| Iveco Bus | |
| Former Name: | Irisbus (1999–2013) |
| Type: | Division |
| Foundation: | 1999 |
| Location: | Turin, Italy |
| Products: | Buses, coaches |
| Revenue: | €1.6 billion (2015) |
| Parent: | Iveco |
| Homepage: | Iveco.com |
Iveco Bus (formerly Irisbus) is a bus manufacturer with headquarters in Turin.[1] Iveco Bus is now only a brand division of IVECO[2] [3] [4] which is a company incorporated under Dutch law and listed on Borsa Italiana.
In 1975 Fiat Bus created the brand Iveco (Industrial Vehicle Corporation) which gradually took over operations of Officine Meccaniche (OM) and Orlandi in Italy, Berliet, Renault, Chausson, and Saviem in France, Karosa in the Czech Republic, Magirus-Deutz in Germany, and Pegaso in Spain.[5] With the integration of Renault Bus in 1999, Iveco Bus became Irisbus.
The French-Italian company was created in January 1999 by way of merger between the coach and bus divisions of Renault Véhicules Industriels and the coach and bus divisions of Fiat Industrial and IVECO, with Ikarus Bus added in late 1999. The Ikarus Bus division was sold off in 2006 to Hungary's Műszertechnika Group, acquiring the property of Heuliez and Karosa which became Iveco Czech Republic in 2007.
From 2003 to 2010, Irisbus was 100%-owned by Fiat Group's IVECO, and the company was named Irisbus Iveco.[6] On 14 September 2011, Fiat Industrial announced the closing of the Italian plant in Flumeri, Campania due to a drastic reduction in production, preparing the relocation of the activities to Annonay, France. Since 2013, Irisbus has been 100% owned by CNH Industrial's Iveco division.
The Irisbus name was retired and the division is a branch of Iveco, rebranded as Iveco Bus in May 2013, after a reorganization plan.[7] All new buses are now sold under the IVECO brand, as are all the other commercial road vehicles produced by the group.
The company is based in Turin with offices in Lyon, Watford, and Mainz. Buses are developed in one of two Research and Development centres, one in Italy and one in Switzerland. The engines which power Iveco buses were developed in Italy by Fiat Powertrain Technologies.
On 25 February 2020, Iveco and Otokar sign an agreement for the joint production of buses at the Sakarya plant in Turkey to be sold in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.[8] Born from this agreement was the Iveco Bus Streetway presented in September 2021, based on the Urbanway chassis and with Iveco Cursor 9 engines. This model complements the Urbanway without replacing it.[9]
In March 2022, the 150,000th bus was produced at the Vysoké Mýto plant.[10]
On 18 April 2023, the new area in the Foggia plant (former Sofim) was inaugurated for the assembly of coaches and buses. The investment for setting up the production line amounts to around 40 million euros and benefits from the funds made available by the Next Generation EU package. The plant has a production capacity of 1000 buses per year. The first models to be assembled and finished will be the E-Way and Crossway buses.[11]
The main assembly plants are located in:[12]
Twenty-seven plants located in 16 countries around the world produce vehicles, supply engines and parts:[13]