Industry Bus manufacturing Defunct 1990 Founder Alan B Denning Number of locations 1 | Successor Austral Denning Headquarters Acacia Ridge Founded 1958 Ceased operations 1990 | |
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Fate merged with Austral to form Parent organization British Motor Corporation (Australia) | ||
Denning was an Australian bus and coach manufacturer in Acacia Ridge, Brisbane.
History
Denning commenced bodying buses in Brisbane in 1958. Denning's first integral bus (both chassis and body), the Monocoach, was launched in 1966. Along with the later Denair and Landseer it would become the dominant long distance coach in Australia.
In 1968, Denning was sold to Leyland Australia. Between 1968 and 1970 it bodied 136 Leyland Panthers for the Brisbane City Council.
In 1970, a plant was opened in Beverley, South Australia to body 292 AEC Swift 691s for the Municipal Tramways Trust, Adelaide. Some Monocoaches were also built here before the plant closed in August 1974. In 1979, Denning coaches began to be assembled under licence in New Zealand by the Mount Cook Group.
In December 1988, Leyland Australia (by now renamed JRA Limited) purchased Denning's biggest competitor in the coach market, Austral from AP Group. Both continued to operate separately until 1990 when the Denning plant in Acacia Ridge was closed and production transferred to the Austral facility in Geebung.