Tampere mayor proposes excluding Chinese electric buses from procurement

Tampere Mayor Ilmari Nurminen (SDP) has called for restricting future bus procurement tenders to European manufacturers only, effectively excluding Chinese electric buses from competition, Yle reports.

Nurminen argues that current global conditions require ensuring the operational security of core public services in all scenarios. “We must be able to guarantee the maintenance security of our essential services,” he stated in a city press release.

The Tampere region’s public transport fleet consists of roughly 330 buses, 80 of which are electric. Since 2022, all new buses purchased by the city have been electric, with the latest tender covering about 25 additional electric buses. The share of electric buses is set to grow gradually in the coming years.

Most of Tampere’s current electric bus fleet, like elsewhere in Finland, is manufactured outside the EU and EEA. Nurminen noted that while electric bus adoption has progressed rapidly, the market remains dominated by Chinese suppliers.

The proposal has been discussed in the mayor’s leadership group and will now advance to decision-making in Tampere’s corporate committee and the city’s public transport authority.