis also worked for Saracakis, Dracoulis having designed the company's characteristic, recognizable 'Σ' logo.
Jonckheere was a Belgian motor coach and bus builder, founded in 1881 by Henri Jonckheere in Roeselare.
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The Volvo B12M is an underfloor mid-engined bus/coach chassis introduced by Volvo Buses in 2002 as a replacement for the Volvo B10M. It is available with a variety of bodies such as the Van Hool T9 Alizee, Sunsundegui Sideral and Plaxton Panther/Paragon. Large British users of the B12M include Wallace Arnold, Park's Motor Group and Southern Vectis.
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Merkavim Transportation Technologies Ltd., shortened to Merkavim, is the largest bus manufacturing company in Israel. They produce many different types of buses, including tourism coaches, urban buses, long-distance buses and minibuses. In addition to this, they also provide specialist buses, such as bullet-proof buses, prisoner-transport vehicles and VIP transport vehicles. The company was founded in 1946 and is jointly owned by Israeli vehicle-importer Mayer Cars and Trucks and by AB Volvo.
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