Volgren celebrates 40 years

[scott]

In 2019, Volgren celebrated it's 40th anniversary and came across this on their website just now.

http://volgren.com.au/volgren-celebrates-40-years/

Great to see there is still some vehicle manufacturing in Australia still going strong.

[BanksfielderIdiot823]

Great to see there is still some vehicle manufacturing in Australia still going strong.

Dead straight. We've lost Ford and Holden, but at least we still have good ol' Volgren.
Safe to say, 2019 was one heck of a year for Volgren...
- 40th anniversary (as per the link in your post)
- 5000th bus out of just the Dandenong plant alone
- Their first electric bus
- CEO change from Peter Dale to Thiago Deiro
- Among a massive load of deliveries; the largest single bus supply deal in Australia was made between Volgren and PTA (Transperth)
I wonder how the Grenda family would be feeling about this crazy one-year resume for this 1979-born powerhouse.

[Fleet Lists]

Great to see there is still some vehicle manufacturing in Australia still going strong.

- Among a massive load of deliveries; the largest single bus supply deal in Australia was made between Volgren and PTA (Transperth)

What number of buses was involved in that?

[Merc1107]

- Among a massive load of deliveries; the largest single bus supply deal in Australia was made between Volgren and PTA (Transperth)

What number of buses was involved in that?

Supply contract with Volvo chassis product and Volgren bodywork for a duration of up to 10yrs (i.e. 5yrs with option to extend a further 5yrs) with 900 buses to be delivered across the full decade (average of 90 buses annually, some of which will be articulated).

[Bus Suggestions]

The West Australian - Volvo to supply 900 Transperth buses with help from Volgren
As said in the article, 900 buses (Volvo B8RLEs) will be delivered to Transperth over 10 years.

some of which will be articulated

How many would be? I do recall reading somewhere that the PTA wanted to cap the fleet at ~100 artics, although it would be sensible to order more.

[Merc1107]

As said in the article, 900 buses (Volvo B8RLEs) will be delivered to Transperth over 10 years.

I very much doubt it will be 10yrs of B8RLEs (yes, come back in a decade and tell me I was wrong! ), given how technology will evolve in that time.

How many would be? I do recall reading somewhere that the PTA wanted to cap the fleet at ~100 artics, although it would be sensible to order more.

That's an interesting statement that I've not come across.

I am only guessing, but I suspect several factors will necessitate additional articulated buses in future - all related to population & patronage growth:
- Growth in new and existing 900-series high frequency services
- Other popular routes from or within the city and/or major points of interest in our suburbs
- Growth in school services, both in the inner and outer suburbs where it is more economic to operate articulated buses
- Stadium event buses and the need to efficiently move large crowds of people quickly

[Leyland B21]

PTA are currently Volgrens biggest customer at present. The 100 artic cap sounds about right. Pre Artic orders have been less than 100 with the former Renault and Mercedes contracts. Population and Pax growth is always considered. I'd put a safe bet that the B8 contract will be over the 10 year period. Unless a change of government happens which is always a possibility.

Admin. Please remove this post as again it doubled up

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[Leyland B21]

PTA are currently Volgrens biggest customer at present. The 100 artic cap sounds about right. Pre Artic orders have been less than 100 with the former Renault and Mercedes contracts. Population and Pax growth is always considered. I'd put a safe bet that the B8 contract will be over the 10 year period. Unless a change of government happens which is always a possibility.

Regards,
Jase

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[JRBUS123]

Great to see there is still some vehicle manufacturing in Australia still going strong.

Dead straight. We've lost Ford and Holden, but at least we still have good ol' Volgren.
Safe to say, 2019 was one heck of a year for Volgren...
- 40th anniversary (as per the link in your post)
- 5000th bus out of just the Dandenong plant alone
- Their first electric bus
- CEO change from Peter Dale to Thiago Deiro
- Among a massive load of deliveries; the largest single bus supply deal in Australia was made between Volgren and PTA (Transperth).

I absolutely agree. They have had an AMAZING Year I'll be on the lookout for Ventura #1419 if it ever pops by on rail replacement duties

Just a question: Do Volgren still have their manufacturing plant in Malaysia? I know they used it to create some Volgren Enduras a few years ago but when I search "Volgren Malaysia" up on Google nothing pops up

[BanksfielderIdiot823]

I absolutely agree. They have had an AMAZING Year I'll be on the lookout for Ventura #1419 if it ever pops by on rail replacement duties

Just a question: Do Volgren still have their manufacturing plant in Malaysia? I know they used it to create some Volgren Enduras a few years ago but when I search "Volgren Malaysia" up on Google nothing pops up

Well Volgren's Malaysian partner is Supportrans Sdn Bhd in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, so I'd assume that all the VM buses would've been coming from their plant. Given their activity on Facebook they're still up and running, but they have a little more of their own buses so it could be...
- that Volgren might start dispatching buses straight over from Dandenong like they did for Tokyo, or
- the next order might come back over to Supportrans in some time in the future, or
- the Volgren numbers would've dropped here considering that Gemilang's plant isn't too far away from Supportrans.

I remember hearing about them, because besides our Dandenong-built Optimus decker with CDC Wyndham (VG3856), the other three Optimus deckers; the two in Queensland running for Thompsons Bus Lines, and the one with CDC New South Wales that is currently with QCity, were also built at that same plant: VM0369 (Thompsons #58), VM0370 (CDC NSW plate TV 9266) and VM0371 (Thompsons #59).

Hope that might help a little bit, and yes; keep a good lookout for #1419!