Australia’s biggest bus builder, Volgren Australia, today produced its landmark 5,000th bus.
Delivered at a ceremony in Melbourne involving Victorian Transport Minister Martin Pakula, the bus was handed to the Melbourne operator Dysons.
‘Volgren started producing buses in 1977, and it’s remarkable to think that 33 years later we have grown into Australia’s biggest and most respected bus company, with a national manufacturing footprint that serves all states,’ said Volgren CEO Peter Dale.
This bus is the 3,100th manufactured at Volgren’s Dandenong plant, with the other 1,900 buses from the company’s other plants.
‘We recently opened state-of-the-art bus manufacturing facilities in Newcastle and in Brisbane, which complement our plants in Dandenong and in Perth,’ Mr Dale said. ‘Despite a dark cloud of global financial uncertainty in the past two years, we have invested in Australian jobs and manufacturing, with tremendous success.’
‘Today we are the biggest bus body builder in Australia. Some 650 people are employed in our plants in Australia and at least another 1,500 jobs are created in the local supply chain,’ he said.
‘This is at a time when manufacturing in Australia is becoming tougher, particularly with the strengthening Australian dollar making imports cheaper. Yet we take particular pride in the fact that our buses are the most innovative in the country, and the safest.’
Mr Dale said this year Volgren had made, on average, two buses every day, with more than 700 buses set to be produced by year’s end – a record for the company.
‘Most of our recent growth has come from Sydney and Brisbane as those cities expand their bus services, and we look forward to the possibility of similar growth in Melbourne bus services.’
‘We are delighted that this bus 5,000th bus is for our long-term customer Dysons, who over the years has taken some 125 buses from this factory,’ Mr Dale said.
Dysons was formed more than 50 years ago and has developed from a single bus service in Melbourne’s north to a business with over 130 buses and coaches servicing the city’s north and east.
More information, Peter Dale 03 9791 4255