Plaxton expects to announce more orders for its Panorama double-decker coach in coming weeks as the Scarborough manufacturer’s range remains largely buoyant.
On display at Coach & Bus UK was a second demonstrator. It will shortly begin an evaluation programme with operators. The original demonstrator has been sold to Berry’s Coaches of Taunton.
Plaxton also reinforced its message that stock examples of its Leopard and Panther range remain available quickly. That includes high-capacity versions of the former.
General Manager Coach Sales Simon Wood adds that leasing options for both models in conjunction with Dawsongroup Bus and Coach and Mistral are expected to prove popular.
A batch of 10 PSVAR-compliant Leopard with either 57 or 72 seats will be in stock from March 2020 onwards. They will be available to lease via Mistral, says Mr Wood. Those coaches will complement a batch of non-compliant Leopards that available to lease via Dawsongroup Bus and Coach. Panthers will also be available via Mistral.
“Addition of PSVAR-compliant stock is the result of customer demand. Many conversations between our sales team and operators include talk of PSVAR. If the 10 compliant Leopards for stock go quickly, we will put more into our build programme.”
Plaxton continues to market itself on the breadth of its range. Despite the end of production for the Mercedes-Benz Atego-based Cheetah XL, the product base extends from 41 seats in the Panther Cub to the high-capacity Panorama.