SMMT data show big coaches up 52.0% in September and 9.5% over the year to date, but this is not enough to balance falling bus and minibus numbers.  Buses dropped 16.1% in September and 38.9% for year to date while minibuses, the 3.5 to 5.0 tonne ones, slid 1.6% in the month.  The performance by coach sector "failed to halt" the decline in the UK's bus and coach registrations according to Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive.  Though coach registrations rose in all but two months of 2010, September's is the result of "structural changes" in the market.  The outlook is tough with worries that austerity measures may further slow bus market recovery.  "The rise in the numbers of low carbon buses this month is good news; we hope that greening the fleet will deliver more economic and environmental gains."
More from Robin Dickeson on +44 (0)2 073 449 222 or rdickeson@smmt.co.uk