Spanish bus bodybuilder Sunsundegui has ceased trading, following the culmination of the winding up process initiated in September last year, despite a reported order backlog of over 500 vehicles. Founded in 1956 and with some 340 employees, the company had seen financial troubles in its recent history, leading to its declaration of insolvency. Around €39.9m was owed to banking institutions, and €8.9m to suppliers.
During May the Mercantile Court in Pamplona approved the collective and back-dated dismissal of the company’s 320 employees from 16 May, citing lack of viable business continuity, insufficient revenues, and ongoing losses as reasons for approving the request from the insolvency administrator, whilst 18 members of staff remained on the company’s books to support the asset liquidation process.
According to the appointed administrator, the company’s organisational inefficiencies and technical limitations were compounded by a lack of liquidity. Hopes had been raised that Belgian industrial conglomerate the Dumarey Group – which acquired the ailing Woodall Nicholson business in the UK in 2023, parent company to Treka and Mellor – would invest to secure the company’s future, but that offer ultimately did not materialise, whilst the situation was worsened by the cancellation of a manufacturing partnership with Volvo to produce its 9700 and 9900 models by the Swedish manufacturer, which instead switched production of its 9700 to Mexico. Volvo cited excessive cost, including the requirement for additional investment, and complexity as a reason for the change, which it said could no longer be profitable.
