VOLVO BUS Corporation (SE)

Fastningsvagen 1
SE-405 08 Gothenburg

Volvo Buses is one of the largest manufacturers of buses and chassis based in Gothenburg (Sweden). Its products are manufactured in four continents and sold in 85 countries. The workforce has 8,000 employees and sales volume from official Sweden company touches the 10 000 units a year. It is global player offering a full range of citybuses, intercities and coaches in sizes from 12 to 26.8 meters and different configurations. Vehicles of course built on Volvo chassis and produced in Canada (Quebec City and Montreal), Mexico (Mexico City), Poland (Warsaw), India (Bangalore), China (Xian and Shanghai). The frames are manufactured in Sweden (Borås), Brazil (Curitiba) and South Africa (Durban). Parts of chassis and bodywork are made in Sweden (Uddevalla and Säffle). There are also indipendent builders that works on Volvo chassis in Morocco (Casablanca), Tunisia (Tunis), Iran (Save), Thailand (Bangkok). After sales service and spare parts have a dedicated network of 1,200 centers in over 80 countries. Besides buses and chassis, Volvo Buses offers services in the financial sector, diagnostic systems for vehicles and traffic information.
Volvo Buses Corporation is part of Volvo Group, which in turn includes several companies in the business of commercial and industrial vehicles (Volvo Trucks, Mack Trucks, Renault Trucks, Ud Trucks), construction equipment (Volvo Equipment), engines (Volvo Penta), components for aircraft engines (Volvo Aero) and financial services (Volvo Financial Services). That's a holding company that has over 100 000 people, manufactures in 19 countries and operates in 180 markets.
The Volvo brand has a long history. The official birth in 1927 coincided with the launch of the first car, the Volvo ÖV4. Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson, the founders of Volvo, decided to build cars that could withstand the Swedish climate combined with road conditions at the time. The following year was launched the first truck that was followed by the first bus on a truck chassis. The production of buses on dedicated chassis began in 1934. A decade later, in 1945, a Volvo diesel engine debuted on a bus chassis. The bus & coach sector became independent in 1968 with the creation of Volvo Buses and in 1977 were inaugurated the plant in Borås (Sweden) and Curitiba (Brazil) for the production of buses. Among the Eighties and Nineties, Volvo Buses launched a company recruitment: in 1988 was acquired and the British Leyland Bus and in 1995 the German body Drögmöller, in 1995 joined the capital of the Canadian Prevost Car (the remaining 50 percent will be redeemed in 2004), in 1998 incorporated the Finnish body builder Carrus OY and then Masa, a large bus manufacturer in Mexico. A Volvo Buses record year was 2000 for sales: 11 000 buses just in one year. In 2005 the company got the largest order from Santiago (Chile) with 1,767 vehicles for the BRT system (Bus Rapid Transit) made on high-traffic dedicated lines. In the meantime new production facilities were inaugurated in China (1994), Poland (1996), India (2008). And in 2009, Volvo Buses landed on U.S. and Canadian markets with its buses and chassis. Among the most salient stages in the evolution of the product is to be reported in 1971 the presentation of B59, the first low floor citybus, in 1991 the introduction of chassis fitted with rear engine for the Volvo B12 and B10B. And then the year 1994 that marked the debut of Volvo B10L lowered chassis. Another important stage was in 2001 with the introduction of the new platform Tx and 2008 with the Volvo 7700 hybrid version and B5L double-decker always with hybrid drive system.