Wrightbus has partnered with Chinese manufacturers to launch Rightech, a new brand that will offer ‘white label’ zero-emission vehicle solutions
The Rightech RB9 (left) and RB6 (right) have been sourced from Chinese manufacturer King Long
By Andrew Garnett
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, and Ballymena-based bus manufacturer Wrightbus is doing just that with a new range of so-called ‘white label’ battery-electric buses and trucks launched under a new brand – Rightech.
Rightech was launched last week in the glamorous surroundings of the Daylesford Organic complex in the Cotswolds. It’s a business owned by Lady Bamford, the mother of Wrightbus owner Jo Bamford.
The new brand includes two electric midibuses – the six-metre RB6 and nine-metre RB9 – and a 7.5-tonne truck available in both left and right-hand drive variants. The products result from strategic partnerships with Chinese manufacturers; King Long, no stranger to the UK market in the past, has been announced as the partner for the two buses. Wrightbus claimed it has already secured four orders for the RB6, with further announcements expected shortly.
The manufacturer says this is not just about importing vehicles as-is from lower cost Chinese manufacturers; it claims the King Long products have been “meticulously selected” to meet Wrightbus’s exacting standards. Meanwhile, the company’s engineers have been heavily involved in making the products ready for the UK and European markets, dedicating over 30,000 hours to fine-tuning and homologating the vehicles.
Bus operators did not really consider the total cost of ownership a couple of decades ago, but it’s a buzzword that is now front and centre of many purchasing decisions. As a result, Wrightbus is making a big play on the competitive total cost of ownership savings with the RB6 and RB 9 when compared to diesel alternatives, and the figures are impressive – 11% for the RB6 and 7% for the RB9.
The RB6, which Wrightbus describes as an “efficient and comfortable commuter bus”, features an 89kWh battery with a range of at least 112 miles and a 22-passenger capacity, with 10 plus two of them seated, while the larger RB9 boasts a 282kWh battery, a range of 187 miles, and space for 57 passengers (25 plus two seated). Both models come with rapid charging capabilities, with the RB6 charging from
20-80% in 37 minutes and the RB9 in one hour and 24 minutes.
Rightech promises comprehensive warranties, including a two-year, 200,000km vehicle warranty, a three-year, 100,000km e-drive system warranty, and an eight-year, 400,000km battery warranty.
Wrightbus’ extensive AllServiceOne support network will back the Rightech brand, including partnerships with Sapphire in the UK, which adds 14 regional workshops to Wrightbus’ existing facilities in Ballymena, Bicester, and Warwick. In Europe, Rightech has signed letters of intent (LOIs) with service providers in Germany, France, and Benelux, complementing the company’s regional service headquarters in Brühl, Germany.
Rightech has the answer – offering an incredible product with the backing of Britain’s best bus manufacturer
Bamford, who bought the business out of administration in 2019, said the urgency of decarbonising has led to the decision to move ahead with the new Rightech ‘white label’ brand in partnership with Chinese manufacturers.
“Given the very tangible effects of climate change on our planet, there’s simply no time to waste,” he said. “Rightech has the answer – offering an incredible product with the backing of Britain’s best bus manufacturer.”
Future ambitions
The introduction of the Rightech brand follows a period of record growth for Wrightbus, which now claims to be the fastest-growing bus manufacturer in Europe. The company now employs 2,200 people, has factories in Northern Ireland and Malaysia, and a growing network of support and service centres in the UK, Ireland, and continental Europe.
The company also claims to be in “robust financial health”. While actual figures on profitability were not disclosed at the launch of Rightech, Wightbus claims its revenues for 2024 will be £485m. Just over 1,000 buses were produced in 2024, with a target of 1,200 this year – a sizeable increase on the 427 that passed through the Ballymena production line in 2022. Notably, back then, just 50% of those vehicles were zero-emission; Wrightbus claims that figure will increase to 95% in 2025.
Jean-Marc Gales, Wrightbus’s unflappable French chief executive, highlighted the company’s commitment to zero-emission. “Wrightbus has been flying the flag for zero-emission long before anyone else,” he said. “Our hydrogen double-decker was the world’s first, and we have 1,700 electric buses on the road, covering millions of miles across the UK and Europe with an
in-service availability of 98.6%.”
Gales also confirmed plans to expand into the coach market by 2026 with a new zero-emission hydrogen-powered vehicle, which he said would further diversify the company’s product portfolio.
“We want to be a global mobility business,” he said. “Our factory continues to increase production of full-size single and double-deck buses, but to meet demand in the zero-emission midi-bus sector, this partnership makes sense.”
But where does this leave Ballymena? Isn’t off-shoring the production of these vehicles a first step in moving production overseas? Gales denies that is the case, pointing to the launch last year of NewPower, which converts existing diesel buses to zero-emission. It’s a business based in the UK but with a concept that is “highly exportable.” Existing Wrightbus products will continue to have a home in Ballymena and the company’s Far Eastern production facility in Malaysia that was inherited as part of Bamford’s acquisition of Wrightbus.
“We have absolutely zero intention of sourcing our traditional buses, anything above 18 tonnes, from China,” he said. “Anything above 18 tonnes is clear-cut Wrightbus in Ballymena and Malaysia. In fact Malaysian labour costs are better than China.
“We do not plan to take anything above 18 tonnes out of Ballymena – on the contrary, we are increasing production. We want to do 1,500 buses there next year. We are ambitious.”
Gales said the company was using the competitive advantage of its Chinese manufacturing partners, fitting out the products to conform to established European standards and then selling them in a market where the company could never really be competitive with its own products developed and produced in-house. “We could never produce a six-metre bus competitively in Europe,” he added.
Hydrogen opportunity
Bamford highlighted the valuable lessons Europeans can learn from the Chinese, particularly their vertically integrated approach to production.
“We have a wonderful opportunity in Europe to approach this energy transition correctly,” he said. “China has done a brilliant job. They hold 85% of the market in batteries because they’ve treated it as a complete solution.”
He noted that major Chinese manufacturers initially benefited from government subsidies, which enabled them to take a holistic view of production.
We have a wonderful opportunity in Europe to approach this energy transition correctly
“They make every component in the vehicle,” he explained. “They manufacture the battery and even own the lithium and cobalt mines. That level of control changes how you think about manufacturing.”
However, Bamford acknowledged that China’s dominance in battery technology presents a significant challenge.
“I don’t think we can compete directly,” he admitted. “The way forward is to develop a better solution. BYD has 80,000 engineers researching battery chemistries. The UK produces only 10,000 engineering graduates a year in total. That means BYD has the equivalent of eight years of our entire engineering output focused on one area. Thinking we can out compete them in batteries is like using a pea shooter to hit a general on the other side.”
This, Bamford said, is why he champions hydrogen technology. “We need to excel in areas where others are not,” he added. “Wrightbus has been working on hydrogen since 2008.”
He criticised recent government zero-emission bus funding, arguing that it has largely benefited overseas manufacturers, particularly those from China.
“If that funding had gone towards 4,000 hydrogen buses built in the UK, it could have jump-started the hydrogen revolution,” he said. “It might have led to the creation of a fuel cell factory, a hydrogen tank factory, and all the supporting elements of the supply chain – just like China has done. There’s a huge opportunity to get this right.”
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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