• Solaris sold a total of 1492 vehicles in 2022 • The company’s revenues stood at € 696 million • Battery vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, trolleybuses and hybrid buses, for the first time in the company's history, exceeded more than half of the share in the sales mix and amounted to exactly 55% • The company had position no. 2 in the zero emission bus market in 2022 with 11.2% market share [1] • The manufacturer maintained its no. 1 position in the e-bus aggregated market shares in the years 2012-2022 with 14,1% [2].
2022 company results
Solaris reported solid sales results in 2022, especially considering the market environment of last year. In this period, the company sold 1492 vehicles and generated revenues of €696 million.
It is worth emphasizing that the vast majority of contracts executed in 2022 were for the supply of vehicles with completely zero-emission or low-emission drives. Battery vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, trolleybuses and hybrid buses, for the first time in the company's history, exceeded more than half of the share in the sales mix and amounted to exactly 55%.
The growing share of low- and zero-emission vehicles in Solaris' sales mix, shows good recognition of the market and the manufacturer's adjustment to market expectations. In most EU countries, the share of e-mobility vehicles in the transport mix has been growing dynamically in the last few years. Solaris, building its portfolio in this segment for many years, is very well prepared for the changing expectations of end users.
This is confirmed by the company's maintenance of the position of the European leader in zero emission bus segment in the years 2012-2022 at the end of 2022 with a cumulative share of 14,1%.
Based on registrations of vehicles in 2022, Solaris had position no. 2 in the zero emission bus market with 11.2% market share.
In 2022, just as in 2020-2021, most of the world’s economies faced unprecedented challenges. The past few months have been difficult for the European public transport sector and companies that manufacture vehicles. Firstly, Solaris followed procedures, which were established to ensure business continuity due to the Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions. Secondly, the global electronic components crisis caused a major disruption in supply chains.
In addition to the above, in 2022 global economy and the company also had to navigate in a new situation caused by the war in Ukraine. While Solaris itself and most of its suppliers were not involved in business in Ukraine or Russia, some indirect suppliers were already affected by the impact of this conflict, which required special adaptation to the new conditions.
Another factor affecting the market environment was last year’s unprecedented high inflation, which in Poland reached an average level of 14.4%[3] in 2022.
Despite these challenges, Solaris has proved with its production and sales results that it is an organization well prepared for the dynamically changing market environment and is a company that is resilient to market turbulence.
In the reported period, Solaris delivered its products to customers from 18 countries. Major recipients of Solaris vehicles included, among other carriers, operators from Spain, Poland, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Romania, Estonia, and Latvia as well as Austria and Czech Republic.
In the reported period Solaris delivered in total 401 units of battery electric buses. Also worthy of note is the fact that Solaris sold 42 hydrogen buses in 2022. The Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen bus was launched in 2019. Since then, interest in this technology has soared, which is reflected in the number of orders for this type of vehicle in 2022 and units commissioned for 2023 and later.
The largest contracts
The largest Solaris contracts, partially or completely executed, in 2022 include:
- 2022 started for Solaris by signing a contract for the delivery of 183 battery buses. Unibuss AS, one of the biggest Norwegian carriers, has again opted for Solaris’ quality and contracted delivery of 183 Urbino 18 electric buses to the Norwegian capital. Such a large one-time order for electric buses was a breakthrough in the company's history.
- In 2022 the Italian operator ATM Milano has again placed an order for electric buses made by Solaris, going for another batch envisaged in the framework agreement for 250 vehicles. The first two batches, 140 electric Urbino buses in total, have already been delivered to the client. This time the operator has ordered another 75 units of Urbino 12 electric buses.
- In 2022 Solaris has signed its first contract for the delivery of trolleybuses to the Dutch market. Dutch operator Hermes, part of Transdev/Connexxion, has signed a contract for the delivery of 10 Trollino 18 trolleybuses featuring our unique MetroStyle design. The vehicles will make their way to Arnhem in the first half of 2024 and they will be the first Solaris trolleybuses to be deployed in the Netherlands.
- City of Poznań’s investments in green public transport are gathering pace. The city’s public transport operator MPK Poznań has purchased 25 innovative hydrogen-fuelled buses that will be supplied by Solaris Bus & Coach. This is by far the largest order for hydrogen Urbino hydrogen buses. MPK Poznań already boasts 58 electric Solaris buses, which account for nearly 20% of its fleet.
