Whats Happening Over At Motor Coach Industries ?

[D0ggSh0]

Ok now, I know MCI has quality products on the market, so somebody –anybody- please inform me as to what went wrong (aside from the recent
"credit crunch") over at Schaumburg, IL?

[HighTechRedneck]

In my opinion, probably all or some of the following:

• Skyrocketing cost of metals
• Rising cost of other materials
• Decreased sales due to decline of the major intercity buslines
• Losing market share to competitors
• Decreased sales due to carriers cutting new equipment purchases to offset high fuel cost
• Possibly increased liability insurance costs

And of course, the number one reason for their demise:

Busted Knuckle switching over to Setra's.   

[Busted Knuckle]

In my opinion, probably all or some of the following:

• Skyrocketing cost of metals
• Rising cost of other materials
• Decreased sales due to decline of the major intercity buslines
• Losing market share to competitors
• Decreased sales due to carriers cutting new equipment purchases to offset high fuel cost
• Possibly increased liability insurance costs

And of course, the number one reason for their demise:

Busted Knuckle switching over to Setra's.   

OK go ahead and blame it on me!

Even mom & dad got a laff out of it!

But now if you want to know the truth. And it don't really matter, cause I'm gonna tell it anyway!

First bus we bought was a SETRA! Then we slipped up and left the gate open and these dang MCI's keep popping up!   BK 

[Ncbob]

Bryce, you really know how to endear yourself to your friends who own and drive MCI's don't you?
If the only folks who show up at your place are in GM's and Eagle's you shouldn't wonder why!

NCbob

[bubbaqgal]

Bryce, it's the trail that the Setra leaves behind it and the MCI's just sniff it and follow it home thinking it means free oil and fuel.  Stop feedin' em and they might leave.

[compedgemarine]

I am inclinded to agree with HTR. for those not in the manufacturing business it is staggering how much some materials have gone up in the last year or two. stainless has almost trippled, fiberglass and related materials have more than doubled, copper wire has more than doubled, etc, etc. Most companies have been absorbing these increases due to signed orders, attempts to keep sales or whatever. There comes a time when it all catches up. with the decline in sales most companies can no longer absorb the costs and no new sales are coming in in a volume to cover the debt load. When we come out the other side of all this I think you can expect to see costs of new coaches, cars, boats, etc to be higher and the manufacturer will probably still not be making the margins like before.
steve

[makemineatwostroke]

MCI will exit from this a stronger Co according to the reports it is a 5 mo deal.Prevost is having their share of problems also all the people I talk with at Prevost are worried about 2010 when the 60s DD is no longer available to them and Setra enters the high end coach market with the D13 Volvo they know it's going to a problem keep a eye and see what happen there.You  may not remember but the Coach Converter posted that this was going to happen to MCI 2 month before it did

[HighTechRedneck]

On the issue of competitive forces impacting MCI:

Greyhound Orders 140 Additional Prevost Motorcoaches

Greyhound has ordered 140 X3-45 motorcoaches from Prevost. The new vehicles, which are to be used on various intercity lines, will be delivered from February to July of 2009. The order follows Greyhound's first transaction with Prevost in spring of 2008. At that time, Greyhound ordered 33 X3-45 vehicles for its newly launched BoltBus operation, providing service between New York and Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, and another 17 X3-45s for its line-haul fleet. Announcement of the substantial transaction with North America's largest provider of intercity bus transportation was greeted with delight at Quebec-based Prevost. Gaetan Bolduc, President and CEO for Prevost said, "I am delighted to see that Greyhound has decided to join the long list of repeat Prevost customers. High level of customer satisfaction drives everything we do and this order reflects our efforts to make Greyhound a satisfied Prevost customer. We are pleased that Greyhound has come to trust both our product and our customer service, and we look forward to continuing to develop solutions that support the needs of the company. " David Leach, President and Chief Executive Officer of Greyhound Lines, Inc., said that the choice of Prevost vehicles ties directly into Greyhound's mission to offer "A new and improved image of safe, reliable and enjoyable travel to nearly 25 million passengers each year," adding that "Prevost and the X3-45 are a company and a vehicle that we can count on to help us achieve that goal."

[makemineatwostroke]

Hightech, that is a lower end coach than you see on the road Prevost has set the Volvo truck dealer up to maintain those buses they are trying to sell Phoenix some now this is what you get with foreign owned Co of Greyhound no loyalty what so ever plus they had strong ties with English co that was part owner of Prevost.I looked at those this past summer at the Prevost rally at the factory I would not wait for one to come off line for a conversion    have a great day

[Songman]

Maybe the owners of Motor Coach Industries are just "full of crap"... haha... Sorry, I'm just kidding. Just had to do it one time though. I love MCIs and hope they can pull out of this well.

[D0ggSh0]

I pray and hope that you are right makemineatwostroke because I'll hate to see MCI to have gone the "Eagle way" over poor management foresight. Moreover, this dose reeks of disloyalty; meaning MCI has carried Greyhound through the thick and thin of times (great financing leases, extending the classic MC9 jig...). No offense to our Prevost and Eagle clubs, but for the most part MCI is an American icon in its own right even more so than Eagle MFG –or not?

[Busted Knuckle]

Bryce, you really know how to endear yourself to your friends who own and drive MCI's don't you?
If the only folks who show up at your place are in GM's and Eagle's you shouldn't wonder why!

NCbob

Bob I'm not referring to the ones that the visitors drive up in! But rather the ones that end up with our company lettering on them! LOL!

  BK 

But it was a comforting thing to hear mom say last night while I was showing her what I was going to do with the lettering on the latest MCI in the stable! "We really need to get more SETRA's don't we !?!"

[luvrbus]

I read some where that was a deal between Peter Pan and Greyhound the East coast run with the Prvee's and Peter Pan was the owners of the buses not Greyhound with a special spec bus and 0% financing for 5 years from Volvo that would be a hard deal to pass up
good luck

[HighTechRedneck]

Hightech, that is a lower end coach than you see on the road Prevost has set the Volvo truck dealer up to maintain those buses they are trying to sell Phoenix some now this is what you get with foreign owned Co of Greyhound no loyalty what so ever plus they had strong ties with English co that was part owner of Prevost.I looked at those this past summer at the Prevost rally at the factory I would not wait for one to come off line for a conversion    have a great day

I have no idea about the quality of it.  I would say that despite the technology bells and whistles, most vehicles made today aren't built with as much "quality" as years gone by.  Most of us on this forum are using buses built 20 to 50 years ago and have from 1 to 4 million miles on them.  I may be wrong, but I have doubts that most of the ones being built now will endure that long.

But regardless of quality, the order went to Prevost, not MCI, which was the point I was making.  According to the article I quoted, this was the second order, the first one being earlier this year.  This supports the point that part of MCI's demise was their losing ground to competitors.

[Sammy]

What model is the "lower end" Prevost coach?
I only see the new X-45 and the H models available.
Here's some info on the X model:
http://www.prevostparts.com/cgi-bin/pages.cgi?page=x345