A sharp drop in delivery of conversion bus shells during the second quarter of this year held total sales of new motorcoaches slightly below those of the same quarter in 2007.

A bright spot was sales of seated coaches to private bus operators who purchased more new coaches this year than they did a year ago.

National Bus Trader magazine, which serves as the industry clearing house for motorcoach sales figures, reported that 596 new coaches were sold in the U.S. and Canada between April 1 and June 30, 2008, down modestly from second-quarter 2007 sales of 603 coaches.

This years second quarter was almost identical to the second-quarter of 2006, when 593 new coaches were delivered.

National Bus Trader Editor Larry Plachno said the narrow sales difference between this year and last was easily explainable: Sales of conversion bus shells plummeted 26 percent.

There were 59 conversion shells sold during the second quarter of this year, compared to 80 coach shells delivered in the second quarter of 2007, a drop of 21 units. In the first quarter of 2008, there were 10 fewer conversion shells sold than during the first quarter of 2007.

"Some people credit this reduction to increased fuel prices," said Plachno. "However, it is difficult to believe that people who pay a million dollars for a vehicle would be concerned about the price of fuel at the pump."

A better explanation is that wealthy conversion coach buyers are sitting at home licking their stock market and real estate investment wounds.

Plachno also noted that motorcoach purchases by public transit agencies and other government units were at a cyclical low during the second quarter of this year.

"While we do not have accurate numbers, my guess is that the second quarter of 2008 is at least 30 units lower than 2007 in public-sector sales," Plachno said.

On a more positive note, the second-quarter 2008 figures show that 537 seated coaches were sold, versus 523 in the second quarter of 2007.

"There has been an increase in private-sector sales that has almost offset the decrease in conversion shell and public-sector sales," said Plachno.

"In general, it appears we are in a fairly stable era of sales with slightly increasing private-sector sales making up for small reductions elsewhere."

During the first half of this year, a total of 1,122 new motorcoaches were sold in North America, down by a grand total of 3 from the first half of 2007, when 1,125 were sold.

The seven top-selling new coach models during this years second quarter were: MCI J4500, MCI D4505, Van Hool C2045, Prevost H3-45, Prevost X3-45, Setra S 417 and MCI D4500.

That line-up, which Plachno calls his Hit Parade of Popular Seated Coach Models, saw changes from the first quarter of this year. The No. 3 and 4 models, Van Hool C2045 and Prevost H3-45, swapped positions between the first and second quarters, with Van Hool moving up to No. 3 in the most recent quarter. Also, the No. 6 and 7 models switched places, with the Setra S 417 displacing the MCI D4500 for No. 6 on the chart.

The three top-selling models, the J4500, D4505 and C2045 captured 53 percent of the total market in the second quarter. That compares to 56.8 percent for the three top sellers in the first quarter of this year and 60.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. A year ago, the three models captured 57.4 percent of the market.

The percentage of imported coaches sold during the second quarter also changed little. Imports came in at 23 percent of the total market, compared to 23.9 percent in the second quarter of last year.

The percentage of new coaches purchased by Canadian operators in the second quarter was essentially flat. Canadian sales accounted for 12.8 percent of the total for the 08 second quarter, versus 12.9 percent a year earlier.

The percentage of coaches delivered with the ZF AS-Tronic transmission dipped during the second quarter of this year to 29.5 percent, down from 36.8 percent a year ago. ZFs are not specd for conversion shells or in coaches going to government agencies.

Questions about National Bus Traders sales reports should be directed to Plachno at (815) 946-2341, or e-mail him at lplachno@busmag.com.