School Bus Demand Grows in China – Freedonia Group Trend Analysis

Global demand for school buses is projected to expand 3.6% annually to 66,800 units in 2023, slower than the 2013-2018 rate of increase and anticipated gains for the bus market overall. Weak school bus sales growth in the US and Canada – two of the world’s three largest school bus markets – will prevent the segment from registering stronger growth. According to analyst Gleb Mytko, “The growing use of nontraditional school buses like small motor coaches in a variety of countries – such as Brazil, India, and Russia – will also be a restraining factor”. High levels of demand for used models in many industrializing countries will supplant sales of new school buses to some extent.

More information about the new Global Buses study is here: https://www.freedoniagroup.com/industry-study/global-buses-3733.htm

Despite growing at a subpar pace, the school bus segment is still projected to post significant gains between 2018 and 2023 because of two trends:

• growing demand for school buses in China as the government addresses safety issues and expands student busing services
• minor replacement demand gains in North America, the dominant geographic market for these products

Demand for all bus types collectively is forecast to grow 4.7% annually to 606,500 units in 2023, bringing the number of buses in use to 9.6 million units. Numerous trends are expected to contribute to gains, including:

• advances in government spending on public transportation to expand transit services, reduce traffic congestion, and improve air quality
• continued expansion of global tourism and private transportation
• a shift from the use of conventional (diesel and gasoline) fuel to CNG/LNG, electric, and hybrid models in urban transit systems, which will prompt the early upgrade of bus fleets to achieve fuel cost savings

Please contact Corinne Gangloff at +1.440.684.9600 or [email protected] for an interview with the analyst Gleb Mytko.