NEW ORLEANS When attendees at Motorcoach Expo 2007 walk onto the show floor next month, theyll find vehicles that have never before been seen at an Expo and vehicles theyve probably never encountered buses and motorcoaches made in China.

Two new companies that plan to import Chinese buses and sell them in the U.S. will have their Americanized Chinese-built buses for eyeing, driving and tire kicking.

During the past decade, as the U.S. appetite for all things Chinese has expanded, imports of Chinese-made clothing, DVDs, furniture, microwaves, shoes, toys and tens of thousands of other products have mushroomed from $50 billion annually to an expected $275 billion this year.

Now, were about to find out if buses made in China can find a market in the U.S.

In fact, a slew of Chinese buses are headed for North America, ranging from 45- and 40-foot motorcoaches, to 35-foot coach-like buses, to 25-30 passenger shuttles, to low-floor transits.

At least three different companies are planning to distribute Chinese-made or -designed buses, with two of the import groups headed by individuals with extensive experience in the U.S. bus industry. These two companies are the ones that will be exhibiting at Motorcoach Expo.

The third company is a U.S. manufacturer of recreational vehicles that is diversifying into the seated-bus market. It is not making the trip to New Orleans, however.

Obviously, the three companies face significant hurdles with their imports.

The North American bus landscape is littered with the broken remains of foreign and domestic outfits that tried and failed to build a business here selling imported buses. Only two motorcoach imports have survived during the past 20 years, Van Hool and Setra.

Gone are such names as Dina, Tam Bus, Irizar, L.A.G., MAN and even Neoplan.

Of course, those importing the Chinese buses expect to avoid the pitfalls that sunk those half-dozen names. In talking to them, they emphasize the quality of the Chinese buses, and how they plan to make parts, service and support readily available and accessible.

Just as challenging, perhaps even more so, however, will be arranging financing for the new imports and assuring buyers about such critical issues as product liability, dependability, reliability, serviceability and the like.

But just as clearly, a principal selling point of the buses will be price like all things Chinese.

Price points for the Chinese imports can expect to be 20 to 35 percent less than comparable U.S., Canadian and European-made models.

The two companies that have chosen Expo as the coming out party for the buses they plan to market to the motorcoach sector are Stallion Bus Industries of New York and Bus and Coach International of Kansas.

The two companies are bringing markedly different coaches to Expo.

BCI will have the BCI Falcon, a 45-foot, over-the-road model specifically specd for North American motorcoach operators, while Stallion will have a 35-foot coach and possibly a midsize shuttle.

Rexhall Industries, which builds eight different recreational vehicles at a plant in Lancaster, Calif., has announced plans to bring three Chinese models to the U.S. -- a 39-foot coach, a 35-foot coach and a 35-foot low-floor transit model. However, Rexhall will not have buses at Expo.

Stallion is headed by Cliff Clare, an experienced sales executive who sells for Quality Bus Sales in Maybrook, N.Y. A key player with Stallion is John Gore, a long-time limousine industry executive, who also has a strong background in financial services.

Clare expects to recruit a network of dealers across the U.S. to distribute and service the buses and coaches being imported by Stallion.

Bus and Coach International is headed by the former owners of a Nevada-based motorcoach coach operation who have purchased a school building in Jennings, Kan., that is being converted into a distribution and parts center, as well as a showroom. A second distribution center will be in Las Vegas.

The Falcons are based on a Chinese design but make extensive use of components from leading suppliers to the U.S. bus industry, including Caterpillar, Eaton, Meritor and ZF.

Serving as the technical guru for the company and the Americanization of its coaches is David Oldridge, one of the industrys best-known technical experts and a former service representative for Van Hool and ABC Companies.

Oldridge says the BCI Falcons "will be as technically advanced and have quality on par or better than any vehicle on the road in North America."

Other key players at BCI are Oldridges brother, Phillip, who is company president and CEO, and Lee Gilroy, an attorney.

BCI has hired veteran coach industry sales executive Mark Rosenthal as its national sales director.

Rosenthal spent 20 years at ABC Companies, rising from salesman in the companys California facility to regional vice president. He also served a period as vice president of pre-owned sales at ABC.

Rosenthal says he looks forward to introducing the Falcon line to the industry. "This motorcoach will change this industry," he predicts.