Scania gets order for 63 buses from Bari

Increased presence on the Italian bus market: Scania gets order for 63 buses from Bari On Wednesday, Scania delivered the first in a series of 63 intercity buses or- dered by Ferrovie del Gargano in Bari in southern Italy. This company, which is on of the leading bus operator in the Puglia region, will use the buses primarily for intercity operations. "This order is a breakthrough and confirms that our increased focus on the Italian bus market is well on the way to success," says Henry Jonsson, Market- ing Director Buses for Scania in Italy. Italy is currently one of Europe's largest bus markets, with sales totalling more than 2,600 heavy buses last year. In order to improve its presence on the Italian bus market, Scania recently opened a regional office for bus sales in Trento in northern Italy. In addition to the new order for 63 Scania buses, Ferrovie del Gargano already has about 50 Scania buses in its fleet of 160 vehicles. The new buses, with bodies built by Italian bodybuilder De Simon, will be built on the new Scania tourist coach chassis (K124 EB4x2), powered by the Scania 360 hp 12-litre die- sel engine. 1998 saw Scania increase its sales of buses on the Italian market by almost 20 percent to 118 buses, corresponding to a market share of 4.5 percent. Sales of Scania buses in Italy have so far concentrated on intercity buses and tourist coaches, with bodies built by De Simon and Irizar of Spain. "With our new city-bus range including the Scania OmniCity low-floor bus, we also expect to be able to increase our presence in the city-bus segment," says Henry Jonsson. For further information, please contact Gunnar Boman, Scania Buses & Coaches, tel. +46 150 58599 or tel. +46 70 5508606, e-mail gunnar.boman@scania.com Illustration: see www.scania.com "Media services". Scania is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. With 23,500 employees and production facilities in Europe and Latin America, Scania is one of the most profitable companies in its sector. In 1998, turnover to- talled SEK 45,300 million and income after financial items SEK 3,200 million. Scania products are marketed in about 100 countries worldwide and approxi- mately 96 percent of total production is sold outside Sweden. Bus manufacture takes place in Sweden, Brazil, Denmark, France and Poland. Scania press releases are available on the Internet, www.scania.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/05/12/19990512BIT00300/bit0001.pdf http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/05/12/19990512BIT00300/bit0002.doc