Golden Dragon Buses: Navigating the World

Following its impressive appearance at the Busworld Europe exhibition (hereinafter referred to as "Busworld") in early October, Xiamen Golden Dragon Bus Co., Ltd. (Golden Dragon Bus or Golden Dragon) has maintained significant momentum, with a constant stream of overseas customers visiting, inquiring, and engaging in exchanges. "Our electric buses have garnered particular attention from overseas clients, and we are currently following up on several potential orders," said Lai Zhiyi, General Manager of Golden Dragon Bus, in an interview.

Busworld is the world's largest and longest-running professional bus exhibition. At this historic juncture, marking the conclusion of the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the planning of the "15th Five-Year Plan," the typically low-profile Golden Dragon Bus captivated the global stage at this premier bus event with three significant models, experiencing a highlight moment.

Scene from Busworld Europe

From venturing abroad to navigating the global map with ease, and advancing into the "first tier" of the European market – why has Golden Dragon Bus succeeded? What did it do right? The development path of Golden Dragon Bus provides an important perspective for observing the Chinese bus industry's stride onto the world stage.

The recently concluded Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China emphasized the need to expand high-level opening up and create a new situation of win-win cooperation. "The '15th Five-Year Plan' period will be crucial for Chinese bus manufacturers to enter the global high-end market," said Lai Zhiyi. He added that Golden Dragon Bus will closely follow national strategies, seize market opportunities, continuously enhance the "green content," "tech content," and "intelligent content" of its products, and persistently provide the "Golden Dragon Solution" for global green and low-carbon transformation.

Product Evolution: From Introduction to Growth – Golden Dragon New Energy Buses Become "Hot Sellers" Overseas

If the Busworld exhibition a few years ago featured a roughly equal split between new energy buses and traditional fuel buses, this year's event was dominated by new energy buses, with fuel buses scarcely visible.

Among the many new energy buses, the Golden Dragon PIVOT E15 pure electric bus, the GECKO pure electric light vehicle, and the all-new high-end coach – the GC15, launched globally for the first time – became focal points, showcasing new heights in the high-end and systematic development of Chinese buses to the outside world.

From non-existence to existence, from existence to excellence, Golden Dragon's new energy buses have progressed from a starting point to a sprint, steadily advancing to the center of the international stage, becoming a global leader in new energy buses.

Golden Dragon Pure Electric Buses Operating in Sweden

"The cumulative export of nearly a thousand pure electric units to 28 countries from January to September this year, with sales volume increasing by 13% year-on-year and sales revenue increasing by 49% year-on-year; currently, pure electric product sales revenue accounts for nearly 30% of the company's total overseas sales revenue." A set of data shared by Lai Zhiyi fully demonstrates the popularity of Golden Dragon's new energy buses in the overseas market.

Representing the European high-end market, Israel awarded Golden Dragon Bus its largest bus order ever this year, totaling over 300 vehicles, including 270 pure electric buses. In Norway, Golden Dragon secured an order for 93 high-end pure electric buses, a model with significant "tech content," priced at 3 million RMB per vehicle. In Ethiopia, Golden Dragon delivered 130 pure electric buses, also the largest new energy bus order for a Chinese bus company in Africa.

These individual orders hold exemplary and benchmark significance, not only highlighting Golden Dragon Bus's innovation and leadership in the field of new energy buses and product high-endization but also demonstrating the strength and commitment of Chinese bus enterprises accelerating their global presence and contributing to worldwide green and low-carbon transformation.

It is worth mentioning that Golden Dragon's new energy bus technology and quality are continuously advancing, with pure electric bus range exceeding 500 kilometers, and some models reaching 700 kilometers. Furthermore, through collaborations and the active application of new materials, Golden Dragon has achieved a 30% reduction in overall vehicle energy consumption, reaching the highest standard in the bus industry.

Innovating towards Green and Smart Technology.** Autonomous vehicles represent the direction of automotive technology and future industrial development. As a promoter and leader in China's intelligent transportation, Golden Dragon Bus continues to make breakthroughs in the field of autonomous driving. Currently, Golden Dragon Bus is collaborating with partners to develop autonomous vehicles with the longest length, largest capacity, and highest speed, aiming to create a new benchmark for autonomous driving operations that leads domestically and internationally.

"If one leading product is accidental, then two, three, or even multiple leading products indicate inevitability. Behind this inevitability is the continuous drive of corporate culture," said Lai Zhiyi. "We are gratified that over the years, Golden Dragon Bus has fostered a cultural philosophy of 'Sincerity to Trust, Creating Value.' While driving our own high-quality growth through innovation, we are also leading the breakthrough, growth, and strengthening of China's independent brand automotive industry."

Market Evolution: From Follower to Definer – Advancing into the European Market's "First Tier"

From initially being a "supplement" to later becoming "indispensable," and now a "key focus," the overseas market has undergone such a role transformation in Golden Dragon Bus's years of "going global." Lai Zhiyi said: "Currently, overseas sales account for over 60% of Golden Dragon's total sales, and this proportion has been gradually increasing over the past three years."

