The partnership between Sweden’s Volvo and Egyptian bodybuilder and complete vehicle manufacturer MCV, replacing an earlier one between Volvo and Wrightbus, has already brought over 1,000 of their products on the roads of Britain, Ireland, Hong Kong and Singapore.
A quick check of Bus Lists on the Web in late July identified 596 EvoSeti double-deckers, 580 EvoRa single-deck buses, 139 Volvo BZL electric single- and double-deckers and 65 EvoTor coaches supplied to these markets. There are several outstanding orders for the BZL, on which MCV is the only bodybuilder.
The EvoRa has become one of the single-deckers of choice among independent operators and three of the big five groups when choosing heavy-duty diesel-engined products, with the short wheelbase 10.8m version proving surprisingly popular.
For mainland European customers, MCV has taken over production of the 7900 hybrid and all-electric integral single-decker following Volvo’s decision to close its plant at Wroclaw in Poland.
This, as David Barrow explains in this informative colour picture album, is quite an achievement for MCV (the initials are for Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles), a company formed just 30 years ago, and which came to th…
