Volvo makes in India buses for Europe, first bus maker to export to continent

Volvo Buses, the bus making unit of Swedish auto maker Volvo Group, on Tuesday said it will begin this month exporting fully made buses for Europe, the first from an Asian country to its home market.

Volvo plans to utilize the existing manufacturing capacity at its unit, on Bengaluru outskirts, leverage the component supplier base and the low cost talent to offer buses at “ competitive” costs to its inter-city bus customers in Europe.

The made-in-India buses will help Volvo get an entry in the inter-city bus segment that has competition from Daimler, IVECO and several local bus firms in Europe. The market is for 5000 buses annually.

“The buses will be fully built in India. There may be minor changes that the customer needs – like where the ticketing machine is placed...,” said Hakan Agnevall, President of Volvo Bus Corporation said.

Volvo involved customers, largely tour operators in Europe during the development of the bus, built in India by Volvo engineers, which is complaint with Euro VI regulations, he said.

Volvo in 2011, invested Rs 400 crore to expand capacity to 1,500 vehicles a year and expand capacity to meet European standards. It currently makes around 700 buses a year. Volvo exports buses to South Asian countries including Bangladesh and Nepal and South Korea from India.

Volvo India