Pelican Bus & Coach has officially opened its new Yutong showroom and operations centre. Andy Izatt was amongst invited guests who were able to see what the new facility had to offer, and inspect the first E10 all-electric midibus for the UK
Mr Jin Xu, Minister Councillor for Economic and Commercial Development at the Chinese Embassy in the UK, has officially opened Pelican Bus & Coach’s new Yutong showroom and operations centre at Castleford.
Built on a 1.4-acre site a short distance from the company’s head office in Altofts Lane, the 12,000 sq ft building, which represents a £1.5m investment, includes a customer reception area with catering facilities, a well-equipped four bay workshop and secure parking (CBW, Pelican Bus & Coach, January 16, 2018).
When he unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the opening, Mr Jin emphasised the strong reciprocal trade links between China and the UK – a relationship that continues to develop. He pointed out that Pelican will mark its 100th anniversary in 2019. Yutong, on the other hand, is based in his home city of Zhengzhou in the province of Henan, home to around 100m people. Yutong has 45,000 staff, but it’s not the biggest employer. Other companies manufacturing locally include Vodafone with 200,000 and Foxcom which makes 85% of all iPhones and has 420,000.[wlm_nonmember][…]
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Part of a family
“The relationship between Yutong and Pelican is more than a partnership,” explained Mr Kent Chang, Yutong Vice President in charge of Overseas Sales. “It’s about being part of a family.
“I still remember the day when I first met Richard Crump (Pelican Bus & Coach Managing Director). I was in Paris where we’d attended a trade show. It was the last day and we were set to fly back to China when I received a call from him. He wanted to meet and wondered if I could come to the UK, but that wasn’t possible because of visa restrictions.
“Richard said he would catch a fast train to Paris and he was there within hours. We went to a Chinese restaurant where we had a short, but excellent meeting. I knew nothing about him or Pelican, but his confidence convinced me that there could be a real opportunity for Yutong in the UK. We shook hands and I invited him to China.”
Within a matter of days Richard, Ken Grindrod (Pelican’s now retired Sales Director) Bob Elliott (now UK Sales Manager) and Phil Hodgson (now Area Sales Manager – South) flew to China and as Mr Kent Chang went on to say: “We started to build the dream – Yutong and Pelican’s dream in the UK.
“Yutong was founded in 1964 and our sole objective since has been to build better vehicles,” he said. “The Chinese domestic market is quite big, but we also now export to more than 130 countries. Over the past seven years we’ve been the world number one bus and coach manufacturer in terms of volume.
“I think markets are like cakes with different flavours. While each is different, we understand that a lot of our customers are family businesses that run a small number of vehicles. They rely on those vehicles staying on the road because they have bills and salaries to pay. What they want is minimum downtime and no breakdowns.
“We know clients like choice so our objective is to always offer better solutions. To do that we’ve learnt the importance of having good local partners that can deliver the sales and aftersales support we expect and meet those expectations. That way, once they try us, we know they’ll be happy with what we can offer.
“We respect Pelican because of its long history and depth of experience in looking after customers. We need people working with us like that who understand what clients expect, want to satisfy that and who can build a relationship that will help us improve our product offering. It’s about making sure that engineering, service and sales work together because being competitively priced is not enough. Build your name in the right way with your local partner and the sales numbers will follow.”
Customer confidence
The continuing popularity of the Yutong TC9 midi coach and its capacity to now attract repeat orders was underlined on the day of the official opening with the handover of a second example to Williams Coaches of Brecon. John Williams, who was driving the coach home that day, explained that the family firm’s decision to buy again was because the first TC9 had proved its worth.
“While we manufacture our vehicles in China, Yutong is a global company and many of the components we use are European,” Mr Kent Chang continued. “Yutong builds more than 420 buses a day and every one of those is carefully documented and checked. That includes carrying out three PDIs (Pre Delivery Inspections) before going to customers – firstly at the factory, again prior to shipping from Shanghai and finally by the local dealer.
“This is my first visit to the UK so I was keen to hear what customers thought first hand. So far I’ve received very positive feedback about both Yutong and Pelican. I can see the relationship with clients is there.”
Said Richard Crump: “I think what’s good about the way we introduced Yutong in the UK is that we started with coaches. That enabled us to build confidence amongst those often small family-owned operators first – the very point Mr Kent Chang has been making. There are close to 300 Yutongs on the road now spread between more than 200 operators. That’s why we’re confident that we’ll be able to sell at least 80-90 new Yutong coaches a year going forward. If we were reliant on a small number of big orders we wouldn’t be able to do that.”
“What we’ve done is establish Yutong’s and our own reputation for quality and service in the coach and bus sector,” said Bob Elliott. “We’ve not been afraid to take on more personnel when we’ve needed them or the specialists who can help build this business. Ian Downie who is our Head of Yutong Bus UK, and our new Yutong Workshop Manager Mark Chandler are testament to that. Operators now know that what we say is what we do and what we offer will appeal to even more of them as the product range is expanded.”
Said Richard: “Up to now we’ve offered the TC9 midi and the 12m TC12 coach which is a good all rounder. Our new 12m high-floor GT12 will be unveiled at Euro Bus Expo and, designed for European customers first, sets a high standard. We know we have TC9 customers who weren’t quite sure if the TC12 was right for them, but will be keen to see the GT12.”
