Brazil – “In recent years, we have increased our competitiveness and strengthened sales to several countries in the African continent, such as Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana, among others. And in a scenario still impacted by the pandemic, this sale reinforces our presence in the market,” said Gustavo Tavares Marramarco, commercial operations consultant at Marcopolo S.A. of Caxias do Sul responsible for the Ivory Coast and other west African countries.

Marramarco made these comments as it shipped another order for 17 new Marcopolo Viaggio 1050 buses of chassis supplied by Volvo Bus Latin America Ltda of Curitiba to the Ivory Coast -15 of these on Volvo B270F (front engine) chassis and two on B8R chassis, through SMT Côte d'Ivoire of Abidjan (a SMT Africa subsidiary) a partner importer of both companies. From July the vehicles will be used by one of the largest local operators in long-distance service in the city of Abidjan. Of the 491 units exported by the bus bodybuilder in the first quarter of 2021, 265 were destined for long-distance transport.