Solaris is the leading producer of electric buses in Poland. Yutong and Irizar are catching up.

Poland registered 970 new battery-electric buses in the first eight months of 2026, according to the Polish Automotive Industry Association’s eRejestracje series and the joint PZPM/JMK analysis of the new-bus market. Including 111 hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, first registrations of zero-emission buses reached 1,081 units, or 37.5 percent of a market that grew to 2,885 factory-new buses. In the corresponding period of 2025 the zero-emission total was 158.

That inflow has a supplier structure. Mercedes-Benz remains first on the all-bus ranking, largely on the Sprinter in the mini segment. In the urban class that accounts for most of the electric volume, the order is different. Solaris continues to supply the largest share of city electric buses. Yutong, sold in Poland by Busnex Poland, and Irizar e-mobility are the two manufacturers whose 2025 awards are now visible as 2026 deliveries.

Supplier ranking

Mercedes-Benz registered 837 new buses of all drivetrains in January-August 2026, 29 percent of the market, against 41.7 percent a year earlier. Of those, 614 were Sprinters. Solaris registered 762 buses, an increase of 491 percent, and remains first in the city-bus segment. The leading model in that class is the Urbino 12 electric, with 348 units. Vehicles produced in Poland accounted for 974 of the 2,885 new buses, one third of the market, compared with 16 percent a year earlier.

Yutong registered 135 buses, against 11 in the same period of 2025. Iveco recorded 245 units, MAN 212 and Ford 178. Irizar does not yet appear in the published top five of the all-bus ranking; its Polish electric book is newer and is still converting from contract to first registration.

Source: PZPM / JMK Analizy Rynku Transportowego, CEP first registrations, January-August 2026. Rankings cover all drivetrains. Electric volume is concentrated in Solaris, Yutong and Irizar.

Solaris

Solaris Bus & Coach, based at Bolechowo, supplied the majority of the urban electric buses contracted under National Recovery Plan funding through late 2025. Industry tallies of that pool put the company at 565 vehicles, about 63 percent of the contracted volume. The Urbino 12 electric and Urbino 18 electric account for most of the 2026 first-registration increase.

The largest live book is in Warsaw. In September 2025 Solaris signed with Miejskie Zakłady Autobusowe for 79 electric buses – 50 Urbino 18 and 29 Urbino 12 – with an option for a further 79. MZA has exercised the option: another 50 articulated and 29 standard vehicles. The combined package exceeds PLN 600 million. The firm 79, together with 50 Solaris units from a separate procedure, were scheduled for delivery through 2026; the option vehicles are due in the first half of 2027. Solaris had already delivered 163 electric buses to MZA before this contract.

Poznań remains a Solaris network. MPK Poznań’s line fleet on 25 June 2026 stood at 343 buses, including 37 Urbino 12 electric, 39 Urbino 18 electric and 34 Urbino 12 hydrogen. Further contracts add 21 articulated Urbino 18 electric units configured for depot plug-in charging only. Funding intensity on the recent lots was 100 percent, through NFOŚiGW and the KPO zero-emission urban transport measure.

Gdańsk signed with Solaris in September 2025 for 30 buses for Gdańskie Autobusy i Tramwaje: 18 Urbino 12 electric, with packs of up to 600 kWh, and 12 Urbino 18 electric, with packs of up to 800 kWh. Completion was set for September 2026. Sixteen of the 30 were in the city by late July. A separate five-unit midi tender for the Urbino 9 LE electric drew a single Solaris bid. In the Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolis, Solaris supplied 42 of the 73 battery-electric buses accepted under the Green Transport GZM programme.

Yutong

Yutong’s Polish volume is concentrated in a small number of large lots rather than a broad municipal spread. Busnex Poland won Białystok’s 60-bus tender – the largest electric-bus award in that city’s history – as the only bidder. The offer covered 60 low-floor Yutong U12 vehicles with batteries of at least 350 kWh, 15 charge stations able to feed 24 buses across three depots, tooling and training, at PLN 153.7 million gross against a ceiling of PLN 210.3 million. Thirty vehicles were due in June 2026.

Warsaw has taken 30 Yutong U12 buses through Busnex. PKM Katowice has a 30-unit articulated U18 delivery under way. In late 2025 tallies of KPO-era urban awards, Busnex/Yutong stood at 104 vehicles, behind Solaris and Irizar. Busnex has said it intends the Polish Yutong fleet to rise from 167 vehicles earlier in 2026 to more than 330 by year-end, and has introduced an intercity model, the IC12E, with a 465 kWh pack.

Irizar

In November 2025 Irizar e-mobility announced contracts for 80 electric buses across five Polish cities. Those awards have since moved into delivery. GZM (Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia – Upper Silesian–Zagłębie Metropolis) accepted 31 Irizar ie buses in July 2026 – 16 articulated 18-metre vehicles and 15 standard 12-metre vehicles – for service in Sosnowiec, Świerklaniec, Katowice and Gliwice. The Irizar portion of the Green Transport GZM project was reported at PLN 133.7 million, with more than 91 percent of eligible costs covered by the KPO. Across the same programme GZM took 42 Solaris buses and 45 charge points. Combined contract value on the electric portion is about PLN 305 million.

