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Ashok Leyland, the fourth largest bus manufacturer in the world, announced on Wednesday that it has bagged orders for the supply of 1,400 school buses in the UAE from multiple fleet operators including Emirates Transport and STS Group.
The company said in a press statement that the buses, comprising of 55-seater Falcon and 32-seater Oyster, would be supplied from Ashok Leyland’s $50 million manufacturing facility in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, which is the only certified local bus making facility in the entire GCC.
The total fleet deal for the GCC made buses was bagged by Ashok Leyland’s UAE distribution partners, Swaidan Trading - Al Naboodah Group.
Dheeraj Hinduja, Executive Chairman, Ashok Leyland said more than 55 percent of the parts for the buses are sourced in UAE.
“It will be apt to call it “The Emirati Bus”- Made in UAE, for the GCC,” he said, adding that the Group’s new Electric vehicle company, Switch Mobility, based out of UK, will launch its electric vehicles in the Gulf markets soon.
Amandeep Singh, Head- International Operations said Ashok Leyland is one of the fastest growing brands in the Middle East with a growing market presence in UAE.
“We have aggressive plans to further enhance our portfolio in Light commercial vehicle space,” he said.
The Ras Al Khaimah plant has an installed capacity of 4,000 buses a year. Ever since its start in 2008, the plant has rolled out 25,500 buses so far.
(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)
