Woodall Nicholson – parent company of minibus specialists Mellor and Treka Bus – will turn its hand to the luxury transport sector under the Nicholson brand, with a range to include what it says are coach-style vehicles.

Those products will span tourist to VVIP specifications. They will sit alongside coachbuilt limousines built on platforms from OEMs such as Bentley and Mercedes-Benz, and a long-wheelbase luxury 4×4 programme using the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon platform.

The supplier has said that car-based projects will come first and that coach-type products will follow in Q3. Nicholson will exhibit at Euro Bus Expo at the NEC Birmingham from 3 to 5 November, which a spokesperson for Woodall Nicholson says “we are really excited about.”

The group adds that its move into luxury transport is “transformative” and leverages heritage of over more than 200 years. Woodall Nicholson can trace that back to the manufacture of horse-drawn cabs and carriages in 1820 and is today active in various markets besides small buses.

Luxury vehicles offered by Nicholson will combine “next level interior detailing with unrivalled optionality and bespoke configuration,” Woodall Nicholson says. “Backed by decades of specialist vehicle engineering and artisan expertise, each vehicle delivers the quality and luxury synonymous with British craftsmanship.”

Nicholson work will leverage the group’s technical capability and longstanding relationships with leading vehicle OEMs and other supply chain partners. It will also bring together in-house engineering knowledge and decades of artisan vehicle manufacturing experience

CEO John Randerson comments: “Under the stewardship of Guido Dumarey and the direction of the Woodall Nicholson leadership team, Nicholson represents a return to the tradition of true British artisan vehicle building – where exceptional vehicles are created in small numbers for clients that value craftsmanship, heritage, and individuality.”

Ahead of debut of the first Nicholson products, the group says it welcomes conversations with potential customers that “value luxury and exclusivity in every detail, and who are keen to combine the technical expertise of an established vehicle manufacturer with artisan craftsmanship to create a truly unique and desirable vehicle.”