Scania eyes Dh5b Dubai bus order |
|
Network this!
Friday, Mar 28, 2008
Gulf News
Dubai: Swedish heavy vehicle maker Scania is among the companies bidding for a Dubai order for 1,616 buses, which will significantly boost the city's public transportation system.
The contract is potentially worth Dh5 billion and would include maintenance of vehicles for 10 years, Scania and its UAE distributor Al Shirawi GroupAl Shirawi Group
told Gulf News.
Many of these will be double-decker buses.
"We are in negotiations with the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to promote our products and understand what they need. These are big buses with high specifications," said Horst Koerner, market support manager of the company's bus division.
Scania expects GCC countries to make large bus purchases as they try to ease traffic congestion in their cities.
"Qatar needs 1,500 buses in five years. Kuwait is also looking for buses. City buses are a major requirement because traffic congestion is growing," Koerner said.
Dubai is expected to have 2,500 buses in operation by 2010 compared with about 600 on the roads now. Abu Dhabi and Sharjah are also potential buyers.
To boost its presence in the Middle East heavy vehicle market, Scania is building a distribution and assembly facility in Jebel Ali Free Zone.
"From here we will deliver fully-built vehicles that are adapted to the region's requirements and operating conditions," said Per Hallberg, Scania's head of production and procurement at a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday attended by Swedish Crown Princess Victoria.
The facility is being developed on an area of 22,000 square metres and will be ready by end-2008.
It will be able to handle 1,400 trucks per year in the first phase, with the capacity rising to 2,000 units after expansion.
Trucks will arrive in semi-knocked down (SKD) condition in containers and will be reassembled and fitted with locally procured parts.
New role
The facility will also be adapted for future bus bodyworking. Hallberg said having a facility will allow the company to cut delivery times and respond better to customers.
"Our collaboration with selected suppliers that are well-established in Arab markets, together with the shorter lead and delivery times provided by the Dubai facility, will greatly benefit our expansion in the region," Hallberg said.
He said there is a big demand for heavy trucks and buses in the region due to large investments in infrastructure and construction projects across the Gulf.
Scania said the regional market for heavy trucks is close to 20,000 per year.
Scania will inaugurate a regional centre for sales and service training in Dubai later this year.
© Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
Comment on this article 
Loading ...-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
from issuers in both public and private sectors. It is not an e-tendering service and is entirely FREE.
As an Issuer, you can benefit from posting an unlimited number of Tender
Notices for FREE and reaching out to an online community of bidders.
The service also offers you a tool to track the interest of bidders to your
tenders 'live' online.
| Tender Notice | Due Date |
Stories
Companies
| Company Name | Country | Industry |
| Consolidated Contractors Company | Overseas | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Telecom | Saudi Arabia | Telecommunications Services |
| Saudi Binladin Group | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Electricity Company | Saudi Arabia | Electric Utilities |
| Emirates Aluminium Company | UAE | Metal Production |
| Roads and Transport Authority - Dubai | UAE | Regulatory and Administrative Bodies |
| Commercial International Bank (Egypt) | Egypt | Banking |
| Pepsi Cola International (Middle East) | Region-wide | Beverages |
| Dodsal Engineering and Construction | UAE | Construction and Design |
| Emirates Telecommunications Corporation | UAE | Telecommunications Services |
Projects
| Project Name | Country | Sector |
| Takreer - Ruwais Refinery Expansion | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) - Smelter Complex - Phase 1 | UAE | Industry |
| ENEC - Nuclear Power Plant | UAE | Power and Water |
| Abu Dhabi DOT - Abu Dhabi Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| Dubai RTA - Dubai Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| SATORP - Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Al Safwa - Jeddah Cement Plant | Saudi Arabia | Industry |
| SATORP- Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex - Conversion Unit and Sulphur Package (Part 2) | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Qatar Bahrain Causeway Foundation - Qatar Bahrain Causeway | Bahrain | Infrastructure |
| Qatar Bahrain Causeway Foundation - Qatar Bahrain Causeway | Qatar | Infrastructure |