- Another contract for the delivery of hydrogen buses was signed by Solaris in Italy. Solaris will deliver four Urbino 12 hydrogen buses to Venice. The Urbino 12 hydrogen buses will serve the residents of Venice and its surroundings thanks to contracts signed with carriers AVM Venezia and ACTV SPA Venezia, which provide public transport services in Venice as well as within the communes of Venice and Chioggia.
- In 2022 Solaris has won a tender for the delivery of five hydrogen-powered Urbino 12 hydrogen buses to Palma de Mallorca, the capital of the island of Mallorca. This investment is part of the “Green Hyslan” project, financed with EU funds. The project objective seeks to promote the development of clean energy as part of initiatives aimed at combating climate change by 2050.
- In the reported period, Solaris Bus & Coach sp. z o.o. signed a contract with Latvian operator Rīgas Satiksme to deliver 35 Solaris Urbino 12 electric buses. In addition, the contract can be extended via the supply of another 17 e-vehicles. The vehicles will arrive in Riga at the end of 2023.
- On the very last days of 2022, Solaris Bus & Coach sp. z o.o. and the Romanian Municipality of Bucharest (Municipiul Bucuresti) signed a contract for the supply of trolleybuses. The order is for 100 Solaris Trollino 12 trolleybuses. The vehicles will arrive in the Romanian capital at the end of 2024.
- In 2022 city of Tallinn extends its order by another 50 Urbino CNG buses. Estonia’s largest public transport operator, Aktsiaselts Tallinna Linnatransport (TLT), which provides transport services in the Estonian capital, has ordered 20 Urbino 12 and 30 Urbino 18 CNG buses from Solaris. Tallinn has thus decided to exercise the option provided in the contract concluded in July 2021, under which 100 Solaris gas vehicles had already been purchased. Ince the order will be completed a total of 350 gas-powered Solaris buses will be running along the streets of Tallinn.
- Moreover, it is worth mentioning that in 2022 a consortium comprised of Solaris Bus & Coach, Solaris Czech and Škoda Electric submitted a winning bid in a tender concerning the delivery of 20 bi-articulated Trollino 24 trolleybuses, held by the Prague public transport operator Dopravní podnik hlavního města Prahy.
ESG
Just as they are for the whole CAF Group, sustainable development and ESG issues are also for Solaris extremely important components of its development strategy. In 2022 Solaris published Sustainability Report which has been drawn up by the GRI Standards guidelines, which are an international standard for reporting on both responsible business and sustainable development issues. The report is the publication to present the full range of data and information on the company’s ESG-related initiatives in a comprehensive manner. It is an extensive description of the company’s impact on the economy, environment and society. The report is available on the company’s website at: www.solarisbus.com/en/about-us/esg
Another important achievement in 2022 in the area of ESG was to obtain the Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for two bus models. EPDs are a recognised and reliable source of information on the environmental profile of products. An Environmental Product Declaration is an international eco-label that provides clients with solid data on the whole life-cycle environmental impact of a given product. Solaris has obtained its first EPDs for the Solaris Urbino 18 electric and Solaris Urbino 12 hybrid vehicles and will apply for further declarations for other products from its offering, one by one.
Premiere of a new vehicle and trade fairs
Hydrogen technology has played a substantial role in the company’s development and sales strategy. In 2022 Solaris unveiled its Urbino 18 hydrogen bus. The Urbino 18 hydrogen bus is now Solaris’s second hydrogen bus in its zero-emission offer. As with the shorter version, the main energy source in this vehicle is hydrogen. With this 18-metre model, the manufacturer is responding to the growing market for vehicles of this type. This also reflects the commitment of Solaris when it comes to the development of zero-emission solutions and its desire to provide its clients with the widest possible range of environmentally friendly vehicles. Clients will be offered the possibility of customising the bus to cater to their individual preferences. Solaris has already received the first order for two 18-metre articulated vehicles from the German carrier Stadtwerke Aschaffenburg Verkehrs GmbH. It is worth remembering that the Solaris Urbino 18 hydrogen bus is the second hydrogen vehicle in the manufacturer’s range. The 12-metre version of the Solaris Urbino hydrogen bus was launched in 2019. Since then, nearly 100 hydrogen buses have already been delivered to customers in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Poland. New deliveries to clients in Spain, France, and Slovakia, amongst other countries, will start soon.
In 2022, Solaris after almost two years of slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic – resumed its market activity in terms of trade fairs and exhibitions, moreover, in September the premiere of the company's new product took place – the articulated hydrogen bus Solaris Urbino 18 hydrogen. The most important projects in which Solaris took part in the past year were following: The European Mobility Expo 2022 in Paris, The Electric Bus Conference Elekbu and InnoTrans in Berlin, International Trade Fair of Public Transport Transexpo in Kielce, Next Mobility in Milan, Feria Internacional del Autobús y del Autocar in Madrid and Persontrafik in Stockholm.
