It’s a year of milestones for Pelican Engineering. In its centenary year, selling its 500th vehicle is a testament to its successful change of direction five and a half years ago
Pelican Bus and Coach hosted a delivery ceremony and lunch to celebrate the 500th Yutong vehicle exported to the UK at its showroom in Castleford near Leeds.
A cohort of 15 Chinese journalists attended the event including representatives from China Daily, Beijing News, China Buses annual publication and TV news crews.
The Yutong GT12 luxury touring coach was officially handed over to David Sheriff of Chesterfield-based Nova Tours. The coach is Nova’s second this year and will go into service in March next year. The previous vehicle was delivered in September and has made its debut voyage down south, “to give it a good run,” says David. “It was a fantastic ride.”
The celebration ceremony included speeches by Pelican Managing Director Richard Crump and Yutong European Regional Manager Jack Li.
Electric buses
Jack explained that the UK is one of Yutong’s key markets. Yutong is at the forefront of a move towards alternative energy sources.
“There will be a high demand for new energy buses in the future,” he says.
Go North East has ordered nine Yutong E10 full-electric buses from Pelican, which will go into service in July 2020.
Managing Director of Go North East Martijn Gilbert spoke at the ceremony.
“Unlike China, electric buses in the UK are very much in their infancy,” he explains.
“And it is a real benefit to us to be able to leverage the skill, expertise, knowledge and scale of the vast electric bus operations that we’ve seen in China.
“There were four main factors that made us choose Yutong. One was the capability – the mileage range. It’s also about the warranty, build quality and the support, the back up from Pelican and its ability to support products in the UK.”
A year of celebrations
Richard says: “This is a very special day for Pelican. After five-and-a-half years we have reached the landmark of the 500th vehicle, and I very strongly believe that our 1,000th vehicle will not take another five years but will take a lot less than that.”
Richard adds: “We share the same concept; that customers come first. We believe that, with Yutong’s high-quality products and our careful operation, we can achieve better results and serve the European customers better.”
Pelican was founded in 1919 by Richard’s grandfather Ernest Crump. Richard took the reins in 1996 from his father Bob.
“Another thing we are celebrating this year is 100 years of Pelican Engineering and Pelican Bus and Coach,” says Richard.
“Five years ago, we had spent 95 years in trucks, and we thought we would expand and start selling coaches. One of my colleagues had looked at a Chinese company called Yutong and I’d never heard of it.
“We rang and said we were interested in becoming its distributor for the UK and were told we would have to come over for a visit. So we flew to China and we were very well received and thought the factory was amazing – and it all went from there.”
He praised the quality of Yutong coaches, adding: “I didn’t really have any expectations as to what would happen in five years.
“I didn’t think Yutong would improve the product range and develop it as quickly as it has done.”
The benefits of Yutong
David received the 500th coach, along with his daughter Stevie Sayles. He says: “For us, buying a Yutong is cost-effective and our drivers have said that the driving experience is fabulous.”
John Welsh, owner of Pontefract-based Welsh’s Coaches, bought his first Yutong coach in 2015. He went on to buy two more in 2018 and now has two TC9s and a GT12.
“I’ve been operating the GT12 and it’s a good product I can rely on,” he explains. “I’m just a small operator and I have confidence in Yutong and Pelican and the back-up it provides.”
Pelican Sales Manger Bob Elliott adds: “I want to thank the team and after-sales staff for all the effort that they have put in to reach this milestone of vehicle sales in such a short period, and a big thank you to all of the customers who have joined our journey.”
After the ceremony the media guests were transported to Harewood House for a photoshoot with the coach, and a tour of the quintessentially English country house built in the 1700s. Afternoon tea was also provided.
