Sales of new motorcoaches climbed 26 percent during 2011, as third- and fourth-quarter deliveries to private operators and a handful of transit agencies pushed totals well above 2010.

Owing to a series of anomalies, new coach deliveries during the final three months of 2011 reached 562, the best fourth-quarter sales performance since 2007.

For the year, a total of 1,606 new coaches were sold by ABC/Van Hool, MCI, Prevost/Volvo, Setra and Temsa.

The total for last year compares with 2010 new coach deliveries of 1,276, the worst sales year of the past decade. And, while 2011 saw a major sales rebound, the year was lack luster compared to each of past 10 years; 2011 ranked second worst.

Still, the gains during October-November-December 2011 meant there have now been four consecutive quarters of increasing sales. Also, last years fourth-quarter sales were nearly 36 percent better than the final three months of 2010.

Imported coaches captured about 30 percent of the market last year, while 14.3 percent of the coaches went to Canadian operators.

MCIs J4500 continued as the most-popular model last year, with Prevosts H3-45 and X3-45 coming in second and third, followed by the Van Hool C2045 in fourth place.

Typically, the fourth quarter of the year has the most sales followed by the second and first quarters, with the third quarter normally having the lowest sales.

The numbers for the fourth quarter of last year were "very unusual because most of the manufacturers had some unique situation that boosted sales in one particular area," noted Larry Plachno, editor of National Bus Trader magazine, which compiles the industry sales figures.

"Van Hools numbers were up on their popular C2045 because deliveries got concentrated in the fourth quarter. Temsa and CH Trading had a similar situation with their TS-35," said Plachno.

"Prevost saw an increase in sales of X3-45 coaches (in the fourth) quarter because of the NYMTA order, and MCI likewise saw an increase in sales of D4000 coaches because of the CNG order for Los Angeles."

In spite of these special situations, Plachno said the overall numbers still look good.

The out-of-kilter market upset a number of sales benchmarks tracked by Plachno. For instance, the top three seated-coach models represented a market share of only 39 percent in the fourth quarter. That was down from 44 percent in the third quarter. During the past year, the top three seated-model coaches have represented from 45 to 50 percent of the market.

The market share of imported coaches in the fourth quarter was about 32 percent, compared with 27 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010. The import market share was as high as 33 percent in the third quarter of 2010 and came in at 31 percent in the second quarter of 2011.

The elevated fourth-quarter 2011 figure reflects the bunched-up deliveries of Van Hool C2045s and Temsa TS-35s.

Sales into Canada, traditionally around a 10 percent market share, fell off the table in the fourth quarter of 2011, dropping to 4.6 percent.

During the first three quarters of last year, the percentages were 22, 17 and 20 percent.

The market share for Canada was below 5 percent in the third and fourth quarters of 2010.

Deliveries of conversion shells were up slightly during the final quarter of last year, but flat on a percentage basis. A total of 24 shells were sold during the final three months of last year, or 4.3 percent of the total. That compares with final-quarter 2010 shell sales of 18, also 4.3 percent of that years total.

The abnormal fourth-quarter sales pattern also played havoc with the National Bus Trader "Hit Parade of Popular Seated Coach Models."

The seated model posting the most deliveries during the quarter was the Prevost X3-45, aided by the big New York MTA order.

No. 2 was the Van Hool C2045, which had deliveries concentrated in the fourth quarter.

No. 3 was the Prevost H3-45, which was a strong sales performer throughout the year.

No. 4 was the MCI D4000, boosted by the large order from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

No. 5 was the J4500

No. 6 was the MCI D4500

No. 7 was the Temsa TS-35, which had 33 deliveries bunched at year end.

A year ago, the most-popular seated models were the J4500, MCI D4505, H3-45, Van Hool T2145, Setra S 417, D4500 and C2045.

For more information, contact Plachno by phone at (815) 946-2341, or email at lplachno@busmag.com.