Global Bus Fleet Market - Forecasts from 2020 to 2025

The global bus market is projected to reach US$66.780 billion by 2025 from US$51.355 billion in 2019 growing at a CAGR of 4.47%.

Buses are road vehicles that are designed to carry a number of passengers ranging on the seating capacity. The bus market is projected to show a decent growth throughout the course of the next five years. The major factor that are significantly driving the demand for buses is the globally growing population which is further augmenting the demand for transportation especially in the developing economies of the globe such as India and China among others. Booming urbanization and industrialization are some of the major factors that are fuelling the demand for buses for commercial transport purposes. Big companies operating across several industry verticals often provide commute to their employees and opt for buses as an optimum medium of transport for short as well as long distances. Furthermore, the governments across the globe are taking several initiatives to curb the carbon emissions with an aim to protect the environment and are taking necessary steps for the easy deployment of e-mobility solutions in many countries, which is also a key factor shaping up the global bus market growth during the next five years. Furthermore, the market players are also actively participating in the form of partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, new launches to meet the growing end-user requirements, and to gain a competitive edge over other players further shows the potential of the market to witness considerable growth over the next five years.

Penetration of electric buses

One of the key factors responsible for the healthy market growth is the growing penetration of electric buses in both developed and developing economies of the world. Governments across the globe are also aiming to curb the carbon emissions due to which they are further promoting the adoption of those commercial vehicles which cause less or no harm to the environment and also run on green technologies. This, in turn, is further widening up the business growth opportunities for the market players over the next five years. Government funding and incentive schemes in many parts of the world have led to increased efforts by schools, private transportation companies, and others to use more electric buses than diesel and other fuel types which may cause harm to the environment. For instance, in November 2019, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced a grant reward of $695,509 to the Bay Shore school district in Bay Shore, New York. This grant was mainly given to the school to replace its diesel-powered buses with electric buses and to install the necessary charging infrastructure for electric buses as well. Similarly, in July 2019, the United States Department of Transportation announced an investment worth US$85 million in grants for numerous projects to meet its requirements of Low- or No-Emission (Low-No) Grant program. Furthermore, the developing economies across the APAC, as well as Latin American region, are also lucrative markets for E-buses as the governments are adopting electric buses for public transportation services in countries like India, China, and others. For instance, in August 2019, the Indian government sanctioned a project for the deployment of approximately 6,000 electric buses in more than 60 cities across the country under the second phase of Faster Adoption and Manufacture of Electric Vehicles scheme.

Participation by market players

There is a high volume of companies working in the global bus market, however, some have solidified their position as the leading providers in this industry. These players are involved in a plethora of investments, product launches, R&D, partnerships, and acquisitions as a part of their growth strategies to further strengthen their position and provide better products to their customers worldwide, which is further expected to propel the growth of the market in the coming years. For instance, recently in July 2020, Hyundai, one of the globally leading automotive companies based out of Korea announced the launch of eco-friendly EV bus for the global market which comes with zero-emission technology. In June 2020, Eicher a leading truck and bus manufacturer based out of India announced the launch of its latest HD Bus Skyline Pro 6016 to be commercially available for sale throughout India. Furthermore, the major players operating in the heavy commercial vehicles market are also entering the electric vehicles segment is lucrative growth opportunities are expected in that segment owing to serval policies and regulations regarding electric HCVs. For example, in October 2019, Volvo AB, one of the world’s largest bus and truck manufacturers announced the launch of its new electrically-powered articulated bus, Volvo 7900 Electric Articulated. This bus has the capability to carry around 180 passengers at a time and the company also claims it will consumer approximately 80% less energy when compared to corresponding diesel buses. Moreover, in July 2019, Ashok Leyland, an Indian automobile company announced the launch of a new next-generation AC Midi bus range Oyster in India. The company aims to tap the potential of growing bus demands for tourist companies and small industries that require buses for a limited number of people.

The outbreak of COVID-19

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease plays a significant role in shaping up the market growth especially during the short period of eight to ten months. The demand for buses is expected to show a downfall owing to the fact the government restrictions such as social distancing and nationwide lockdowns in many countries has led to a slum in the tourism activities globally. Furthermore, the ban on interstate travel in many countries is also a major factor that is expected to temporarily suspend traveling activities in many parts of the world. This, in turn, is anticipated to negatively impact the demand for buses during the short period. Additionally, the trade restrictions have further disrupted the supply chain which has further led to an increase in the prices of raw material. This, combined with the non-availability of labor in many countries has further led to a temporary suspension in the manufacturing activities across several industries globally, which in turn is also expected to restrain the market growth in the coming time period since the duration of the pandemic is still uncertain.

However, in many countries, the demand for buses is increasing as the new buses are being purchased by organizations and trusts and are being converted into mobile COVID testing facilities. For example, in May 2020, BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) launched a mobile testing COVID-19 testing bus with a primary aim to enable mass screening across the city. Similarly, in Delhi, an artificial intelligence-enabled coronavirus mobile testing clinic bus was launched by the Delhi government.

The global bus market has been segmented on the basis of application, fuel type, seating capacity, and geography. By application, the segmentation of the market has been done on the basis of school bus, transit bus, and others. By fuel type, the classification of the market is done as diesel, electric, and others. On the basis of seating capacity, the segmentation of the market has been done as 15-30, 21-50, and more than 50. Moreover, on the basis of geography, the market has been distributed into North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific.

APAC to hold a significant share

The bus market in the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to hold a substantial market share throughout the course of the forecast period. The presence of a considerably large population base along with the high dependence of people on public transport are also some of the key factors bolstering the share of the market in the region during the next five years. Furthermore, there has been a growing deployment of electric buses in major emerging economies of the region such as India and China owing to several government policies to promote the adoption of electric buses. Moreover, the European region is expected to show a decent growth until the end of the forecast period. The primary factor supplementing the fast growth of the European region is the rapid penetration of electric buses in many countries of the region. According to the statistics by the International Energy Agency, the registration of electric buses in the European region is fastest among all the regions. For instance, the new electric bus registrations in Europe reached 1.99 thousand by the year 2019 from 0.11 thousand in 2015.

Competitive Insights

Prominent/major key market players in the global bus market include Volvo AB, Daimler AG, MAN, Scania, Tata Motors Limited, and Anhui Ankai Automobile Co., Ltd among others. The players in the global bus market are implementing various growth strategies to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors in this market. Major market players in the market have been covered along with their relative competitive position and strategies and the report also mentions recent deals and investments of different market players over the last few years. The company profiles section details the business overview, financial performance (public companies) for the past few years, key products and services being offered along with the recent deals and investments of these important players in the global bus market.

Segmentation

By Application

• School Bus
• Transit Bus
• Others

By Fuel Type

• Diesel
• Electric
• Others

By Seating Capacity

• 15-30
• 31-50
• More Than 50

By Geography

• North America
• USA
• Canada
• Mexico
• South America
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Others
• Europe
• Germany
• France
• United Kingdom
• Spain
• Others
• Middle East and Africa
• Saudi Arabia
• Israel
• Others
• Asia Pacific
• China
• Japan
• South Korea
• India
• Others