King Long

What King Long does

King Long (legal entity: Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co., Ltd.) is a privately held Chinese bus and coach manufacturer founded in 1988 in Xiamen, Fujian, and operating as a subsidiary of Xiamen King Long Motor Group Co., Ltd. The company designs, manufactures, and sells a full spectrum of passenger road vehicles spanning seven product series: E-Bus (PEV6, PEV7, PEV8, PEV12, PEV18, MU12E), E-Coach (PEV9, PEV10, MC13E, C12E, U13, U15E), conventional Bus (B12, B18, XMQ series, XMQ6108G double-decker), Coach (Kingster, XMQ6120BE, XMQ6821CY), Van (KINGWIN, KINGO, KS2WR, KINGWIND family), and Special Vehicles (KT600 industrial, PEV14 airport shuttle). Underlying technology spans pure electric, hybrid, and hydrogen fuel platforms with a unified wire-control chassis architecture, the ECO-Chip energy management system, ONRECO-Chip 5.0 driver assistance silicon, and the smartGO Telematics platform for fleet monitoring. King Long pioneered commercial L4 autonomous bus deployment with the Apolong in 2017 and has since logged normalized autonomous operations across multiple Chinese provinces with a claimed zero-accident record.

Name

King Long

Legal name

Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co., Ltd.

Website

https://king-long.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

King Long is a Chinese bus, coach, van, and special vehicle manufacturer (founded 1988, Xiamen) serving public transit, pilgrimage, corporate, airport, and European/African export markets with pure electric, hybrid, hydrogen, and L4 autonomous platforms under a wire-control chassis architecture.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Bus Manufacturing

NAICS

Motor Vehicle Manufacturing (3361)

SIC

Truck & Bus Bodies (3713)

akta.pro primary industry

Hybrid Bus Manufacturing (IMACADAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Fuel Cell (Hydrogen) Bus Manufacturing (IMACADAF), Electric Bus & Coach Leasing/Rental (Battery-Electric) (TLABADAI), Commercial EV Rentals (Electric Vans/Trucks) (THADANAE)

Keywords

• Commercial bus manufacturing
• Electric city buses
• New energy vehicles
• Autonomous driving buses
• Passenger coaches

Headquarters

HQ city

Xiamen

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Bus and Coach Sales: King Long generates revenue primarily through the manufacture and sale of buses, coaches, vans, and special vehicles. The company offers both traditional diesel vehicles and new energy electric vehicles across multiple product lines.
2. After-Sales Service and Support: King Long provides comprehensive after-sales service including worry-free 4S-level service (Stewardship-style service, Specialized customization services, Site-specific service, Superior parts availability) throughout the product lifecycle.
3. Smart Charging Operation Services: One-stop smart charging operation services including vehicle procurement, charging operation, technical support and consultation on station construction, and charging operation management platform.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

King Long manufactures and sells commercial buses, coaches, vans, and special vehicles, with a strong emphasis on new energy vehicles (pure electric, hybrid, and hydrogen fuel platforms). The product portfolio spans city buses, intercity coaches, premium tourism coaches, airport shuttles, light commercial vans, and the world's first mass-produced L4 autonomous driving bus (Apolong). The company supports its vehicles with telematics (smartGO), energy management (ECO-Chip), and a global after-sales service network providing 4S-level support.

Product overview

King Long is a comprehensive bus and coach manufacturer offering a diversified product portfolio across multiple segments: E-Bus (PEV6, PEV7, PEV8, PEV12, PEV18, MU12E) for urban electric mobility; E-Coach (PEV9, PEV10, U13, U15E, MC13E, XMQ6112E, XMQ6905E) for electric intercity transport; Bus (B12, B18, XMQ6108G double-decker, XMQ6950G, XMQ6119G, XMQ6127AGW) for urban and intercity routes; Coach (XMQ6120BE, C12E, XMQ6716 Kingster, XMQ6821CY) for premium passenger transport; Van (KINGWIN, NEW KINGWIN, KINGO/KINGO-L, KS2WR, KINGWIND series) for cargo and passenger transport; Special Vehicles (KT600 for logistics, PEV14 for airport shuttle); and Apolong autonomous bus for L4 autonomous driving. The company provides new energy solutions including pure electric, hybrid, and hydrogen fuel technology routes, supported by smartGO Telematics platform for fleet management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Apolong: World's first L4-level mass-produced autonomous new energy bus, launched in 2017, pioneering global commercial operation of autonomous driving.
• Merry Combo
• Jieguan
• Kingster
• PEV Series

