Austral was an Australian bus manufacturer in Geebung,

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 ...

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 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 manuf ...

Orana Volvo B10BLE 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