Colombiabus Newsroom – Ecos 365 / William Marroquín

ALSO NEGOTIATES TO ARRIVE IN URUGUAY

From an undertaking that had its origins in 1999 in Argentina, with the MCM company, dedicated to distributing auto parts to the current Saldivia Buses, a path has been traveled to build vehicles that transport much more than passengers, in which more than 50,000 people are transported daily, with a portfolio that includes from midibuses with a vehicular weight close to 9 tons, to double-decker buses.

In 2020 despite the pandemic, its Aries 365 road model gave much to talk about due to its advances in design and comfort, as well as the ability to adapt to a trend that has been growing in Argentina where operators are switching to single-deck buses and large passenger and cargo capacity, but without the costs of double-decker buses. This was also reinforced in the alliance with Volvo Buses, whose B450R served as a platform to present that configuration for long distances in a single tier.

An investment of close to 9 million dollars to refurbish its plant, incorporate machinery and modernize its production processes, has been the basis for presenting new luxury road buses to the market, which have been gaining acceptance both in Argentina and abroad. They were able to resist the inactivity caused by the pandemic and the confinement measures, to resume exports to Chile and negotiate the disembarkation in other countries of the region. Saldivia had managed to leave his country, moving to his neighbors, where there was a good demand for road buses for both medium and long routes, as well as for the transport of mining personnel.

“That previously implied carrying out a market study on the needs that existed, designing the model, putting together an entire after-sales structure in Chile, standardizing products and carrying out a commercial deployment abroad,” said Adrián Saldivia, who leads the company. For that market, they have already managed to close the sale of the first four units and expect that at least 20 buses of the brand will roll in 2021.

The models with which they are arriving are the Aries 345 and 365, which stand out for their high level of safety, driving aids and a high level of comfort. Being able to equip them with all the options for a high-level trip with refrigerators, chromatherapy, wide seats and maximum recline, air conditioning and more separation between passengers and cabin.

Thanks to the arrival in Chile, opportunities have opened up for Peru and Ecuador, in addition to negotiating to start selling buses in Uruguay. It is a key issue, since currently more than 90% of production is destined for the domestic market. «We made a significant investment in technology, tools, tooling, welding machinery, laser cutting, bending machines, among other equipment to achieve the necessary quality to be able to compete abroad. The idea is to consolidate abroad and continue to modernize our fleet” said Saldivia.