Buses and coaches: new leadership at ACEA
Brussels, 22 April 2021 – The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has appointed a new Chairman to lead its bus and coach division: Rudi Kuchta, who heads the bus business unit at MAN Truck & Bus.
“The transition to zero-emission mobility and the recovery from the COVID crisis are the core priorities of the EU bus industry right now,” stated Mr Kuchta after being appointed.
“Europe’s bus manufacturers are developing pioneering solutions to help cities reduce congestion, pollution and noise in parallel. E-mobility will be a key solution to achieve this, but requires the right charging infrastructure in the right places, such as urban nodes, airports and bus terminals,” Kuchta explained.
That is why ACEA is urging the European Commission and member states to scale up support for alternative fuel infrastructure dedicated to buses, as part of the review of Europe’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure law (AFID) expected later this year.
Electrically-chargeable buses made up 6.1% of total new registrations in the EU last year, with hybrid electric buses accounting for 9.5%. Over 11% of all new buses sold ran on alternative fuels, nearly all of which were powered by natural gas. All alternatively-powered vehicles combined represented over a quarter of the EU bus market in 2020, with diesel-powered buses holding some 73% of the total market.
ACEA brings together Europe’s five main bus and coach manufacturers: Daimler, Iveco, MAN, Scania and Volvo Group. Mr Kuchta takes over the role of Chairman of the ACEA Bus and Coach General Managers’ committee from Håkan Agnevall of Volvo Buses.
The transition to zero-emission mobility and the recovery from the COVID crisis are the core priorities of the EU bus industry right now.
Notes for editors
- Full details on the 2020 market composition of new buses by fuel type can be found here: http://www.acea.auto/pr-fcv/fuel-types-of-new-buses-electric-6-1-hybrids-9-5-diesel-72-9-market-share-in-2020/
- The photo of Mr Kuchta in high resolution can be downloaded here: http://www.acea.auto/files/Rudi_Kuchta_ACEA.jpg
About Rudi Kuchta
- After studying business administration, Rudi Kuchta spent his early career working at Neoplan Bus GmbH & Co in Stuttgart.
- In 2002, he joined MAN Camion & Bus SAS, France. From 2008, Mr Kuchta held several positions at MAN Truck and Bus SE in Munich.
- In January 2019, Mr Kuchta was appointed Head of Business Unit Bus at MAN Truck & Bus.
About ACEA
- The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) is the Brussels-based trade association of the 15 major car, van, truck and bus producers in Europe.
- More information about ACEA can be found on www.acea.be or www.twitter.com/ACEA_eu.
- Contact: Cara McLaughlin, Communications Director, cm@acea.be, +32 485 88 66 47.
About the EU automobile industry
- 13.0 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
- 11.5% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
- €374.6 billion in tax revenue for European governments
- €79.5 billion trade surplus for the European Union
- Almost 8% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
- €58.8 billion in R&D spending annually, 32% of EU total
