Spanish coachbuilder Sunsundegui has filed for administration so it can buy time to negotiate with its creditors.
The company, best known in the UK for producing coaches on Volvo chassis, has €48.8m operational debts, some with suppliers but the bulk with loans, but says its order book for 2025 could save it from bankruptcy.
The Sunsundegui directors claim that the core of the problem stems from the aborted plan to build Volvo’s 9700 and 9900 flagship coaches, after the closure of the modern Volvo coachbuilding factory in Poland.
In preparation for building the Volvo designs, Sunsundegui had taken on a swathe of new workers and tooled up for the new production lines when Volvo pulled the plug on the project.
Interim cash injections amounting to €9m from regional government and €5.1m from Volvo, which ran out in August, have not been enough to address the debt issues, the company told a government minister.
source: busandcoachbuyer.com