The court in Utrecht has ruled that transport company Qbuzz may cancel an order for 45 electric buses from Ebusco, which seriously endangers the future of the Deurne bus manufacturer.
Ebusco had hoped to force Qbuzz to accept the order through summary proceedings, but the judge ruled that the bus manufacturer had not adhered to the agreements by not delivering the buses on time. This news came at a critical time for Ebusco, which is already struggling with serious financial problems and seems to be teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
Qbuzz was originally supposed to receive the buses in March of this year, but due to several delays they had still not been delivered. The judge found that Qbuzz had acted reasonably by showing goodwill earlier, but that Ebusco could not sufficiently prove that the buses could still be delivered before the final delivery date of 1 December. As a result, Qbuzz was allowed to cancel the order, which represented a value of millions of euros.
batter
The cancellation was officially announced on Monday, when Ebusco announced to its shareholders that a customer had cancelled an order for 59 buses. It turned out to be Qbuzz, which had previously seized Ebusco's bank accounts. This seizure was a result of unpaid damages of 1,2 million euros, which had been awarded due to the previous delays in delivery. Ebusco went to court to reverse the cancellation and the seizure of the bank accounts, but was denied. The court ruled that the seizure of the bank accounts was justified and that Qbuzz acted lawfully by cancelling the order.
The loss of this large order is a huge blow for Ebusco, which has already been dealing with various problems in recent months. Connect Bus and Keolis, among others, had previously cancelled their orders with the company due to unfulfilled deliveries. The fact that Qbuzz has now also dropped out further jeopardizes the future of the company. During the summary proceedings, Ebusco's lawyer indicated that the company is currently unable to pay salaries, partly due to the seizure of bank accounts.
The Deurne-based manufacturer of electric buses, Ebusco, is struggling with heavy losses due to ongoing production problems. A large part of these problems have arisen due to a stagnating supply of parts, a consequence of the global disruptions that followed the corona pandemic. As a result, the company can deliver far fewer buses than planned, which has a serious impact on both business operations and customer confidence. This production problem has led to the loss of several large orders. For example, both Connect Bus and Keolis have cancelled their contracts for dozens of buses with Ebusco. For Connect Bus, this concerned an order of which Ebusco says that 47 buses are already in an advanced stage of production. The company is currently in discussions with several other parties to see if these buses can still be sold. In the meantime, a final agreement has been reached with Keolis to stop an order for 50 buses.
Ebusco has been struggling with the production of its buses for some time now. The company indicated that 45 of the 59 buses ordered had already been produced and that 30 were ready for delivery. Nevertheless, Ebusco is facing serious delays due to a shortage of personnel and problems with the delivery of parts. These logistical problems have seriously delayed the production of the buses, causing customers to have to wait longer and longer for their orders.
shareholders
The situation of Ebusco is now so serious that shareholders are seriously concerned about the financial future of the company. Today, shareholders will be informed about the state of affairs during a meeting, after which a vote will be taken on a plan to raise another 36 million euros through the issue of new shares. At the end of last year, shareholders had already invested around 60 million euros extra to keep the company afloat, but it is still unclear whether they are prepared to inject additional capital again. So far, no major shareholder has publicly indicated that they agree with the plan to issue new shares.
The loss of Qbuzz as a customer not only means a financial blow to Ebusco, but also a major blow to the confidence of other potential customers. Confidence in the delivery of Ebusco buses seems to have been severely damaged. Qbuzz's lawyer stated in court that the transport company winning in Ebusco was completely lost, which made the cancellation of the order inevitable. The question now is whether other transport companies will want to do business with Ebusco in the future, especially given the financial uncertainties that currently surround the company.
future
The future of Ebusco seems to be at stake more than ever. If it fails to attract new investments, this could well mean the beginning of the end for the Dutch bus manufacturer. Whether the shareholders will be prepared to open their wallets again tomorrow will say a lot about the viability of Ebusco in the coming months.
