Coachwork International was a bus manufacturer in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

, New Zealand. Founded in 1926 as New Zealand Motor Bodies, in 1983 it merged with Hawke Coachwork to form Coachwork International. It ceased trading in 1993.

History

New Zealand Motor Bodies

New Zealand Motor Bodies (NZMB) was established in 1926 as Munt, Cottrell, Nielsen and Company Limited when Munt, Cottrell & Co of

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

and Neilsen's Body Works of Dannevirke merged.Company Affairs
'' Auckland Star'' 5 June 1926 page 11 NZMB operated from the corner of Hutt Road and Jackson Street in

Petone Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach". Europeans first settled in P ...

building metal frame bus and coach bodies and other commercial bodies, hoists and other truck equipment.New Zealand Motor Bodies plant, Keith Street
Manawatu Heritage It bodied over 1,000

Bedford SB The Bedford SB was a front-engined bus chassis manufactured by Bedford in England. It was launched at the 1950 Commercial Motor Show as the replacement for the Bedford OB. It was the first Bedford vehicle to have a "forward control" design, wit ...

s for the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...

. A new factory building in Keith Street

was opened on 3 July 1977. The new plant covered 18,000 square metres.

Coachwork International

In 1983 NZMB merged with competitor Hawke Coachwork to form Coachwork International. Owned by Moller Corporation and Newmans, in 1987 it held an 80% share of the New Zealand bus bodying market. Production continued at the Palmerston North plant, while Hawke's plant in

Takanini Takanini is a southern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, 28 kilometres southeast of the Auckland CBD. The suburb is home to a Fonterra Brands milk plant (part of the dairy compan ...

was retained, specialising in building and repairing buses for city authorities. In 1988, Coachwork International was purchased by Jaguar Rover Australia. After Jaguar Rover Australia was placed in administration, and with the impending end of tariff protection.

Deloitte & Touche Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

received no offers to purchase the business with operations ceasing in June 1993.

Products

In 1973, it produced the first of 590 VoV bodies for imported Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and MAN bus chassis. In 1977 NZMB obtained manufacturing rights for the Swiss Carrosserie Hess system. In the early-1980s, NZMB bodied 450 Volvo B58 and

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 ...

buses for

Singapore Bus Service SBS Transit Limited (SBST or just SBS) () is a multi-modal public transport operator in Singapore operating bus and rail services. With a majority of its shares owned by Singaporean multinational transport conglomerate ComfortDelGro Corporatio ...

. In 1981 it began assembling

Plaxton Supreme The Plaxton Supreme was a design of coach bodywork built by Plaxton. It was first built, on small chassis only, in 1974, replacing the Plaxton Panorama. On full-sized chassis, it replaced the Panorama Elite in 1975, and was superseded by the ...

bodies delivered in CKD packs from England.NZ's first Plaxton
''

Commercial Motor ''Commercial Motor'' is a weekly magazine serving the road transport industry in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1905 by Edmund Dangerfield, it is notable for having been "the first journal to be devoted exclusively to the commercial vehicle e ...

'' 8 August 1981

References

External links

{{Bus transport in New Zealand Bus manufacturers of New Zealand Palmerston North Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1926 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1993 New Zealand companies established in 1926 1993 disestablishments in New Zealand