Volvo & Grenda JV Volgren maps areas of using Capral’s LocAl aluminium for bus body parts

Since building its first bus in 1979, Volgren has been committed to creating reliable, comfortable, and long-lasting vehicles with lower operating costs than conventional options of the generation. At present, it is exploring ways to use Capral's LocAl low-carbon aluminium for the production of lightweight electric buses.

Today, Volgren is a leading designer and manufacturer of public transport buses of all types, including zero-emission vehicles. With a team of 300 professionals across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, and WA, Volgren's bus bodies are 90% locally produced and offer the lowest lifetime cost of any bus in Australia.

Volgren can manufacture a range of buses, including standard-route buses that can be 11.9 to 12.5 meters long. Its story began in the 1940s when George Grenda, a local milk carrier in Dandenong, moved into buses. By the 1970s, Grenda Bus Services was a hugely successful route bus and coach company.

In 1977, Volvo partnered with Grenda to create Volgren and introduced the Co-Bolt system and extruded aluminium for bus body construction. In 2017, Marco Polo SA acquired full ownership of Volgren, adding technology, buying power and incorporating global experience.

The national purchasing manager of Volgren, Andrew Castillo, insisted: "Most buses are still built from fully welded steel. Aluminium is much lighter, resistant to corrosion, and recyclable. Moreover, the lighter a bus is, the more people you can fit in the bus."

Volgren is known for its innovative, sustainable, and efficient public transport solutions. It has delivered dozens of hybrid and electric buses to Australian operators since 2018 and is fast-tracking the delivery of Australia's first European hydrogen fuel cell buses.

The Optimus E-Bus, Volgren's E-bus, is one of the lightest zero-emission bus bodies in its class and complies with Australia's highest safety and flammability standards for buses. Volgren uses aluminium instead of steel for its bus bodies, and its Co-Bolt system uses bolted gusseted joints.

Castillo also explained: "This avoids the risk of continuous bus vibrations fracturing welds. Our system requires no welding and results in much longer joint life."

"Our joints are lock-tightened with very little chance of anything loosening over time. For operators, it means far superior reliability than a traditional steel bus and is one of the main reasons why we can offer a 15-year warranty on our buses' aluminium structures," he illustrated.

Quality is of utmost importance at Volgren, and the company operates rigorous quality systems and builds quality into its products through its suppliers, logistics, and production. Capral has been Volgren's principal aluminium supplier for at least 15 years and meets Volgren's ethos of quality, local input, and innovation.

"We build buses and want our supplies priced at construction-type costs, but we also want an architectural look and finish to our products. Capral has always achieved both for us," Castillo proudly said.

Capral now also machines parts, enabling Volgren's teams to focus on faster assembly and minimizing customer costs. According to Castillo, Volgren tailors bus bodies to the requirements of individual bus chassis and operators.

"Our whole roof structure is a sheet with aluminium extrusion bows across the roof and main cant rails extending the entire bus length. Capral is one of the few players in Australia with presses large enough to extrude our parts," he narrated.

"Our variation is massive and requires a large engineering team," he remarked.

Despite being a multinational company, Volgren remains family-focused, with experienced people providing a family-style influence. Castillo emphasized that Volgren is well-placed for future success and to continue contributing to Australia's environmental sustainability.

Castillo commented: "The teams here are always looking to improve themselves. They're not too scared to ask if we can look at doing something better. It's the way it's always been at Volgren; we know what the operators are after and work hard to give them what they need."

"It's great to be part of the biggest bus manufacturer in Australia, which is leading the way for zero-emission transport," he concluded.

For the time being, the Volgren team is experimenting with Capral's LocAl Lower carbon aluminium to further reduce the environmental impact of their flagship designs by reducing the initial carbon content in the aluminium products they use.