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Volvo Buses
Volvo Buses has received an order for 1,000 Volvo B7RLE bus chassis to Panama City. Low fuel consumption and a high level of availability were decisive factors in the customer’s decision to purchase Volvo vehicles.
Panama City in Panama has more than one million inhabitants. A major program is currently under way to modernize the city’s transportation system, and the 1,000 Volvo buses will operate on routes in all city districts.
The customer is a consortium in Panama called Transmassivo and is led by the Colombian enterprise Fanalca Group, which owns bus operators in several Latin American countries and represents one of Volvo Buses’ largest customers.
The order is for 1,000 city buses. The chassis will be built in Borås, Sweden, while the bodies will be manufactured in Colombia by the company Superpolo, a joint venture between Marcopolo and Fanalca.
“This large contract is evidence of the superior quality of the brand’s vehicles, and reinforces our leadership in organized urban mass-transit systems, known as Bus Rapid Transit,” declares Luis Carlos Pimenta, President of Volvo Bus Latin America.
All vehicles will be equipped with an automated gearbox, ABS and EBS, air conditioning, disk brakes and electronic suspension – an advanced kneeling system that lowers the bus side to facilitate boarding and disembarking for passengers.
“Our vehicles’ low fuel consumption and the high level of availability logged by the B7RLE fleet purchased by the Fanalca Group in previous years in other cities of Latin America were decisive in the company’s decision to once again purchase Volvo chassis,” says Luis Carlos Pimenta. “Another strong reason for us getting this order is the excellence of our After Sales Services”
Production of the chassis in Borås will commence this month and will be ongoing until the second half of 2011. The first complete buses will be ready for delivery to Panama City at the end of this year.
Source: Volvo
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