Volvo Bus Australia’s new Volvo BZL Electric chassis is the centrepiece of its safety and sustainability offerings to the local industry.
Along with its shiny new Volvo BZL Electric chassis, Volvo Bus Australia used its Expo stand to educate the industry on its plans for the future. The recently launched BZL Electric chassis provided Volvo Bus Australia general manager Mitch Peden with the opportunity to showcase the company’s latest technological developments and social progression.
“We had our BZL Electric chassis built with Express Coach Builders in Macksville,” Peden told ABC. “This highlights our local content and intention to prioritise local manufacturing for workers in NSW for our operator partners.
“It’s also great to show part of our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) activities by using the bus that has the NAIDOC Week livery that was commissioned from Goreng Goreng artist Jacob Sarra and was completed at our head office in Wacol, Queensland. The artwork showcases the story of Volvo Group Australia and the land our head office is on.”
Alongside this was the Volvo BZL Electric chassis in its raw form. By having the chassis by itself, Peden says customers can develop a better understanding of the latest safety features to get quality assurance of everything expected of a Volvo premium product.
“We expect the BZL Electric chassis to be the benchmark of the industry when it comes to safety, quality and sustainability,” Peden says. “This helps us display our future technologies – it’s great to have key partners interested to learn more about what we do.”
Peden says the Expo came at an ideal time for the company. Peden is hopeful it will give Volvo opportunities to expand its footprint in Australia. The Volvo Bus Australia general manager says Volvo purposely didn’t pack its stand with too many buses so visitors could learn more about the brand’s future plans. Peden’s goal is that visitors left Volvo’s Expo stand having learnt more about the company’s unwavering commitment to delivering safe, reliable and sustainable transport.
“We’re keen to showcase our product while also detailing Volvo’s efforts for a full sustainability model with our supply chains,” Peden says. “We’ve got rich history in the environmental care space and we’ve been incrementally improving how we operate as the years roll on.
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“We’re headed towards a fully sustainable business model. We’re keen to show we’re a leader in this space.”
Peden says Volvo wanted to showcase the effort it makes to produce new products that make gains in safety and quality.
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“The products are high voltage and need to be understood,” Peden says. “We do what we can to make our products the safest on the road – that’s what is expected of Volvo.”
Peden says the brand is already looking at expanding into school bus and coach products in an evolution of its new technology.
“Operators want quality partners around for the long term,” Peden says. “We can show we’re around for the long haul, can look after our partners and will be around to meet contractual and warranty obligations.
“We want to build better services for the industry while seeing our products driving successful business outcomes for our partners.”