Australian bus bodybuilder Volgren is celebrating the roll-out of its 5000th vehcile built at its manufacturing headquarters in Dandenong.
The milestone was reached with its Optimus low-floor route bus which was handed over to operator and partner Ventura Bus Lines at a recent ceremony.
The latest vehicle stood next to the first bus ever manufactured by Volgren, the VG001, which is owned by Ventura.
Volgren chief executive Thiago Deiro says it’s a great achievement for the company and seeing the two buses together demonstrated the quality of manufacturing over four decades.
“This is a proud moment in our company’s long history. You don’t produce this many vehicles over this many years without dedicating yourself to manufacturing excellence and to providing operators with buses they can trust.
“This first Volgren bus, with more than 850,000 kilometres, on the odometer and still going strong, is symbolic of what we have built our reputation on: reliability, quality, innovation and long-term value for our partners. It was the first aluminium bus ever built in Australia.
“Our bases in Perth and Brisbane are superb manufacturing facilities, but Dandenong is the engine room of Volgren’s manufacturing operations. In fact, the suburb of Dandenong is one of Victoria’s great manufacturing hubs.
“Ventura is an iconic figure in Victoria’s public transport sector and in 2024 will celebrate their centenary. Every year they carry more than 32 million customers across Melbourne and we’re thrilled that they have our first and now our 5000th bus,” Deiro says.
