Makers and importers

Belgium buys its electric city buses from about a dozen makers, and since 2024 the biggest single order book belongs to a Chinese one: De Lijn has 500 BYD 12-metre buses on order or in service. Everyone else sells to Belgium through a framework contract won in a public tender, and since 2022 every tender has been almost entirely zero-emission, well beyond the minimum share the Clean Vehicles law requires. This page lists who builds, how big each maker is in Europe, what is confirmed about Chinese buses in Belgium, the EU and Belgian rules a seller must know before bidding, and the questions a Belgian buyer asks after the price. It is written for operators and municipalities, and for makers and importers who want to sell here. The links go to this site’s specification sheets and to the sources.

The European market in numbers

Europe (EU plus the UK, Norway and Switzerland) registered 11,819 battery-electric buses in 2025 and 8,141 in the first half of 2026, 49 % more than a year earlier. Battery buses were 61 % of all city buses registered in H1 2026. Belgium registered 140 of them in that half year (Sustainable Bus, 31 Aug 2026, DVV Media data). The European makers’ association ACEA says Chinese brands held about 32 % of the EU electric city-bus segment in 2025 and that bus imports from China passed EUR 1 billion for the first time (Sustainable Bus, 21 Oct 2026).

2025 and H1 2026 figures: DVV Media annual and Q2 reports via Sustainable Bus, 6 Mar 2026 and Sustainable Bus, 31 Aug 2026. Shares are of 11,607 units, the total in the March article (later revised to 11,819). Yutong and BYD together were 26.8 % of 2025; the six Chinese brands in the H1 2026 list add up to about 34 % of 8,141. Both are this site’s sums, not figures from the articles. The ICCT counted differently for Q1 2026: Yutong nearly 15 %, Solaris close behind, MAN above 10 %, King Long nearly 5 % of EU zero-emission city buses (Sustainable Bus, 22 Jun 2026).

The makers, one by one

European makers selling to Belgium

Chinese makers in Europe

Chinese e-buses in Belgium today: what is confirmed

The Belgian bus federation FBAA counted 1,207 electric buses in Belgium in January 2026 (line, school and coach together), of which 142 or 12 % from Chinese brands: 82 BYD, 34 Yutong, the rest Alfabus, Golden Dragon, King Long and Skyworth; about 300 more Chinese buses were on order for 2027 (Mobiliteit.nl, 19 May 2026). The public orders behind that:

STIB (Brussels) and TEC (Wallonia) have no Chinese bus: their fleets are Mercedes-Benz, Solaris, Volvo hybrids and a few Bluebus (Sustainable Bus, 11 Mar 2026; Sustainable Bus, 14 Nov 2024). The Yutong buses in Belgium belong to private operators who drive for De Lijn, not to De Lijn itself. See also the Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia pages.

The EU rules a seller must understand

Seven sets of rules decide whether a bus can be offered in a Belgian tender and on what terms. Most of them apply to every maker; three (FSR, NZIA, “Buy European”) matter most to a maker from outside the EU.

Belgian public procurement in practice

Bus purchases by De Lijn, STIB and TEC fall under Title 3 (special sectors) of the Belgian public procurement law of 17 June 2016: the economically most advantageous tender wins on price, cost or price-quality ratio, life-cycle costing is allowed, abnormally low prices are checked, and framework agreements may run up to eight years (Belgian Official Journal, law of 17 June 2016). Every tender is published on the federal e-Procurement platform, which carries more than 20,000 notices a year (FPS BOSA, procurement page).

• De Lijn (Flanders) buys through multi-year frameworks and then calls off batches: Van Hool/VDL (2021), Iveco Bus (2023, up to 500), BYD (2023, up to 500), Irizar (2024, up to 100), Daimler Buses (2025, up to 500), plus charger frameworks with SPIE-Ekoenergetyka and ABB for up to 1,600 charge points. Winning a framework guarantees nothing: Irizar’s has had no call-off. Money comes in political rounds, such as the one-off EUR 400 million of 2025 (Sustainable Bus, 11 Dec 2025). Standard requirements quoted in orders: USB charging, electric wheelchair ramp, heated and ventilated driver seat, camera mirrors, advanced safety systems. The 79 private operators buy their own buses; how far De Lijn’s frameworks apply to them is not published.
• STIB-MIVB (Brussels) places single-supplier orders with frameworks of its own (eCitaro up to 80 standard buses), partly financed by the European Investment Bank, and is tendering up to 300 standard e-buses for 2028 onwards (Sustainable Bus, 11 Mar 2026; see the Brussels page).
• TEC (Wallonia) runs frameworks (97 Volvo hybrids in 2023) and tenders with phased call-offs (45 Solaris Urbino 24, first 18), and has 170 standard e-buses ordered for the coming years (see the Wallonia page).

