Alan Millar’s sideways view of the bus scene
Please send any stories, photos, (digital, prints or slides), cuttings and other information of off beat bus matters direct to alan.millar@keypublishing.com
As you may have spotted in our Fleet News section or the wider media, National Express Group has changed its name to Mobico. If this has echoes of 1997 when Cowie group changed its name to Arriva, a brand identity that was meaningless in many languages, then the echoes may not be terribly loud, as Mobico is short for Mobility Company, which is how the group sees itself. With buses, coaches, trains, shuttle and special needs minibuses in several countries in three continents, it is already well placed to offer a range of mobility solutions.
That said, if you didn’t know any of this beforehand, you might also jump to the conclusion that Mobico is a brand selling communications devices that fit in the pocket and double as a camera, pedometer and a zillion other things. The name may not be meaningless in many languages, but it has more than one potential meaning.
There’s no getting away, however, from the notion that National Express made little sense as a corporate brand name for a business that is int…
