Sun Bus Tech goes the extra mile

Phang: I strongly believe in knowledge-exchange and cross-learning, and aim to share our best practices with bus body builders in the region.

FROM an early age, Shyan Phang has had a front-row view of the bus building industry.

In the 1970s, her father, Phang Sun Wah, founded a bus manufacturing factory in Johor, and has since amassed over 50 years of experience in the sector.

“When I took the bus to school, I remember being very proud to be sitting on a bus created by my dad,” she recalls.

As an adult, however, she didn’t see herself following in the same path as the family business and instead embarked on a career in finance abroad.

It was only in 2014 that she returned to help spearhead the initial public offering journey for her father’s second bus-building company.

A turning point came in 2020 when the family decided to step away from the industry to recalibrate their vision.

“After so many years in bus manufacturing, my father really wanted to explore new ground and share his experience with future generations,” she says.

The result was Sun Bus Tech Sdn Bhd, a bus and bus body manufacturing company formed in 2022, combining decades of industry expertise with a fresh, innovation-driven approach to the modern market.

“We have a relatively young management team and are constantly on the lookout for new technologies that can enhance our bus quality and manufacturing processes,” says Phang, who is the company’s chief executive officer (CEO).

Driven by a strong emphasis on technology, the company formed a key partnership early on with Carrosserie HESS AG, a leading supplier of aluminium bus body solutions based in Switzerland.

Through the collaboration, Sun Bus Tech was able to bring more long-lasting, energy-efficient, recyclable, corrosion-resistant, and easy-to-maintain products to the Asian market.

From its factory headquartered in Johor’s Senai Airport City, the company’s core service is bus body manufacturing, where customers source a chassis base and bring it to Sun Bus Tech.

“We are basically building a shell,” Phang explains.

“The bus comes into our factory as a bare steel structure and when it leaves, it’s a completed bus with seats, air conditioning, and other fixtures.”

The company also specialises in completely knocked down (CKD) assembly of buses and trucks, which involves putting together imported vehicle components locally for dealers and distributors.

The factory’s output currently stands at 30 to 40 units per month, according to the CEO.

“We’ve achieved stable sales revenue, and are targeting 30% year-on-year growth so that by the end of the next financial year, the entire business will turn green,” she adds.

The company plans to reach its growth goals by continually improving operational efficiency and maximising output within its 12-hour workday, rather than expanding factory capacity.

It also aims to maintain a balanced revenue mix between bus body building and CKD assembly.

“Buses are largely project-based with a long lead time to delivery, typically requiring one unit every two days, whereas CKD trucks can be assembled much faster at about two units a day,” she notes.

Beyond Malaysia, Sun Bus Tech also serves customers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and China.

One standout achievement for the company, according to Phang, was securing the sale of 300 cobalt aluminium extrusion kits to a bus body builder in China for the production of electric city buses for Singapore’s Land Transport Authority.

On local shores, the business also undertook the local assembly of about 220 diesel buses acquired by Prasarana Malaysia Bhd for its Rapid KL and Rapid Penang public transport networks.

Looking ahead, Phang sees the bus manufacturing market increasingly shaped by electric vehicles (EV), especially with many governments growingly prioritising green mobility.

“There’s a big market shift from conventional diesel buses to EVs,” she says.

“For us, this will likely mean more investment in charging infrastructure to test our vehicles and stronger safety measures in manufacturing as we prepare for this evolution.”

At the same time, the company’s core focus is on building international partnerships to further drive regional expansion.

“I strongly believe in knowledge-exchange and cross-learning. We aim to share our best practices with other body builders around the region, helping them to localise and build our products for their own markets for greater customer reach,” she notes.

Today, the local bus body builder industry remains relatively small and confined to about 20 players.

According to Phang, Sun Bus Tech is able to stand apart with its heavy focus on the export market, capacity for local assembly, and diversified product portfolio.

She also attributes a significant part of the company’s growth to the strong reputation and foundation built by her father over the years.

“He set the benchmark with his commitment to product quality, integrity, and being a man of his word.

“I’m always learning from him, while also shaping this company to have its own distinct identity.”