Eurobus (all)

1990–2002
Eurobus d.o.o. | Zagreb, Croatia

COMPANY HISTORY

The beginning
Eurobus was founded in 1990 by Aleksej Aleksandrov and Željko Ivančić, high-ranking engineers from Tvornica Autobusa Zagreb (TAZ).
TAZ was one of the major bus manufacturers in Yugoslavia, but struggled after the Croatian independence.
Eurobus was started with just six employees and 5.000 DM of founding capital. Aleksej Aleksandrov initials (AA) were stamped into the front fascia of all Eurobus models.

The models
In a very short time, they developed a portfolio of buses. Their main model was the Volvo-based Eurobus AV120, which was built in several versions:

Eurobus AV120 | coach bus | since 1993 | 63 produced
Eurobus AV120 D | dobule decker | since 1994 | 3 produced + 1 unfinished
Eurobus AV120 L | intercity bus | since 1995 | 22 produced + 2 unfinished (completed in 2008)

Eurobus also produced MAN EL262-based city buses, bodies for Zagreb's TMK2100 trams, as well as minibuses and airport buses:

Eurobus AM117 G | city bus | since 1995 | 16 produced
Eurobus BV119 | library bus | since 1995 | 1 produced
Eurobus AE60 C | mini bus | since 1996 | 8 produced
Eurobus AE141 A | airport bus | since 1998 | 2 produced + 4 unfinished

The downfall
Despite promising contracts, including over 300 buses for Saudi Arabia, Eurobus didn't receive much support from the Croatian government and banks.
When their only supportive bank and shareholder Glumina collapsed in 1997/1998, Eurobus started to struggle financially.
In an effort to stay in business, the production was moved from Zagreb to the plant of SOKO Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 1998.
Import taxes and quality concerns scared off the loyal Croatian customers, slowing sales further and forcing Eurobus into bankruptcy in 2002.

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