New bus manufacturing group emerges as GoZero buys BusTech from administrators

GoZero, which produces the zero-emission Nexgen Bus ZE-range, says the deal - secured via a deed of company arrangement with creditors - is expected to be finalised in days, pending discussions with state authorities that currently work with BusTech as a supplier of public transport infrastructure.

“We need the state governments to demonstrate their ongoing support for the transaction to ensure that the workers remain employed in Adelaide and Brisbane, and to ensure that BusTech remains a local bus manufacturer for many years to come,” says GoZero Group managing director Stephen Cartwright.

BusTech, which has manufacturing facilities in Brisbane and Adelaide, is a major supplier of passenger buses nationally that are deployed by state and council transport authorities for their public transport networks. It is also a supplier to commercial bus operators.

The company was placed into voluntary administration in August this year by owner Fusion Capital, which acquired the business in 2019 from the Gold Coast-based Calabro family’s Transit Australia Group – former operator of the Surfside Bus network on the Gold Coast.

Fusion bought the manufacturing business following the Calabro’s sale of Transit Australia Group's public transport operations to Kinetic. It merged the then Burleigh Heads-based BusTech with its joint-venture partner Precision Buses.

Prior to the acquisition, BusTech had previously collaborated with Precision Buses – a bus manufacturer based in the northern Adelaide suburb of Edinburgh - to launch Transit Australia Group’s Australian-designed-and-built electric urban buses into the local market.

GoZero says the acquisition of BusTech will substantially boost its Australian bus manufacturing capability, with BusTech’s factories in Edinburgh, SA and Rocklea in Brisbane joining GoZero’s existing Nexport facility in Western Sydney.

“This is an important acquisition for GoZero Group,” says Cartwright.

“Not only will it increase our opportunity to service the growing national market for low- and zero-emission buses, but it will protect local manufacturing jobs in both Queensland and South Australia at a time when the employment market remains uncertain.”

BusTech has about 100 employees across its operations in Queensland and South Australia.

“We are rapidly scaling up to be able to meet increasing demand from state governments, councils and the private sector, increasing our investment in factories and people ensuring we have the scale and capacity to deliver Australian made world-class buses,” says Cartwright.

“This acquisition is a testament of great confidence in the future of the bus manufacturing sector in Australia, and the message to all tiers of government is clear: we support a future made in Australia, and we stand ready to help you reach your strategic zero emission targets and provide safer, cleaner public transport for all Australians.”

Cartwright notes that for every bus built in Australia “five Australian jobs are created or retained”.

“Buses are the most used mode of public transport ahead of all other modes,” he says. “Having a strong and predictable pipeline of bus orders is the key to the sustainability of local bus manufacturing, the creation of jobs and the renewal of the public transport fleet with low and zero emissions buses.”

Cartwright adds that the acquisition of BusTech will help solve the local bus manufacturing sector’s “chicken and egg” problem, where he says governments often expect manufacturers to have the capacity to scale-up production when offered new orders for buses.

“GoZero Group’s manufacturing strategy is to maximise local supply chain content in buses, supplemented with select strategic collaborations with proven international suppliers,” he says.