Solaris Bus & Coach is a Polish producer of public transport vehicles (buses, trolleybuses and trams), with its headquarters in Bolechowo-Osiedle near Poznań. It is a subsidiary of Spanish CAF. Solaris owns four production sites: its main factory and headquarters in Bolechowo (final assembly of buses and trolleybuses), two plants in Środa Wielkopolska (a welding shop for bodyframes of buses and trolleybuses and a welding shop for tram bodies) as well as a final assembling hall for rolling stock, located in Poznań, in Wieruszowska street. The firm arose from the enterprise Neoplan Polska established in 1994. A production facility was launched in Bolechowo-Osiedle near Poznań in 1996. The first low-floor bus produced in Bolechowo rolled off the assembly line on 22 March 1996 and it is this very date that is understood as the beginning of the company's history. 1999 saw the première of the first city bus of the Solaris brand – the Solaris Urbino 12. In 2001 the company was rebranded into Solaris Bus & Coach Sp. z o.o., only to be converted from a limited liability company into a joint-stock company. The company is not listed on the stock exchange. Solaris city buses are available in diverse drive configurations as well as bodywork sizes and types. In 2006, Solaris became the first manufacturer to market, in Europe, the first serially produced hybrid drive bus Solaris Urbino 18 Hybrid. The portfolio of the bus maker covers conventionally fuelled vehicles (diesel) as well as those with an alternative drive (electric, hybrid and CNG buses or trolleybuses). The Solaris Urbino 12 electric was the first Polish, and the first electric bus at that, to win an international title for the year Bus and Coach of the Year 2017. In July 2018, it was announced that Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) had acquired Solaris. History Neoplan Polska In 1994, Krzysztof Olszewski founded the company Neoplan Polska Sp. z o.o., a branch office for the Polish market of German bus brand Neoplan. In 1995, this enterprise won a tender for the delivery of 72 low-floor city buses for Poznań. The tender was made conditional upon locating the bus manufacturing factory in the vicinity of Poznań. As a result, the company launched an assembly plant for buses in Bolechowo-Osiedle. The first bus produced by Neoplan Polska came fresh off the production line on 22 March 1996. Having carried out the order for