“ We want to show the customer that we offer the best total cost of ownership (TCO), so we definitely suggest being partners for the life cycle of a bus. Most importantly for Mikel, it expands the Marcopolo experience with the customer and with the product. Bringing buses back to Marcopolo instead guarantees that the same skills used to buil d the bus will now carefully reconfigure it with the bus body building mindset, hence receiving an official OEM stamp, which will help to boost the bus’s value up at resale. What we’re now offering is that you can have that bus refurbished, reconfigured or upgraded by us. “In many cases, our customers are modifying and refurbishing their buses by themselves or with unofficial third parties.
#MARCOPOLO BUS FACTORY FULL#
On top of this, the company aims to improve the value of its products to its customers by offering Marcopolo Services – services that support a bus for its full 15-20 year life.
This wait time for a stock bus is approximately one month – t his is the industrial lead time frame that M arcopolo is looking to match. T he company is expanding its engineering capabilities, with the aim of being able to provide bespoke buses, made to brief, as quickly as it would take a customer to receive a stock bus. Marcopolo is hoping to alter the mindset of its market and to change this tradition. Traditionally in South Africa, manufacturers produce buses in bulk, and customers purchase from this stock. However, even though this means the bus industry is not currently growing as it should, it hasn’t come to a stand-still, and it hasn’t stopped Marcopolo developing what it offers. H owever, whilst they are a convenient solution for company owners, they lead to more traffic and congestion, more pollution, and far more expensive travell ing cost s for South Africans. Taxi companies are cheaper to establish tha n a bus company, and rely far less on government policy. Given this lack of support, the bus industry is not growing as needed, and instead, privately run taxi companies are filling the unanswered demand. The reason for this is largely linked with a lack of clear policy and proper government support: the laws around permits and tenders are unclear, according to Mikel, and the country is also not investing in the supportive infrastructure that an effective and growing bus service would require. The bus is thought to be one of the most efficient and cheapest modes of transport : i n most countries, if the population is growing, they utilize more buses, but in South Africa there is an exception.” “ It’s a paradox, because the population is growing. ” The market has been coming down for the last four years, by 15% on average each year. “Usually, the government issues contracts without much time in advance, so they need buses urgently.
#MARCOPOLO BUS FACTORY UPGRADE#
Marcopolo’s vast build capaci ty was made possible in the upgrade of its facilities in 2009, in order to meet a tender in 2010. Despite that capacity, we are currently only producing 300 a year, because the market is not asking for more.” Our factory here in Johannesburg gives us a full capacity of 1500 buses a year – the highest building capacity for buses in South Africa.
A nother unique quality of Marcopolo is our production capacity. “What I be lieve makes us quite unique is our wide product range, which offers standard commuter bus es through to luxurious coach es. Before breaking this down for us, Mikel gave us some context for how the company is situated within its market: These changes would not only affect the company itself, but its clients, and the way South Africa as a whole approac hes the purchasing and manufacturing of its buses.
#MARCOPOLO BUS FACTORY SERIES#
As for Mikel, he has been with the company for two years, but in his time as General Manager, he has overseen this limb of Marcopolo beginning to tackle a series of wide-scale changes as a part of his 2022 vision. This South African branch of the company began operations in 1996, and in 2001, opened its current manufacturing facilities, which were later refurbished in 2009. The company has been in operation for seven decades, six of which have included the international market, and one of its main overseas operations is its presence in South Africa. Headquartered in Brazil, Marcopolo is the country’s main body manufacturer for buses, and one of the largest in the world. For Marcopolo, one of the world’s largest bus body manufacturers, it is a challenge the group can take in its stride we spoke with Mikel Ecenarro, General Manager of Marcopolo South Africa, who told us about the company’s plans to change the industry from the inside. South Africa’s public transport industry is a complex and challenging one, but a rewarding frontier if tackled correctly.
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