Volgren

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Volgren

Volgren is an Australian bus and coach body maker. It was formed in 1977 in Dandenong, Victoria, by the Grenda Corporation (a Melbourne bus operator) and Volvo Buses. The name Volgren combines Volvo and Grenda.

History
- Volgren started by bodying Volvo chassis for local buses.
- In 1981, a plant was opened in Acacia Ridge, Queensland, by Grenda along with Hornibrook Bus Lines, Greyhound Northern and Stateliner. It built bodies for Volvo B59 and B10R buses before focusing on Volvo B10M coaches; the Acacia Ridge operation closed in the late 1980s.
- In December 2011, Brazilian bus maker Marcopolo bought a 75% stake in Volgren; by April 2014, Marcopolo owned the company completely (100%).

Manufacturing facilities
- Dandenong, Victoria (VG): Volgren’s first bus was completed here in 1979.
- Malaga, Western Australia (VP): Opened in 1999 to build buses for Transperth.
- Eagle Farm, Queensland (VQ): Opened in 2010.
- Tomago, New South Wales (former facility): Opened 2010, closed in 2012.

Products
- City buses: Optimus and CR-series (CR221L to CR228L, including several sub-models).
- Coaches: Endura and SC221/SC222.
Volgren bodies have been used on buses for operators in Australia and across Asia, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.

Operators and use
- In Australia: Transperth, ComfortDelGro Australia, Transdev Australasia, Ventura Bus Lines, Kinetic Group and others have used Volgren bodies.
- Asia: Buses for Kowloon Motor Bus and Citybus in Hong Kong; SBS Transit and SMRT Buses in Singapore; various operators in Malaysia and Japan have used Volgren bodies.

Volgren remains a major Australian bus body builder and is part of the Marcopolo group.