“What we wanted was to create a 100% European coach,” said Mr Kent Chang. “It was a different challenge as normally we build for China first, but we want our clients to say this is the vehicle they’ve been looking for – to give them the right solution and those that have already seen it say they like it. It’s a vehicle that passengers will appreciate and it will help them secure more business.”
“Customer expectations are rising all the time, but Yutong’s leading position globally means it’s able to fully respond to that,” said Bob. “It would have been nice to have had a vehicle like the GT12 when we first entered the coach market, but the TC12 was still well-received and has sold well. It fulfils different requirements and there’s continuing demand for it. In fact we’ve literally just invoiced one out.
“Those with lingering concerns about what’s made in China should consider just how much of what they buy comes from there now. We’ve already sold vehicles to customers who told us when we first started that they would never buy a Chinese vehicle. We’ve taken a softly, softly approach and will continue to do so.
“With the GT12, Yutong has listened to what the market wants and we already have expressions of interest from more than two dozen existing Yutong customers. I’m sure that when we start delivering them and others see what’s on offer, they will want to take a much closer look. It’s a product that will take us into new markets.”
Electric debut
Pelican had its complete range of Yutong product on display during the official opening. As well as TC9 and TC12 coaches, there was a 12m CB12 diesel city bus and its 12m E12 equivalent which has most recently demonstrated on Park & Ride services operated by First York. A pair of Excel converted minibuses using LDV vans supplied by Pelican and also manufactured in China completed the line-up.
Making its public debut was the first of two 10.8m Yutong E10 all-electric midibus demonstrators built to Transport for London (TfL) specification. When Pelican describes it as all-electric, it means it. As with the E12, the saloon heating and ventilation system is electrically powered. There’s no diesel fuelled motor to fulfil that function.
Ian Downie explained that this first E10 will enter service with Arriva London based at South Croydon garage where it will be evaluated against Optare Metrocity electrics on TfL contracted route 312 (South Croydon-Norwood Junction). That will involve trials with and without the heater and ventilation system operating.
Utilising 12 Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery packs on the roof gives the E10 a capacity of 324kwh which compares to 295kwh supplied by the 16 battery packs installed in the E12. Seating is for 31 with space for 46 standees and there are USB ports by every seat. In provincial configuration without a centre door, four more seats could be accommodated, but the number of standees would reduce by a similar number.
Ian explained that E10 energy usage is 1kw/h and allowing for a 10% margin, the vehicle’s range is 181 miles. Yutong offers fully programmable chargers with a capacity of either 60kW or 150kW and E10 recharge times from 10% to 100% are four hours, 52 minutes and two hours, 26 minutes respectively.
Feedback from the E12 trials that have taken place since early last year around the country have already underlined the operational capabilities of a Yutong electric. One user managed unintentionally to obtain three full days of operation from one charge by which point battery capacity had been depleted to 6%.
Ian was keen to highlight Yutong’s willingness to be flexible. He was at the factory with potential customers during the E10’s build and as a result of feedback given at the time the parking brake was repositioned and the number of saloon heaters reduced.
He also underlined Pelican’s willingness to work with customers on understanding their operational requirements and how packages can be tailored to meet their needs. Important selling points of the Yutong solution are the stability and robustness of the LFP battery pack – its supplier CATL is used by Apple/Foxcom – and the use of a DC charging system which has greater capacity than AC and is safer.
“Under the Kyoto agreement countries have agreed to reduce CO2 so there’s a big opportunity to make a difference in other parts of the world, including the UK,” observed Mr Kent Chang. “Offering vehicles like the E12 and E10 means we can provide a better solution for the environment and our electric buses are already running in France, Russia and the Middle East as well as other parts of the world.
“Electric buses are a solution in tackling air pollution, but not the only one. The Chinese government has been active in closing polluting factories, encouraging the use of public transport and incentivising the introduction of a full range of electric vehicles including cars. In Henan province we have seen a change over the past three years in air quality. We’re seeing more blue sky and we feel very good about that.
“There are more than a million electric buses operating in China and Yutong has had the biggest market share. Now the government wants a more commercial approach so the focus has moved to reducing life cycle costs compared to diesel buses. Maintenance costs, for example, are significantly lower. Richard and Bob don’t just tell their customers about that. They bring them to China so they can see for themselves.
“We want to offer different solutions and our objective is to make them more affordable. Yutong spends more than 4% of its total sales volumes on research and development and most of that goes on new energy (hybrid, electric and fuel cell) buses.”
Said Richard: “I’ve been told that one of the biggest passenger complaint issues with diesel buses is that they get too hot in the summer especially if you’re sitting at the back next to the engine. With an electric vehicle that’s not an issue and the absence of a gearbox means that acceleration couldn’t be smoother. However, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Euro 6 diesels are incredibly clean. They’re part of the solution, not the problem.
“Our approach at Pelican is to find solutions that work for our customers and to build relationships that are based on trust. The new showroom and operations centre is part of that and demonstrates our commitment to working with Yutong.”
“Yutong and Pelican can do something special together in the UK,” added Mr Kent Chang. “We know we have a confident partner and there is a long-term strategy.”
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