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Solaris has ended its 2011 financial year with a new record result. For the first time in its history, Solaris sold over 1,200 buses. Additionally, volume deliveries of Solaris Tramino low-floor trams began. Solaris once again was in top position in the Polish bus market, while in Germany the company’s position as biggest importer was strengthened.

2011 was another successful year for Solaris, with a further rise in sales continuing the company’s sustainable growth. With an 8 per cent year-on-year increase, 1,205 new buses were sold to customers across Europe (2010: 1,120 buses). At the same time, volume deliveries of state-of-the-art Solaris Tramino low-floor trams started. Turnover of Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. rose by 17 per cent to a new record high of 370 million EUR (2010: 316 million EUR).

On the Polish home market, Solaris remains unchallenged as market leader in both the total bus market and the key city bus segment. Amid an overall positive market development, Solaris increased its sales significantly by 27 per cent to reach 518 units (2010: 407 units), giving it a 42 per cent share of the total Polish market for buses above 8 tons gross vehicle weight. 516 of these buses were city buses (2010: 405 buses); accordingly, Solaris’s share of the city bus market reached 54 per cent.

Germany remains the most important international market for Solaris and the company continues to be the largest importer of buses there. 248 new Solaris were registered in Germany, an increase of 31 per cent (2010: 190 buses). This gave Solaris a 6 per cent share of the total German bus market. As 232 buses were city buses (2010: 190 buses), the company’s share of this key segment was 10 per cent. This makes Solaris the only significant supplier of city buses in Germany beside the two domestic corporations. Further significant markets were France with 149 new Solaris buses (2010: 54 buses) and Scandinavia with 140 buses (2010: 304 buses).

Eco-friendly electric mobility already is routine for Solaris. Offering the world’s largest range of diesel-electric hybrid buses, the company continues to set trends for sustainable mobility. In 2011, Solaris sold 63 Urbino family hybrid buses. 5 per cent of all new Solaris buses used this climate-friendly technology, which enables fuel savings of up to 25 per cent and reduces harmful emissions by up to 78 per cent.

Another constant success is the Solaris Trollino family of trolleybuses, 65 of which were sold in 2011. With a 40 per cent share of all new trolleybuses delivered in the EU and EFTA, Solaris is the leading supplier of these eco-friendly vehicles.

The new Solaris Urbino electric also is emission-free at the point of operation. This innovative addition to the Solaris product range was unveiled in autumn 2011 and immediately elicited strong interest from operators: Solaris is in talks with companies from a number of European countries.

A milestone of the past year was the start of volume deliveries of low-floor trams, part of Solaris’s entry into rail vehicle manufacturing. Poznań City Transport has ordered 45 Solaris Tramino, the first 23 of which had entered service by the end of 2011. With technical availability running at a level of 99 per cent, Poznań’s Tramino are remarkable reliable not just for new trams. Delivery of the remaining vehicles continues and will be concluded by the end of May 2012. In the meantime, Solaris trams have found favour beyond the country’s borders. The first international order was signed in July 2011 with Jenaer Nahverkehr GmbH of Jena (Germany), whose five Solaris Tramino will be delivered by mid-2013. This will be the first time a Polish manufacturer delivers trams to a German operator.