Press Room

The partnership with the British operator Ascendal will promote the renewal

of the entire transportation system of Punta Arenas

In the middle of a pandemic and with many international tourist destinations still not operating, Volare, the minibus of Marcopolo Group, signed a contract to export 70 Access Urban vehicles to Chile. They will renovate the entire transportation system of Punta Arenas, the capital of the Chilean Patagonia, which is recognized worldwide for its glaciers as well as for the Torres del Paine National Park. The first vehicles start to be shipped this week.

Volare dominates the micro segment exports in Brazil with a 30% market share in recent years. Chile accounts for more than half of the sales, followed by Argentina, Peru and Costa Rica. “We remain focused on contributing to increasing the mobility of cities in this post-pandemic scenario, both in Brazil and abroad. Volare Access Urban is a premium vehicle and offers accessibility for different audiences that have reduced mobility such as pregnant women, the elderly and wheelchair users ”, says Volare Export Manager, Rodrigo Bisi.

The foreign market continues to be extremely significant for the brand and the Punta Arenas deal is very representative as it is equivalent to 20% of the total volume exported last year, which was 350 minibuses. Volare operates in 35 countries in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and in 2019, its revenue was BRL 634.238 million considering the sales in the foreign and domestic markets.

International partnership

After Santiago, Punta Arenas will be the first city in Chile to have a high-quality fleet of RED buses, the urban mobility system of the Chilean Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications.  The municipality has 135 thousand inhabitants and it received 134 cruises, totalling 70 thousand passengers in the 2018/2019 season. According to the latest data from the National Secretariat of Tourism of Chile (SENATUR), in 2017 the Patagonia region receives more than 200 thousand tourists per year.

The Punta Arenas transportation system will be operated by Ascendal, a British company with Australian origin that operates in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Brazil, the United States and Mexico.

“We are agents of change with the vision of bringing cities to life through public transport, combining mobility with technology, infrastructure and real estate development, financing solutions and strategic advice. We chose Volare because it understood this business opportunity like no other company. The brand has the type of vehicles required in the concession contract and complies with the specific requirements of the Ministry of Transport for this project. In addition, its product quality is recognized at regional level and it represents a considerable business volume in South America ”, says Marcelo Cornejo, executive director of LATAM operations at Ascendal.

"The financing solutions found by Volare, BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) and Ascendal Finance open doors for joint projects in the future and express the desire to create a successful partnership between our companies", he added.

Photo Credit: Volare 

Secco Consultoria de Comunicação

Tel. 55 (11) 5641-7407 | secco@secco.com.br

Máquina Cohn & Wolfe

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