Volvo Buses inaugurated a new body plant in Bangalore, India on the January 31. This has enabled the company to gain a base for production of complete buses for India and other strongly growing markets in Asia.

Since the first introduction in India in 2001, Volvo Buses has manufactured chassis together with Volvo Trucks in an own plant in Bangalore. The bodies were produced by an external body builder, Jaico Automobiles. Now, when Volvo Buses takes the step to start its own body plant adjacent to the chassis plant, it is to increase flexibility with regard to production capacity and to further improve quality. The body plant is being operated in a new joint-venture company with the cooperation partner Jaico Automobiles. The company is named Volvo Bus Body Technologies India and Volvo Buses holds a 70% ownership interest.

The new plant has a capacity of 1,000 buses annually and the company expects to have about 600 employees at the end of this year. The plant will primarily build Volvo Buses for the Indian market, but the company expects to be able to export complete buses to other markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

"The traffic situation in the steadily growing cities in the area is an increasingly greater problem," says Hakan Karlsson, President of Volvo Buses. "This increases the demand for modern buses and efficient bus-based mass transit systems."

Volvo Buses is the market leader in India with regard to luxury, air-conditioned coaches. In conjunction with the inauguration of the plant, the company is launching an updated version of the Volvo 9400 coach. The Volvo B7RLE city bus is also sold in India.

Volvo Bus Corporation is one of the world's largest manufacturers of large buses and coaches. The range comprises complete vehicles, chassis, bus bodies, transport system solutions for metropolitan traffic, leasing, financing and service contract maintenance. Volvo Bus Corporation is a part of the Volvo Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and services. The Group also provides complete solutions for financing and service.

Source: Volvo