Abu Dhabi facility to manufacture European standard buses

Abu Dhabi: Hafilat Industries, a joint venture of the UAE's Specialised Investment Group, Emirates Link Group and Australian bus manufacturer Volgren, will manufacture buses conforming to European standards at Hafilat's Dh20 million production facility located in the Abu Dhabi Industrial City.

"It will be Volgren brand manufactured under lic-ence by Hafilat," Peter Dale, managing director of Volgren Australia, told Gulf News on Tuesday. He said the buses will cater to meeting mainly the domestic public transportation needs.

"We have tendered to supply 1,600 buses to Dubai and will put our tender to meet Abu Dhabi Department of Transport's need for 500 buses," Dale said.

The bus manufacturing facility was formally inaugurated yesterday by Shaikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court and chairman of the Higher Corporation of Specialised Economy Zones (ZonesCorp).

"The factory is designed to produce 500 buses per year, but the capacity can be increased to 1,000 buses a year depending on the demand," said Dale.

"The first Hafilat bus has just rolled out and we are exporting six buses to Australia."