Ikarus Bus
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Ikarus is a bus manufacturer based in Budapest, Hungary. It was established in 1895 as Uhri Imre Kovács- és Kocsigyártó Üzeme (roughly: Uhri Imre's Blacksmith Worskhop and Automobile 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 2004, Ikarus closed down, but in 2006 it was bought back by Gábor Széles. The company has come out with a new, low-floor model in April, which they want to produce in Hungary (200-400 per year), Russia (1000-2000 per year) and China (10,000 per year).
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
- EAG E91 mini city bus, 7.8 meters
- EAG E92 city bus, 9 meters
See also
External links
- [Ikarus website (under construction)]
- [Article about "Ikarus Bus and Coaches" from busexplorer website]
- [Polish page about Ikarus and Man buses]
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