Products and services

• PEV6 Pure electric city minibus designed for the European market with compact and agile body for navigating city streets and alleys. Seats 12 passengers over 6 meters.
• PEV7 7.5m compact electric bus with 2.3-meter width for flexibility, anti-corrosion technology, wide-opening rear door, and aluminum passenger door. Seats 17 passengers.
• PEV8 Medium-sized electric bus designed for European market with comprehensive upgrades in exterior design, passenger experience, driving, maintenance, and safety. Seats 19 passengers over 8 meters.
• PEV9

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero-accident safety record in autonomous driving operations across multiple regions in China
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Saudi NTC (National Trade Company)flagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 200520-year deep partnership since 2005, making King Long one of the earliest Chinese bus brands to export to Saudi Arabia. Achieved market leadership by outcompeting European brands including Mercedes-Benz. In 2015, 1,140 smart school buses were deployed; in 2019, 894 luxury coaches delivered for Hajj pilgrimage. Partnership exemplifies Belt and Road Initiative cooperation and Saudi Vision 2030 alignment.
• Shenzhen Transport CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKing Long delivered 100 pure electric buses (XMQ6112 model) to help Shenzhen Transport Company improve operational service quality and promote green urban transportation.
• Wuhan Transport CompaniescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDelivered 200 pure electric Jieguan-5 coaches for corporate commuting rentals, tourist passenger transport, event and conference services, demonstrating King Long's capabilities in green urban transportation solutions.
• CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology)coreTechnology or IntegrationBattery supplier partnership for new energy vehicles. CATL batteries with IP68 protection and high energy density are used across multiple King Long EV models including PEV series buses.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• CRRC: China's state-owned rail and emerging road-transit equipment conglomerate. While primarily rail, its adjacent new energy bus ambitions place it in the same Chinese SOE-backed ecosystem context as King Long's parent.
• Volvo Buses: European premium bus and coach OEM with global operations including electric city buses. Competes with King Long in European tender markets that King Long is actively entering via Busworld and NME Milan.
• NFI Group (New Flyer / Alexander Dennis): North American heavy-duty transit bus group with leading North American and UK market positions. While not a direct Chinese-market competitor, it is a comparable in scale and product portfolio, especially around zero-emission transit buses that face King Long in European markets.
• Daimler Truck (Mercedes-Benz Buses / Setra / EvoBus): Global premium bus and coach group. Mercedes-Benz was the displaced incumbent when King Long won the 2011 Saudi 150-coach order, illustrating the premium-OEM dynamic that recurs across King Long's export wins.

Direct peers

• Anhui Ankai Automobile: Anhui-based Chinese bus OEM producing city buses, coaches, and new energy vehicles with significant export exposure. Competes with King Long for domestic public transit orders and in select international tenders.
• BYD: Vertically integrated Chinese EV giant with a sizeable pure electric bus and coach business, exporting globally. Competes head-on with King Long on municipal fleet tenders and increasingly in the European e-bus market using in-house battery production.
• Yutong Bus: China's largest bus and coach manufacturer and King Long's most direct domestic competitor, with overlapping new energy bus product lines (pure electric, hybrid, hydrogen), large municipal fleet order wins, and active international export programs into Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
• Wrightbus: UK/Northern Ireland-based bus and coach manufacturer with growing zero-emission product lines, including double-decks. Comparable in product mix and emerging export push into markets where King Long also competes.
• Higer Bus: Suzhou-based Chinese bus manufacturer overlapping with King Long across city buses, coaches, and new energy models. Targets similar international markets including the Middle East and emerging Asia with comparable pricing.

Emerging players

• Solaris Bus & Coach: Polish electric bus specialist with strong European municipal footprint. Competes with King Long's PEV6/PEV7/PEV8 European-market launches in EU city bus tenders where both are pursuing zero-emission orders.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/KingLon46393805
• Facebookfacebook.com/kinglongbus
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/xiamen-king-long-united-automotive-industry-co.-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about King Long