Official opening of Volvo Bus Corp plant in Mexico
OFFICIAL OPENING OF VOLVO BUS CORPORATION'S PLANT IN MEXICO Yesterday, Dr Ernesto Zedillo, the President of Mexico, officially opened Volvo Buses' new expanded plant in Tultitlán, outside Mexico City. At the same time, the first Volvo 7550 coaches produced in Mexico were delivered to Grupo Toluca and Flecha Amarilla, Mexico's leading intercity bus operators. Volvo recently invested USD 23 M in MASA (Mexicana de Autobuses) for production installations for the Volvo 7550 coach model. The investments also included modernisation and improvement measures aimed at increasing production quality, and enhanced capacity for the products already manufactured by MASA prior to the company's acquisition by Volvo. The plant was expanded to enable the production of exclusive intercity coaches. Total production capacity will amount to more than 2,000 units per year. The recently started production of the Volvo 7550 follows the supply agreement signed in 1999 for the delivery of 900 coaches for the Mexican market. The Mexican bus operators have demanded a new standard of quality for tourist coaches in stainless steel. The first 45 Volvo 7550 coaches were produced in Scandinavia and local production began last year. Volvo plans to produce almost 100% of the bodywork and interior using components and material from local Mexican suppliers at the end of 2001. During the past year, production quality at the factory has improved considerably. The improvements made have also been aimed at production with reduced environmental impact. Examples of this include a new paintshop, solutions to reduce and manage welding smoke, and a new phosphatizing tunnel. March 15, 2000 For further information: Michael Borg, Press Officer, Volvo Bus Corporation Tel: +46-31-66 78 72 Fax: +46-31-66 72 88 E-mail: bus1.prinfo@memo.volvo.se Website: http://www.volvo.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/15/20000315BIT00830/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/15/20000315BIT00830/bit0002.pdf