Scania Starts City Bus Production in India

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Scania will inaugurate its city bus production in Narasapura in the Indian state of Karnataka in the presence of the Swedish and Indian transport ministers. Scania has so far invested about SEK 400 million (EUR 40 m.) in Narasapura, where the company has also been assembling trucks since 2013.

"The inauguration of this bus production facility is an important milestone for our Indian operations. The buses and coaches produced here will also be exported to other regional markets in the future and even to the rest of the world in the longer term,” says Scania’s President and CEO Martin Lundstedt.

Scania’s industrial operations in Narasapura, 40 km east of Bangalore, already include final assembly of truck and bus chassis as well as bodybuilding and fitting out of complete vehicles. The production of fully-built long-distance coaches is already running. The city bus production will begin shortly, and the first deliveries are planned by year-end. The head office of Scania’s Indian subsidiary is also located in Narasapura, as well as a service workshop and a central parts warehouse.

The production facility is currently designed for 2,500 trucks and 1,000 buses per year and has 600 employees. Within the next five years, Scania expects to double capacity and to recruit a further 200 employees by the end of 2017.

Sustainable solutions

In India, demand is increasing for vehicles with Scania’s quality and performance, as well as service-related products, in line with the country’s rapid economic growth and initiatives to improve efficiency in the transport sector. The Indian Government’s various initiatives to improve the environment and transport systems in the cities are also creating great opportunities for Scania’s sustainable solutions.

"Already today – here and now – we can deliver trucks and buses that can run on biofuels, which are increasingly being produced, for example by using waste from the cities. Scania can also contribute with competencies and experience relating to biofuel production and efficient public transport systems,” says Anders Grundströmer, Managing Director, Scania India and Senior Vice President, Scania Group.

Scania has been present on the Indian market since 2007, when cooperation was initiated with Larsen & Toubro (L&T). L&T has successfully established Scania’s trucks and services and has developed a close partnership with customers in the mining industry.

During 2011, Scania formed the company Scania Commercial Vehicles India with the aim of boosting its presence through sales to additional segments of the Indian commercial vehicles market. The establishment of the operations in Narasapura began more than two years ago.

Scania is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. Service-related products account for a growing proportion of the company’s operations, assuring Scania customers of cost-effective transport solutions and maximum uptime. Scania also offers financial services. Employing some 42,000 people, the company operates in about 100 countries. Research and development activities are concentrated in Sweden, while production takes place in Europe and South America, with facilities for global interchange of both components and complete vehicles. In 2014, net sales totalled SEK 92.1 billion and net income amounted to SEK 6 billion. Scania’s press releases are available on www.scania.com  (http://www.scania.com/se)

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