MPK Kraków took delivery of 22 Irizar ie 12-metre buses in May 2026. They entered service on lines 107, 124, 304 and 424. Four Irizar ie units have operated in the city since 2023, bringing the Irizar electric fleet to 26. After the delivery MPK put its battery-electric stock at 143 vehicles. The 22 buses and their chargers cost just under PLN 54 million net.

The remainder of the November 2025 package is 12 twelve-metre buses for Bielsko-Biała, five 10-metre buses for Nowy Sącz, and ten 10-metre buses for MZA Warsaw, with a further ten on option, specified with rooftop solar above 1 kW and due late 2026. KPO-era tallies put Irizar at 121 contracted urban vehicles, second behind Solaris.

MAN, Daimler and the rest

MAN Truck & Bus registered 212 new buses of all types through August and was credited with 47 electric units in the late-2025 KPO urban tally. Daimler Buses was credited with 21. Both remain active on current procedures. Daimler, Irizar and Solaris contested Warsaw’s 85-bus electric tender, split into three lots; Solaris won two, Irizar one. In Wrocław, Solaris, Daimler Buses and Irizar submitted bids for five articulated electric buses plus a 15-unit option, with charging equipment.

A Lithuanian–Polish consortium representing King Long has small midi lots in Puławy, Bochnia and Krosno, 11 units combined. Autosan continues to appear on smaller eastern contracts. BYD is visible in the European electric-bus ranking and is not a material name on the Polish urban awards of this cycle. Mercedes-Benz remains first on the all-bus register because of the mini segment; its urban electric presence in the current Polish file is limited to lots such as the eCitaro vehicles included in Wrocław’s 28-bus intake.

Where the vehicles are going

First registrations measure inflow. Contract notices show which manufacturers are attached to which networks. MZA Warsaw is the largest single buyer: 169 battery-electric buses were already in service by autumn 2025, of which 129 were Solaris and 30 Yutong. Contracted zero-emission vehicles then stood at nearly 250. MZA’s planning figure is an electric fleet of about 450 once current contracts are delivered. In December 2025, before the January 2026 purchase restriction took effect, ZTM Warsaw separately ordered 120 diesel articulated buses from Solaris, with an option for 100 more.

From January 2026, municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants may purchase only zero-emission buses for public-service fleets. That rule, together with KPO and Green Public Transport co-financing, is what moved the 2026 registration series. It does not by itself determine supplier shares. Those shares follow the awards below.

Selected 2025–26 battery-electric awards and deliveries. Figures are contracted or accepted units, not a census of every municipal lot. Sources: operator and manufacturer releases, municipal notices, trade press.

MPK Łódź is taking 36 electric buses, including 22 articulated; after delivery the electric fleet is planned at 61. MPK Wrocław is adding 28 buses across Mercedes-Benz eCitaro and Solaris Urbino, including seven Urbino 12 electric due by mid-2026. After those contracts, electric buses are expected to remain below 10 percent of the Wrocław bus fleet. Smaller lots in Konin, Grudziądz, Malbork, Chełm and Rybnik sit inside the same funding window. SPPK Police opened a five-bus electric tender in May 2026; Busnex was lowest on price, ahead of MAN and Solaris.

Indicators for the remainder of 2026

The fourth quarter will show how much of the remaining KPO urban allocation is still to be registered. A quarter in line with June would take the annual battery-electric total above 1,400 units. Volumes at this level rest on contracts already awarded. Delayed disbursement, or a late opening of the subsequent FEnIKS urban-transport window, would affect the 2027 registration profile rather than the current supplier ranking.

Three points follow from the manufacturer file. First, Solaris remains the default urban supplier and the plant behind most of the 2026 first-registration increase. Second, Yutong’s 135 units are the product of a few large, price-competitive lots, not yet a diversified municipal base. Third, Irizar has converted an 80-bus announcement into vehicles in service in Kraków and GZM, with Warsaw, Bielsko-Biała and Nowy Sącz still to complete. Depot charging, not the identity of the next bidder, is the constraint that registration totals do not capture.

For public-transport authorities comparing electric-bus specifications, the 2026 Polish file shows a domestic manufacturer retaining urban volume while two importers have established multi-city books. Consumer battery-electric demand has softened. Public-service fleet replacement has not, and the supplier list attached to that replacement is no longer a single name.

Sources

• PZPM eRejestracje monthly releases and August 2026 infographic (CEP first registrations)
• PZPM and JMK Analizy Rynku Transportowego, first registrations of new buses, January–August 2026
• PZPM/PSNM Licznik Elektromobilności, 20 July 2026
• Solaris and MZA Warsaw contract announcements, September 2025, and subsequent option exercise
• Irizar e-mobility, five-city Polish package, November 2025; GZM delivery, July 2026; MPK Kraków delivery, May 2026
• GZM / electrive.com, 73-bus and 45-charger programme
• MPK Poznań fleet list, 25 June 2026, and Urbino 18 electric contract notices
• City of Gdańsk / GAiT Solaris contract, September 2025, and delivery updates through July 2026
• Białystok award to Busnex Poland, 60 × Yutong U12
• Polityka Insight, Na prąd vol. 5, KPO supplier shares; Rzeczpospolita municipal fleet survey, September 2026
• Electromobility and Alternative Fuels Act amendment in force 1 January 2026

Figures for awards and deliveries are taken from published notices available through 24 September 2026. First-registration totals and contracted totals are not the same series. CEP figures are subject to revision.