Investments in infrastructure
Solaris has for many years now maintained its leading position when it comes to delivering low- and zero-emission urban transport solutions to towns and cities throughout Europe. Keen to be in the vanguard of manufacturers having a real impact on the green shift in public transport, the company is continually investing in further development. Among many other initiatives that have been implemented in recent months, two deserve special attention: 10,000 m2 of the new warehouse space, equipped with cutting-edge logistics systems and solutions, and the Charging Park, a unique charging station for e-vehicles.
These two investments by Solaris were launched in 2022. Both the Warehouse Hall and the Charging Park have been built directly on the premises of the factory in Bolechowo, near Poznań, where the company’s headquarters are located. The new Warehouse Hall has a surface area of 10,000 m2. The new warehouse plays a key role in the supply chain of parts and components needed for the manufacturing of Solaris buses and trolleybuses. The Hall is equipped with a modern multi-level warehouse platform with an automated conveyor belt. Advanced systems for smoke detection have been installed throughout the facility, and the equipment used in the new Warehouse has been fitted with special acoustic panels to dampen the noise generated by daily operations. The new warehouse facility has a reinforced roof, with 572 photovoltaic cells with a total capacity of 260 kWp installed on it. In addition, 80 kWp charging stations have been erected on the site.
The Charging Park is an innovative, multi-bay charging station for battery-powered vehicles: e-buses, hydrogen buses and trolleybuses. This investment in our own Charging Park – a single central site for charging e-buses – marks a natural step in the dynamic development of Solaris’s zero-emission range. The Charging Park has been developed to demonstrate novel charging solutions for Solaris buses to clients. The Charging Park consists of eight charging bays, pantograph mechanisms, plug-in charging stations, a section of the trolleybus network, and a technical room. This is the first charging park supporting the Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) functionality in Poland, i. e. a bidirectional energy flow between vehicles and the grid. This technology makes it possible to flexibly charge and discharge buses. It allows us to discharge buses for test purposes and to use them as mobile energy storage facilities, which leads to more effective cost management.
Healthy order book
Solaris has been strengthening its position as Europe’s e-mobility leader not only through the development of electric battery vehicles but also by investing consistently and in the long term in the perfection of solutions implemented in hydrogen buses. The manufacturer believes that the development of all e-mobility branches, be they battery buses, trolleybuses, or hydrogen-fuelled vehicles, should proceed in synergy and that this process is part and parcel of ensuring sustainable transport for the future. Currently, Solaris offers its clients a comprehensive emission-free bus portfolio thanks to which Solaris is ready to meet not only today’s challenges of ensuring sustainable public transport but also the diverse needs of carriers, passengers and drivers.
As for the future, the company has a healthy order book. At the end of 2022, it contained 1369 vehicles in backlog and 1648 units in order intake.
[1] Based on battery/electric and hydrogen buses registrations in 2022, source: Chatrou/CME Solutions
[2] Based on battery/electric and hydrogen buses registrations in 2022, source: Chatrou/CME Solutions
[3] https://stat.gov.pl/obszary-tematyczne/ceny-handel/wskazniki-cen/szybki-szacunek-wskaznika-cen-towarow-i-uslug-konsumpcyjnych-w-grudniu-2022-roku,21,8.html
Information Solaris
Solaris Bus & Coach sp. z o.o. is a leading producer of city and intercity buses in Europe. It focuses on the development of low-emission and zero-emission vehicles, i. e. electric and hydrogen buses as well as trolleybuses. Over 25,000 Solaris vehicles have been delivered so far and they ply the streets in 850 towns and cities across 33 countries located throughout Europe as well as beyond it. Solaris is part of the Spanish CAF Group (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) S.A. From conception, to the design and manufacturing phases, all Solaris buses are produced in Poland. All activities undertaken by the company are in line with its mission, which is reflected in the brand’s promise: to change the image of public transport. Solaris also actively partners with public transport operators and provides them with comprehensive support in their transition to zero-emission mobility. Solaris products have been repeatedly awarded for quality and innovation. The Urbino 18 hydrogen bus has won the prestigious 'Bus of the Year 2025' title.
Additional information
Mateusz Figaszewski
Institutional Partnerships and External Relations Director
mateusz.figaszewski@solarisbus.com