Within overseas markets, the European market is not only the technological high ground of the world's bus industry but also a touchstone for testing a brand's comprehensive strength. "The European market has high demand and stringent requirements for vehicle safety, environmental protection, comfort, and intelligence," Lai Zhiyi said. "In Golden Dragon Bus's overseas market strategy, the European market is the 'top priority.' We have the capability and confidence to do it well."

Golden Dragon Buses in Norway

Confidence and stem from technology and quality. From a technical and standards perspective, in overseas markets, Golden Dragon Bus has transformed from a "follower" to a "definer." In the past, with fuel buses, Golden Dragon was "following along." Now, Golden Dragon is redefining new energy buses, establishing new industry benchmarks for safety, efficiency, greenness, and intelligence. In terms of quality, Golden Dragon Bus has built a high-end product platform specifically "tailor-made" for European standards and certifications, realizing the concept of "Four Standardizations and One Control" (Generalization, Serialization, Platformization, Standardization, and Cost Control). Products have undergone transformative changes in intelligent driving, energy management, application of new materials and processes, meeting the highest European standards. "To capture the high-end market, it is essential to adapt to local regulations and certifications. This cannot be achieved in a day or two; it requires long-term and thorough preparation," Lai Zhiyi said.

From catching up and aligning with Europe in the traditional energy era to now surpassing and leading in the intelligent electric era, Golden Dragon Bus is winning increasing support and trust from customers in the European market. Currently, over 450 Golden Dragon pure electric vehicles are operating stably and reliably in European countries such as Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Bulgaria. Golden Dragon Bus's sales in the European market rank among the top domestic bus brands.

Recently, Golden Dragon Bus held a special meeting on the European market, providing comprehensive support from marketing, products, technical support, and after-sales service for the company's expansion in Europe. This signifies that Golden Dragon Bus has embarked on a new journey towards Europe and the world.

**Path Evolution: From "Going Out" to "Going Deep" – 17 Overseas KD Projects**

Behind the remarkable "going global" performance lies another "key" – KD (Knock-Down) exports.

In simple terms, KD export refers to an automaker exporting a complete vehicle in a completely knocked-down (CKD) or semi-knocked-down (SKD) state to a foreign country, setting up factories locally, and finally assembling them into complete vehicles for sale. "For a company to take root and expand the market share overseas, it must take the path of KD exports," Lai Zhiyi stated. The obvious advantages of KD exports are reducing tariffs, minimizing transportation costs, and responding quickly to localization needs. On a deeper level, KD exports promote a strategic upgrade from product export to system empowerment, from "going out" to "going deep," forming a "community of shared destiny" characterized by mutual capability development, synergistic progress, and mutual benefit.

Establishing KD projects overseas is not easy. "The most difficult part was the initial exploration stage," Lai Zhiyi recalled. Golden Dragon Bus's earliest KD project was established in the Philippines. "This project has been running for 20 years. Compared to 20 years ago, the project scale has expanded, products have been upgraded, and market share has continuously increased."

**Golden Dragon Bus KD Factory in Ethiopia**

Once started, the momentum is unstoppable. In Thailand, Golden Dragon Bus partnered with local collaborators to initiate a new energy pure electric bus KD assembly project, marking the first time the four major processes – stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly – were comprehensively replicated overseas, providing a full-scenario public transport electrification solution. In Ethiopia, Golden Dragon Bus established the first new energy KD factory demonstration project in East Africa. This project achieved a key leap from "Technology Globalization" to "Standards Globalization," creating a new paradigm for the "China Solution" going global.

"Do one, succeed in one; do one, expand one market," Lai Zhiyi said confidently. Currently, Golden Dragon Bus has 17 KD projects in overseas markets. Golden Dragon Bus has also become the bus company in China with the most overseas KD factories.

Currently, as the "14th Five-Year Plan" nears its conclusion, looking ahead to the "15th Five-Year Plan," Golden Dragon Bus will actively implement four major strategies: the Overseas Strategy, Platform Strategy, New Base Strategy, and Brand Strategy. The Overseas Strategy involves promoting overseas business to achieve a comprehensive leap from "Product Globalization" to "Brand Globalization," "System Globalization," "Standards Globalization," and "Service Globalization," building sustainable global competitiveness. The Platform Strategy uses platformization restructuring as a lever to complete the role transformation from a technology "applier" to a standard "definer." The New Base Strategy, through the operational approach of "meticulous manufacturing to solidify quality, innovation-driven to enhance efficiency, and linking resources for synergistic development," aims to radiate and drive the synergistic development of the upstream and midstream automotive industry chain, creating a domestically leading and internationally advanced production base. The Brand Strategy, through brand value reconstruction, aims to completely break away from homogeneous competition, establish a new industry value paradigm marked by high-end and leading status, and further enhance the company's competitive dimension and leadership position in the global bus industry.