Ikarus Bus

Infobox_Company
company_name = Ikarus Bus
company_logo =
company_type = Private company
company_slogan = Unknown
foundation = 1895
location = Budapest, Hungary
key_people = Gábor Széles — Chairman
num_employees = Unknown
industry = Manufacturing
products = Buses
revenue = Unknown
homepage =|

Ikarus is a bus manufacturer based in Budapest, Hungary. It was established in 1895 as Uhri Imre Kovács- és Kocsigyártó Üzeme (roughly: Imre Uhri's Blacksmith Workshop and Carriage Factory).

By 1913, the company focused mainly on constructing cars and due to increased sales during World War I it made great profits. In 1927, Ikarus had won an international tender and it was this year that large scale production could begin by delivering 60 shuttle buses. Following the Wall Street Crash the company became bankrupt as it did not receive any significant orders and it had to be closed down. In 1935 the company had resumed production and was fully functioning during World War II. On 23 February 1949, Ikarus was officially established when it merged with airplane manufacturer Ikarus Gép és Fémgyár Rt.

In 1955 and 1956 with the new models (Ikarus 620, 630 and 31) the company's foreign sales were boosted and apart from Eastern-European countries, China, Burma and Egypt started using them in several of their cities. By 1962, Ikarus delivered 8,000 buses abroad and in 1970 it won second place at an expo in Monaco showing its prominence in Europe. In 1971, over 100,000 buses were manufactured and sales increased year-by-year. By 1973, Ikarus became the world's fourth largest manufacturer, but lacking raw materials, orders were not delivered in time on several occasions. Until the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic was one of the most important trading partners of Ikarus, but when Germany was reunited sales fell to about 10%.

From 1999, the company was owned by Irisbus, a French-Italian investing group. In 2006, Irisbus sold bus maker Ikarusbus to Hungary's Müszertechnika group for the full asking price. Müszertechnika signed a contract back in December to acquire 100% of the company, which was established back in 1999 as a 75:25 joint venture between Renault-Iveco and Hungarian Industrialist Mr. Gabor Szeles for Ikarus. In 2002, Ikarus placed the Natural Gas (CNG) 18 meter articulated bus in Colombia, which is currently in operation in Transmilenio Rapid Bus Mass Transit System in the Capital City of Bogota. The company has come out in 2007 with a new low-floor model which they plan to produce in Hungary (200-400 per year), Russia (1000-2000 per year) and China (10,000 per year).

In 2006, Mr. Gary Urteaga, a business entrepreneur from Peru, initiated a project with Ikarus to penetrate the Latin American Market. The Project involves the supply of Natural Gas (CNG) Buses of 8 meters, 12 meters and articulated 18 meters together with the investment in Bus Assembly Plants for the Latin American region. Offers have been made to bidders of the Metropolitano Rapid Bus Transit System of the City of Lima in Peru which is to awarded in 2007 and implemented in 2008-2009. Also, the Government of Venezuela has initiated dialogue with Ikarus derived from the strong interest in the market for Natural Gas Buses shown by President Hugo Chavez Frias.

Main products

* 208 suburban bus, 8.5 meters
* 210, 230 coach
* 211, 212, 216 bus
* 220 suburban bus, 9.4 meters, no series production
* 240, 246 city/suburban bus
* 242 city/suburban bus
* 250 coach, 12 meters, produced in large numbers
* 252 coach, 11 meters
* 260 standard citybus
* 280, 282, 283, 284, 286 articulated buses
* 290 airport bus
* 293 double articulated bus, prototype
* 260T standard trolleybus
* 280T articulated trolleybus

* 405 city bus, 7 meters
* 411 low-floor city bus, 11 meters
* 412 low-floor city bus, 11.9 meters
* 415 city bus, 11.4 meters
* 417 low-floor, articulated city bus, 17.6 meters, only ever 30 produced
* 435 articulated city bus, 17.8 meters
* 438 articulated bus (only 2 prototypes)
* 480 city bus, 12 meters
* 481 city bus, 12 meters
* 489 Polaris low-floor city bus, 12 meters

* EAG E91 mini city bus, 7.8 meters
* EAG E92 city bus, 9 meters
* EAG E94 city bus
* EAG E95 coach

Gallery

ee also

* Orion Bus Industries
* North American Bus Industries

External links

* [http://www.ikarusbus.co.hu/HTML/en/welcome.htm Ikarus Bus website]
* [http://www.hungarianbus.hu/index_eng.htm HungarianBus-IKARUS]
* [http://www.muszertechnika.hu/index_eng.html Müszertechnika Holding]
* [http://www.busexplorer.com/WorldBus/Ikarus-Text.html Article about "Ikarus Bus and Coaches" from busexplorer website]
* [http://ikarus.wpk.katowice.pl Polish page about Ikarus and Man buses]
* [http://buszok.freeweb.hu/ Hungarian website featuring many Ikarus buses]
* [http://www.ikarusbus.cz/ The newest Ikarus 412 low-entry bus]
* [http://www.eltiempo.com/tiempoimpreso/edicionimpresa/economicas/2007-03-26/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3492270.html Ikarus in Colombia]
* [http://www.correodelcaroni.com/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,162/?id=60201 Ikarus in Venezuela]
* [http://buszok.freeweb.hu/tipusok.htm Detailed Hungarian Ikarus list]
* [http://www.rpp.com.pe/portada/economia/negocios/87825_1.php New IKARUS plant in South America]
* [http://www.peru21.com/P21Online/Html/2007-07-04/OnP2Actualidad0749259.html IKARUS buses in Lima]
* [http://gortransport.kharkov.ua/bus/ps/ikarus250/ikarus_tx.php Technical description of Ikarus buses (in Russian)]