Volvo ends body partnership with Sunsundegui
Volvo Buses and Sunsundegui have backed out of plans to move body manufacture for the 9700 single-deck and 9900 coaches to Spain only a year before the first vehicles were due to be outshopped.
Volvo said the cooperation has proved to be too complex and required so much additional investment that it was not viable from a business and profitability perspective. It has since cancelled the first orders for the two coach models.
The deal with Volvo was announced in May 2023, with production slated to start this year. and the first buses hitting the European market in 2025.
Future production of the 9700 single-deck and 9900 bodies remains in the balance, with no decision made, said Volvo.
Previous co-operation between Volvo Buses and Sunsundegui will continue, said Volvo Buses' press spokesman Joakim Kenndal.
This should mean that assembly of products mounted on Volvo chassis – including the SB3, SC5 and SC7 – will continue uninterrupted "In Europe, we will increase our focus on offering our chassis and a body with a suitable superstructure, which means that we can still offer tourist and long-distance buses," said Kenndal.
The news is a blow to workers at the…
