- Business - BusinessVolvo Bus Poland opened a new factory in Wroc³aw on Oct. 22, just seven months after the cornerstone was laid.
The factory, 55-percent owned by the Volvo Bus Corporation and 45-percent owned by Carrus, the Finnish maker of vehicle bodies, has a starting capital of $6 million. It will produce eco-friendly buses for municipal public transportation systems.
Once it reaches full production capacity, the factory will employ more than 200 workers and turn out about 250 buses a year. Heimo Ylenius, managing director of Volvo Bus Poland, says the factory will be able to produce several kinds of buses.
The factory will import undercarriage components and engine, transmission and braking-system sub-assemblies from Volvo factories abroad and subcontractors, and will produce the rest in Wroc³aw.
Volvo is looking for partners in Poland who can help the factory extend its product range and meet stringent quality standards.
"Our ambition is for the buses made in Poland to be sold primarily on the Polish market-but that doesn't rule out exports in the long term," Ylenius says.
Szczecin municipal authorities already have 40 Volvo buses, and Wroc³aw has 17. By the end of the year, Volvo will deliver 10 more vehicles to the Wroc³aw municipal transport authority. The company is also holding talks with Warsaw public transport representatives.
Miros³aw Wójcikowski, Wroc³aw
Back to
the first page of Voice - Business Section.
Back to
the first page of this issue.