Austral was an Australian bus manufacturer in Geebung,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

History

Austral was originally formed as Athol Hedges. It was later renamed Domino Hedges, then Domino before becoming Austral in 1982 when purchased by the Australian Manufacturing Group. It originally bodied buses diversifying into integral buses and coaches (body and chassis) in the 1970s. In December 1988 Austral was sold to JRA Limited who also owned Denning, Austral's largest rival in the coach market. Both continued to operate separately until 1990 when the Denning plant 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 ...

was closed and production transferred to the Austral factory. From 1992 the combined business was rebranded as Austral Denning. In July 1996, along with JRA's other bus bodybuilding operations, it was sold to the

Clifford Corporation Clifford Corporation was a listed Australian company that purchased several bus manufacturing businesses in the mid-1990s before collapsing in November 1998. History In August 1995 Clifford Corporation purchased the Ansair Ansair was an Aust ...

and rebranded Austral Pacific. This resulted in

Ansair Ansair was an Australian bus bodybuilder owned by Ansett Transport Industries and later the Clifford Corporation. History Ansair was founded by Reg Ansett in 1945 at Tullamarine, to make bodies for his Ansett Pioneer coaches, as well as manufa ...

Orana

Volvo B10BLE The Volvo B10BLE was a rear-engined low-entry single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo in Sweden between 1993 and 2004. The first prototypes were built in 1992, but mass production started in 1993, only a year after the high-floor B10B. It ...

buses being bodied at Geebung for

Brisbane Transport Transport for Brisbane, previously called Brisbane Transport'','' is an organisational division of the Brisbane City Council, responsible through its related Council Committee for providing policy and advice to Brisbane City Council, and for de ...

. Following the collapse of Clifford Corporation the plant closed in November 1998."The Austral Pacific Collapse" ''Australian Bus Panorama'' 14/5 April 1999 page 17

References

External links

Bus Australia gallery
{{Authority control Bus manufacturers of Australia Fire service vehicle manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Brisbane Australian companies disestablished in 1998 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1998