Over 40 people registered to attend the exclusive day-time Volgren bus factory tour in Dandenong South.

Volgren formed in 1977 as a joint-venture between Volvo and Grenda Corporation and built its first bus in 1979 and are now Australia’s largest bus body builder. They design, manufacture and assemble public transport buses of all types, across multiple technologies including low and zero-emission vehicles – battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and hybrid.

https://volgren.com.au/zero-emission-vehicles/

Volgren have manufacturing operations and aftersales support here in Victoria, as well as in NSW, Qld and WA. Volgren proudly retain almost 90 percent proportion of local production.

As the light rain cleared and sun came out, enthusiastic hi-vis-clad AEVA members greeted each other before being warmly welcomed by Volgren staff. Guilherme (Gilly), a Business Development Manager, presented a short history of the Volgren company as well as it’s local manufacturing capabilities, various customers and aftersales support.

AEVA visitors were then shown around the factory floor in 4 groups of around 10 people, enabling us to get up close and personal with bus bodies in various states of manufacture. Lots of questions were answered, and the incredible detail and complexity of bespoke bus production became apparent. For many people, the humble bus ride may never be the same again!

Thanks to Richard Laxton, Technical Advisor, for organising the tour, managing registrations and pre-visit communications. Thanks also to Paul Fallon, Vice-Chair, for bringing extra hi-vis and safety gear.

Special thanks to all the enthusiastic AEVA visitors. This has been the most popular event since before COVID lockdowns!

And last but not least, many thanks to the Volgren team for hosting us – Jo-Ann Paguio, Jim Pittas, Dinarah Dalugoda, Gary Dimitrakas, Greg Reichelt and Guilherme Batista Ferreira. Thanks also to Katrina Flannery, Sue McCoull and Yuri Tessari, who were involved in organising the event.

We very much appreciated them for being so generous with their time, insights and experience - especially during a Rostered Day Off! And as someone in the crowd said: “...buses are cool!”