SODERTALJE, Sweden, April 19, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Scania (NYSE:SCVA) has commenced the assembly of buses in St. Petersburg. The company has invested approximately SEK 80 m. 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.
The decision to establish an assembly unit in Russia was taken to meet the national 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 in question 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. The number of Russian suppliers to the St. Petersburg production operation will be increased successively.
"A proven aluminum body, combined with a Scania chassis and powertrain, will ensure a long vehicle life, top-class operating performance and reliability, and optimum environmental performance," commented Scania Peter's MD Goran Carlander.
Scania has been established in the Russian market for ten years and has operated in the country under its own flag since 1998.
Scania Russia, whose headquarters are located in Moscow, markets and provides service and finance to Scania operators in the country. The service network is being expanded continuously.
"Our well-developed and professional service network will also be at the disposal of Scania's bus customers," added P.G. Nilsson, MD of Scania Russia.
Russia was Scania's first export market. Scania-Vabis (as the company was then known) delivered its first vehicle -- a motorized carriage - to a Russian customer in 1911.
In Europe, Scania has bus bodybuilding operations in Sweden, Poland and Russia.
In Sweden, the recently formed Omni i Katrineholm AB company is the hub of Scania's bus bodybuilding operation, and is also responsible for product and methods development. All the bus chassis are supplied from Sweden.
Scania is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. With 28,300 employees and production facilities in Europe and Latin America, Scania is one of the most profitable companies in its sector.
In 2001, turnover totaled SEK 53,000 million and the result after financial items was SEK 1,500 million. Scania products are marketed in about 100 countries worldwide and some 95 percent of Scania's vehicles are sold outside Sweden. Bus manufacture takes place in Sweden, Poland, Russia, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
Scania press releases are available on the Internet, www.scania.com
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