Higer for the UK
B&CB’s David Cole reports from the company’s Dublin headquarters as it announces launch
Dublin-based Harris Group has revealed its plan to introduce Higer bus and coach products to the UK.
Modelled on the group’s success on growing the Maxus brand of Chinese built vehicles in the UK, Harris Bus & Coach will be fully operational in early 2026. Headquartered alongside the Maxus operation in Liverpool, the company will be putting in to place a network of ten dealerships across the UK with staff trained both by Higer in China and at the Group’s facilities in Dublin. The dealerships will be supported by headquarters-based mobile engineers.
Five Higer models, evolved to the latest specifications concurrent with UK requirements, will initially be offered, focussing on electric buses and diesel coaches with development work already underway on further specific product including double-deck. The electric bus range will comprise 9m and 12m versions from the Higer Azure range, the 9m version being a new design with a full width doorway forward of the front axle which will offer 263kWh installed battery capacity. The 12m version will have 481kWh installed in a progression of the design recently shown to the press, two examples of which are already in Ireland. The coach range will be from Higer’s latest V series, the three models chosen being V10, V12, V13 which offer standard capacities between 37 and 57 passengers, the V13 being a tri-axle. The driveline consists of familiar Cummins and ZF products. Arrival of the first V10 with Harris Group in Ireland is imminent.
Harris Bus & Coach is being led by Bill Laidlaw who has 35 years of experience in the commercial vehicle industry, including developing the UK market for LDV/Maxus with Harris Group since 2017. He is currently assembling his Higer focussed team with appointments made already including James Hooker as Head of Bus Sales and Wayne Ulph, known to many UK coach operators, as Head of Aftersales.
Bill commented: “We’ve created Harris Bus & Coach to assist operators, and then to meet and exceed their expectations as a business partner. This isn’t about merely selling buses, it’s about giving operators the confidence to modernise, and to partner with us on the journey.”