Struggling bus manufacturer’s problems worsen as order of 45 buses likely to be canceled

Transport company Qbuzz was given permission by the court in Utrecht on Wednesday to cancel the order of 45 electric buses from Ebusco. This came after Ebusco had filed summary proceedings against Qbuzz. The buses have already been made, and most are ready to be delivered, but Qbuzz wants to cancel the order because Ebusco was too late delivering the vehicles. The bus manufacturer wanted to force Qbuzz to pay for the order anyway with the case.

The bus manufacturer from Deurne has had production issues that have gotten so bad that analysts have feared for the company's existence due to hefty losses this year. The loss of the Qbuzz order puts even more pressure on Ebusco’s financials.

Ebusco has mostly stopped production in order to keep the company's financials stable while awaiting the verdict of the case and completing the issuance of new shares to shareholders. Shareholders will vote, on Thursday, on whether to approve this.

Qbuzz has been permitted by the court to cancel the agreement between the two companies because Ebusco did not stick to the settlement agreement. In the agreement, it was stated that Qbuzz was allowed to cancel the agreement if Ebusco did not deliver the busses on time, and Qbuzz felt the waiting time was unreasonable.

Another reason that Qbuzz was allowed to cancel the agreement, according to the judge, is that there is "a serious suspicion" that Ebusco will not meet its maintenance obligations and guarantees.

Furthermore, the judge ruled that Qbuzz was allowed to seize one of Ebusco's accounts. The regional carrier did this because Ebusco still has to pay more than 1.2 million euros for "delay damages".

Qbuzz drives in Groningen, Drenthe, and the surrounding areas of Utrecht under the name U-OV.

Two years ago, Ebusco founder Peter Bijvelds landed in 95th on the Quote 500 list of the wealthiest people in the Netherlands. He reportedly had a net worth of 480 million euros, after his company carried a 1.3 billion euro valuation following an IPO. But his net worth fell to 165 million euros in 2023.

The troubles at Ebusco led the company to nudge Bijvelds from CEO to co-CEO at the start of this year. He and fellow co-CEO Michiel Peters were ousted at the end of August in favor of Christian Schreyer, who has a deeper background in public transportation.