Switch is planning to close its Yorkshire factory and concentrate on India

[nick291]

I'm not surprised they're receiving little to no orders to be quite honest. This is the same manufacturer that were slow to fulfill Reading Buses' order of Metrodeckers for its GreenLine operations. To the point Reading Buses flat out cancelled the order.

 

[MotCO]

I'm not surprised they're receiving little to no orders to be quite honest. This is the same manufacturer that were slow to fulfill Reading Buses' order of Metrodeckers for its GreenLine operations. To the point Reading Buses flat out cancelled the order.

I'm always think back to how long it took for Optare to eventually build these five buses, and how BYD was able to produce a new double decker after their split with ADL, and get orders for 100's of them, seemingly untested, and to deliver them so quickly. Yes, BYD is a larger company and has more financial resources, but was Optare's problem a lack of R&D staff?

 

[dodecahedron67]

Optare/Switch's "problem" is that their product is awful

 

[joieman]

Optare/Switch's "problem" is that their product is awful

And outdated. Simples!

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

I'm always think back to how long it took for Optare to eventually build these five buses, and how BYD was able to produce a new double decker after their split with ADL, and get orders for 100's of them, seemingly untested, and to deliver them so quickly. Yes, BYD is a larger company and has more financial resources, but was Optare's problem a lack of R&D staff?

BYD have long experience in building double deckers on their own. They built some double deckers for the UK market in the early 2010s before partnering with ADL.

File:Metroline BYD1474 LJ16EZP at Willesden Bus Garage 19.8.17.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

And they have been building double deckers for the Chinese market.

File:XAB 608 20200429.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

 

[Surreyman]

With the closure of the UK plant, what will be the impact on the existing fleet of Solos, Versas, Metrocitys etc, i.e spare parts, support and will accountants be inclined to write down their book value?

 

[Gostav]

I'm always think back to how long it took for Optare to eventually build these five buses, and how BYD was able to produce a new double decker after their split with ADL, and get orders for 100's of them, seemingly untested, and to deliver them so quickly. Yes, BYD is a larger company and has more financial resources, but was Optare's problem a lack of R&D staff?

The basic design of buses, whatever double-decker or others, has remained largely unchanged since the last century, which doesn't explain what happened in Optare.

 

[37114]

With the closure of the UK plant, what will be the impact on the existing fleet of Solos, Versas, Metrocitys etc, i.e spare parts, support and will accountants be inclined to write down their book value?

It will affect residual values of second hand Optare buses so may require some revisiting of the balance sheet on owned versus leased buses. They used to buy in major components such as engines and gearboxes so I doubt consumable spares are an issue for operators,Optare specific body parts may become a challenge in time.

 

[CBlue]

Surely if the Solo is discontinued, we will just end up with more Mellor Strata’s etc, which I’m not sure many here would like

I'm not sure the opinions of a web forum are really going to be something Optare / Switch base production decisions around.

Those Stratas and similar are cheap, and therefore ideal for those really marginal routes that the Solo was originally developed for.
Producing a bespoke bus like the E200 or Solo is overkill now anyway, especially as those marginal low ridership routes that remain are in decline due to lack of local authority funding - far easier and cheaper for a manufacturer to pop a body onto a prebuilt van chassis.