Trade Policy Uncertainty Drives 5.6% Drop in New Motorcoach Sales
Year-over-year decline undermines U.S. Jobs and Transportation Readiness
The American Bus Association (ABA), the leading voice in North America’s motorcoach, charter bus, group travel and tourism industries, today announced the Second Quarter 2025 Motorcoach Builders Survey. The survey, which is produced by the ABA’s research arm, the American Bus Association Foundation, produces the report each quarter with data collected from surveys of the major motorcoach manufacturers that sell vehicles in the United States and Canada.
This quarter, the participating manufacturers sold 453 new and 57 pre-owned coaches, for a total of 510 motorcoaches. This compares with 480 during the second quarter of 2024. Sales of new motorcoaches have decreased by 5.6% compared to the same quarter in 2024, with the sale of pre-owned motorcoaches 26.9% lower.
“After a rebound in 2024, the motorcoach industry is now facing a slowdown in new vehicle sales,” said Fred Ferguson, President & CEO of the American Bus Association. “The larger trade policy shifts have triggered cost increases across our supply chain, injected policy uncertainty into the marketplace, and reduced buyer confidence at the very moment the industry was regaining its footing.”
Ferguson continued: “Deferred equipment purchases mean that vital safety and efficiency innovations—from lower-emission engines to collision mitigation technologies—are being kept off American roads. This doesn’t just impact passengers—it compromises the readiness of a strategic transportation reserve that supports troop movements, disaster recovery, and affordable inter-city mobility. If demand continues to weaken, the ripple effects will be felt by the more than 500,000 Americans who power the group travel economy and by U.S.-based manufacturers that produce the engines, transmissions, and parts essential to our fleet.”
According to the data, Q2 2025 data show a 19.3% decrease compared to the same quarter in 2019. While Q4 2024 had shown a somewhat stronger recovery, with a smaller percentage decrease from the 2019 baseline, Q1 and Q2 2025 demonstrate a step back.
Sales to both private and public entities decreased in Q2 compared to the same quarter in 2024, increasing by 5.2 and 16.7%, respectively.
About the American Bus Association Foundation
The American Bus Association Foundation (ABAF), the philanthropic arm of the American Bus Association, is dedicated to advancing the motorcoach, travel, and tourism industry through research and education. The Foundation’s mission is to support the motorcoach travel and tour industry with research and scholarships that benefit the ABA, policymakers, and the public. The ABA Foundation has awarded more than $1 million in financial support to more than 300 scholars since the program began after the passing of then ABA President and CEO George T. Snyder Jr. in 1995. Our scholarship programs help ABA members and the public earn degrees that support the motorcoach travel and tour industry, as well as promote academic excellence and diversity.
For more information about the ABA Foundation and its scholarship program, please visit www.buses.org/aba-foundation.
About Oxford Economics
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