The company SOR Libchavy in the Orlickoústec region is testing a hydrogen bus. It will soon start test drives with its prototype. It is also testing an articulated bus equipped with radar.
The hydrogen bus is 12 metres long and is equipped with active safety features such as radars or cameras instead of rear-view mirrors. „The hydrogen bus shows how much potential SOR has not only in production but also in the development of new products. This enables us to respond flexibly to all our customers' requirements. In November, an articulated bus equipped with general safety features, i.e. fitted with radars that constantly assess the situation in front of and on both sides of the vehicle, went on a test run in Germany,“ said Kuchyňa.
The company produced between 500 and 550 buses last year and the year before. Last year, diesel buses accounted for 59 percent of production, while gas buses accounted for 14 percent. Electric buses accounted for two percent of production and trolleybuses 22 percent of production. „We are a customer-oriented company and we organise production flexibly according to customer requirements,“ the production director said.
„The Czech Republic and Slovakia are the main markets for SOR Libchavy. But we also have customers in other countries. Last year we started production of 91 trolleybuses for Vilnius, Lithuania, we are delivering a large order to a regular partner in Germany and new electric buses are heading to Romania and Bulgaria,“ Kuchyňa said.
Last year, the company also invested in production equipment. A new laser, which cuts steel profiles, replaced an outdated machine.
On the other hand, the fact that some suppliers were not able to respond flexibly enough to the demands of SOR Libchavy's customers had a negative impact on last year's production, the director added.
Around 700 people work at SOR. The company is 100% owned by EP Industries (EPI) through Bauliga. SOR used to manufacture agricultural machinery. In 1991, the company was bought by former Karosa employees and two years later the company produced its first prototype bus.
source - ČTK
photo -source - Czechbus
