The new vehicles for Volánbusz are in the making

As vg.hu reports, the Ikarus Egyedi Autóbusz Gyártó Kft. has begun the production of the new buses for Volánbusz. The production and mounting are in process already, and soon the vehicles will get painted.

Ikarus Kft. was chosen out of four companies to ensure the supply of 180 articulated buses for Volánbusz. They won the procurement thanks to their offer of 15.3 billion HUF, which eventually appeared to be more favourable than the others’.

The new Modulo M 168d buses are produced in the factory area of Evoporo Holding Zrt. and will be given to Volánbusz in the second half of 2017. The buses will be used mainly in the suburbs of Budapest. Mind your thoughts, Ikarus Egyedi Kft. does not belong to the brand Ikarus, which is owned by the Műszertechnika Holding.

After having a few name-changes and uniting different firms, Ikarus Egyedi Kft. welcomed the Austrian Viecap GmbH among its investors. This happened just after BKV’s (Budapest Public Transportation) early termination of their contract, which got the company into quite an uncomfortable situation, as it was supposed to get BKV 150 buses. So they had to decrease the number of employees.

Bútor their luck changed. By winning the tender of Volánbusz more and more workers became employed. According to the company, for succeeding in such a project the unity of the whole Hungarian bus and supply industry is needed, just like the involvement of foreign experts.

Also, they find it important to focus on gradualism and team-building, wherefore 61 buses could leave the factory in Budapest last year, even though, 61 more might have also been produced if the factory could have started the production last March.

Besides, according to vg.hu, the company may involve two or three subcontractors and sites in the countryside in order to make sure the annual capacity reaches 300-500 by 2019, while negotiating with potential suppliers in the countryside as well.

Photos: facebook.com/modulobus

Copy editor: bm

Source: vg.hu