Volvo Buses
UNITED KINGDOM & IRELAND
Morocco had been a key market for Volvo’s various companies for many years and the Volvo brand is very strong in the country. Both Volvo Buses and Volvo Trucks are currently market leaders in Morocco.
From having previously worked through importers, Volvo started a proprietary marketing company in Morocco about ten years ago. This investment was a step to further strengthen its presence in the country.
“Close and long-term relationships are important for us and our customers in Morocco and are the main keys to our current leading position,” says Jan Vandooren, Volvo Buses’ Director for Africa and the Middle East region. “We have conducted business in Morocco now for 60 years.”
Morocco is in a highly expansive phase, with major investments in infrastructure, tourism and industrial development. Expanding the public transport system is a key step in this development.
An increasing number of cities in the country are choosing to allow private companies to take over the responsibility for public transport, to make it more efficient. In Casablanca, the city bus traffic has been handled by the company, M’dina Bus for the past five years.
M’dina Bus has currently 500 buses in operation and is now investing heavily in increasing considerably their bus fleet with an additional 400 buses, which will be purchased from Volvo Buses.
It involves the Volvo B7R chassis, which will be assembled in Casablanca. The body will come from the company, Hispano, which also has manufacturing operations in Casablanca. Delivery of the buses will commence in September this year and all the buses are scheduled to be delivered before the end of 2011.
“Volvo Buses’ success was due largely to the fact that M’dina Bus attached great importance to the life cycle cost during the procurement process,” says Jan Vandooren. “The purchase price is one thing, but the most important for a bus operator is the total cost during the service life of the bus, and this is a strong point for Volvo’s buses, with its operational reliability and low fuel consumption.”
Maintenance of the buses will take place at M’dina’s own workshops, but the agreement includes training of drivers and mechanics by Volvo Buses and contributing knowledge about the processes in the workshops.
June 18, 2010
For further information, please contact Per-Martin Johansson, press officer, +46 31 322 52 00, per-martin.johansson@volvo.com