Scania has commenced the assembly of buses in St. Petersburg, Russia. The company has invested approximately SEK 80 million (US$7.8 million) in a plant for bodyworking city buses for the Russian market on chassis produced in Sweden. The facility has a capacity of 200 vehicles per year and will employ 60 people during the first year.
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The decision to establish an assembly unit in Russia was taken to meet Russian demand for new, more reliable and more environmentally compatible buses to replace older public transport vehicles. Scania estimates that approximately 16,000 city buses per year will be required to meet this demand.
Scania’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Scania Peter, will be responsible for production of the vehicles. The model built in Russian will be the same Scania OmniLink 12-metre city bus as sold in other European countries and will be powered by the Euro 3 version of Scania’s 9-litre engine.
Scania says that the number of Russian suppliers to the St. Petersburg production operation will be increased successively.
“A proven aluminium body, combined with a Scania chassis and powertrain, will ensure a long vehicle life, top-class operating performance and reliability, and optimum environmental performance,” said Scania Peter’s MD Göran Carlander.
Scania Russia, whose headquarters are located in Moscow, markets and provides service and finance to Scania operators in the country. The service network is also being expanded.
Russia was Scania’s first export market. Scania-Vabis (as the company was then known) delivered its first vehicle – a motorised carriage – to a Russian customer in 1911.
