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Dec 5, 2012 10:44 AM

The  world market for buses is projected to grow 5% percent annually to 632,000  units in 2016, approaching $64 billion in sales, according to World  Buses, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based  industry market research firm.

Much  of the gains will be attributable to Type C school buses, demand for which will  skyrocket from 26,000 units in 2011 to 70,000 units in 2016.  This  increase will largely be driven by market advances in China, where sales of  Type C buses will expand rapidly from a small existing base because of safety  concerns about other types of buses currently used to transport students.

   Growth in demand for motor coaches, transit buses, and all other buses will, in  the aggregate, be much more moderate, averaging 3.7 percent per year through  2016, a pace consistent with longer term trends.

Transit  bus sales will rise at the next fastest rate behind Type C school buses, spurred  by efforts to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality as urban  populations continue to grow; volatile fuel costs, making bus transportation  more attractive to commuters; and the ongoing development of public  transportation infrastructures, including bus rapid transit systems, in a  number of developing countries.  The market for motor coaches, which  account for the largest portion of global bus demand, will increase at a  somewhat slower pace, fueled by rising per capita incomes and vacation travel  spending. 

The  Asia/Pacific region will register the fastest market advances through 2016,  fueled by robust economic growth and the expansion of urban transit systems,  particularly in China and India.  China alone will account for  three-fifths of all new bus demand between 2011 and 2016. 

The  Africa/Mideast region will post the second fastest gains, supported by further  development of public transportation infrastructures, most notably in Nigeria,  where bus sales will rise 13 percent annually through 2016 from a relatively  small current base. 

The  US will also record above average increases, as bus demand rebounds following a  dramatic drop in sales from 2006 to 2011.