Prices from public orders, before options and maintenance: De Lijn pays about EUR 470,000–500,000 for a BYD 12 m, about EUR 600,000 ceiling per eCitaro, about EUR 700,000–750,000 for an 18 m Iveco or VDL; STIB paid about EUR 820,000 per 18 m eCitaro G (Sustainable Bus, 13 Jun 2025; VRT NWS, 10 Dec 2025; BX1).

After the price: the questions a Belgian buyer asks

Van Hool’s bankruptcy in 2024 taught Belgian operators that a warranty can disappear with its maker: VDL took over part of Van Hool but referred warranty claims on delivered Van Hool buses to the receivers (Sustainable Bus, 8 Jul 2024). Expect these questions in every tender and every meeting:

• Who repairs the bus in Belgium, and how fast do parts arrive? BYD works through customers’ own workshops plus partners and a European parts warehouse; Yutong ships from a central warehouse in France and has 31 authorised outlets; Higer opened a Luxembourg hub in 2025; CRRC’s Belgian midibuses are serviced through Yes-EU (Sustainable Bus, 19 Nov 2025; electrive, 16 Oct 2025; Sustainable Bus, 17 Jul 2025).
• How long is the battery warranty, and who stands behind it? Higer advertises 15 years for European clients; most makers publish nothing. Ask for the warranty holder’s legal seat and balance sheet.
• What happens to the data, and who can update the software? See the cybersecurity row above. De Lijn asks for R156 and a separated vehicle network.
• Can you deliver on time? De Lijn chose BYD for six-month delivery against 18 to 24 months elsewhere. The flip side: the Flemish fleet is now 1,000 e-buses and the depots are behind, so delivery dates are tied to charger works (Flanders page).
• Who trains the drivers and mechanics, and in which language? Dutch in Flanders, French in Wallonia, both in Brussels. Not stated in any public tender document found; read the actual tender.
• Which chargers does the bus work with? De Lijn’s depots use SPIE-Ekoenergetyka and ABB; TEC and STIB have their own suppliers. See the charger sheets.

Avigus and this page

This site is built by Avigus BV, a Belgian company independent of every bus maker: it does not represent, distribute or sell any bus or charger listed here, and no maker pays for a sheet or a page. For a maker or exporter who wants to sell to a Belgian operator, Avigus can help with the practical steps on this page: reading Belgian tender documents, checking exposure to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, EU type approval through a European technical service, the regional homologation contacts, after-sales partners in Belgium, and the cybersecurity documentation operators now ask for. Any such help is agreed case by case; nothing here is a claim of representation, exclusivity or past bus deals. See about and contact.

What this page could not confirm

• The ordinary EU customs duty for electric buses (CN 8702 40 00); often quoted as 10 %, not verified.
• The exact date and Commission statement of CRRC’s withdrawal from the Bulgarian train tender (reported as 26 March 2024).
• Whether a bus tender “involves” a net-zero technology under NZIA Article 25 because of its battery pack, and whether China is a designated country for battery components (Communication C/2025/3236 not read).
• The battery-passport date (18 February 2027) and carbon-footprint dates under the Batteries Regulation.
• Any Yutong, King Long, Golden Dragon or Skyworth order in Belgium at operator level: FBAA gives totals, the Hansea and Waaslandia Yutong fleets come from a community fleet list.
• Which CRRC entity built De Lijn’s midibuses, and what Yes-EU sells besides them.
• 2025 full-year registrations for King Long, Zhongtong, Golden Dragon and CRRC in Europe (only H1 2026 published).
• The after-sales, warranty, training and parts clauses in De Lijn, STIB and TEC tender documents, and how De Lijn’s private operators procure their buses.
• Whether the 500 BYD buses are the final total: 500 is the sum of three published call-offs, not a figure De Lijn has stated.