Denning Manufacturing is an Australian bus manufacturer in

Acacia Ridge Acacia Ridge is a southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Acacia Ridge had a population of 7,429 people. Geography Acacia Ridge is south of the central business district. It is within the local government are ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Australia. In September 2019, it was acquired by Custom Bus, but its branding and operations will be retained.

Current Operations

Denning Manufacturing was formed in 2004 in a take-over of Alan B Denning's manufacturing plant. It manufacturers integral buses and coaches (chassis and body) as well as chassis for bodying by other manufacturers with Caterpillar or

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...

engines.

History

Denning

Denning commenced bodying buses in

in 1958. Denning's first integral bus (both chassis and body), the Monocoach, was launched in 1966. Along with the later ''Denair'' and ''Landseer'', it would become the dominant long-distance coach in Australia. In 1968, Denning was sold to

Leyland Australia British Motor Corporation (Australia) was a motor manufacturing company formed in Australia in 1954 by the merger of the Austin Motor Company (Australia) and Nuffield (Australia). This followed the merger in 1952 of the Austin Motor Company and ...

. Between 1968 and 1970 it bodied 136

Leyland Panther The Leyland Panther was a rear-engined single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Leyland between the years 1964 and 1972. A version with a smaller engine was released as the Leyland Panther Cub. History The Leyland Panther was introduced in ...

s for the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...

. In 1970, a plant was opened in

Beverley, South Australia Beverley is a western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Charles Sturt. Geography The suburb is mainly bounded by Port Road, East Avenue, Ledger Road and Grange Road. History Beverley incorporates the formerly ...

to body 292

AEC Swift The AEC Swift was a rear-engined step entrance single-decker bus chassis manufactured by AEC between 1964 and 1980. The chassis design was closely related to the Leyland Panther. It was available in and lengths, with an AEC AH505 or AH691 ...

691s for the

Municipal Tramways Trust The Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT) was established by the Government of South Australia in December 1906 to purchase all of the horse-drawn tramways in Adelaide, Australia. The Trust subsequently also ran petrol and diesel buses and electric tr ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. Some ''monocoaches'' were built there before the plant closed in August 1974. In 1979, Denning coaches began to be assembled under licence in New Zealand by the

Mount Cook Group Mount Cook Group was a New Zealand tourism and transport operator founded on 2 April 1912 by Rodolph Lysaght Wigley. Originally a road transport business, the ''Mount Cook Tourist Company of New Zealand'' became a public company in 1928. By 1930 ...

. In December 1988, Leyland Australia (by now renamed JRA Limited) purchased Denning's biggest competitor in the coach market, Austral from AP Group. Both continued to operate separately until 1990 when the Denning plant in Acacia Ridge was closed and production transferred to the Austral facility in Geebung.

Alan B Denning Co.

The Alan B Denning Co. commenced operations supplying body kits for buses assembled in Asia, primarily on

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

chassis in 1994. In February 1995 it began bodying buses and coaches for Australian operators. The company was placed in

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

in November 2003 with the plant subsequently being purchased by Denning Manufacturing.About Us
Denning Manufacturing The business was successfully operated up until its sale to the Dunn Group, in 2019. Maguire Coaches Landseer

References

External links

Bus Australia galleryCustom Denning
{{Australian bus manufacturers, state=collapsed Bus manufacturers of Australia Manufacturing companies based in Brisbane 1958 establishments in Australia