Following a meeting of creditors, GoZero Group’s bid to acquire leading bus manufacturer, BusTech, has been approved, with the deed of company  arrangement to be finalised in the coming days, pending the satisfactory conclusion of  discussions with the state governments. 

“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,” said GoZero Group Managing Director Stephen Cartwright OAM. 

This acquisition substantially bolsters GoZero Group’s Australian bus manufacturing capability, with BusTech’s factories in South Australia and Queensland complementing  GoZero’s established Nexport bus factory in Western Sydney. 

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

“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. 

“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.

“For every bus we build in Australia, five Australian jobs are created or retained. Buses are the most used mode of public transport ahead of all other modes. 

‘In NSW alone, buses account for well over 40 % of all public passengers, making over 300 million journeys a year. 

“Having a strong and predictable pipeline of bus orders is the key to the sustainability of local bus manufacturing, the creation of jobs (including 4-year apprenticeships) and  the renewal of the public transport fleet with low and zero emissions buses. 

Mr Cartwright said the acquisition of BusTech would go a long way to solving the local bus manufacturing sector’s ‘chicken and egg’ problem, where Governments’ often  expect manufacturers’ to have already invested in scaled capability prior to being  offered new bus orders.  

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

BusTech Group was established in 1995 with its first bus completed in its factory in Ernest, Queensland. It currently has factories in Rocklea, Queensland and Edinburgh,  South Australia and has in excess of 100 employees.