Solaris
(Solaris Bus & Coach S.A.)
In 1994, Krzysztof Olszewski founded the Neoplan Polska company in Bolechowo-Osiedle near Poznań. In order to win a tender for the delivery of 72 low-floor city buses for MPK Poznań, the construction of a new city bus factory began in Bolechowo that same year, and on 22 March 1996 the first bus rolled off the assembly line. Neoplan Polska manufactured city bus and coach models under the license of the German company Neoplan. In 1999, the Solaris Urbino 12 model was presented – the first city bus from the new Solaris Urbino family, which quickly became the best-selling city bus in Poland.
1st September of 2001 marks the cornerstone in the history of the company. That day, following the buy-out by Krzysztof Olszewski of the 30 per cent shareholding held for a year by Neoplan, the company was renamed Solaris Bus & Coach Limited. As of July 1st, 2005 Solaris Bus & Coach has been trading as a share company.
The well-known Solaris logo is "Dachsie", a green dachhund dog devised by Solange Olszewska, Krzysztof Olszewski's wife.
