Large order relieves the crisis on bus factories

No different from the situation of almost the entire vehicle industry, 2014 has been a tough year in the factories of bus. The scenario of uncertainties-is due to the elections, either by blurring on concessions of operators of interstate road transport lines-soma-the reduction in deliveries of school buses by the federal Government to explain the low of almost 17% of sales in this sector between January and September. Is a percentage that surpasses the negative 8.9% licensing of cars as the fall close to 14% of the trucks.
But the orders of one of the largest transport companies for highways in the country have helped to alleviate this scenario. Since July, 130 Highway buses were purchased by the JCA group, owner of car companies like Comet, 1001 and Catarinense, in claims still have planned deliveries until next month.
The largest contract was with Scania, which is providing 73 of the new bus orders by JCA, the equivalent of almost a whole month of sales of the brand-your monthly average 80 collectives round this year. Other bus 40, delivered to equip the fleet of Viação Cometa, stayed with Mercedes-Benz, while Volvo took a batch of 17 units. Mercedes also recently received the JCA another package important, involving 120 bus urban charging, delivered in three batches of 40 units from August, September and October.
"It's an important purchase, which comes in a year when everyone is in difficulty," says Paul Corso, Director of commercial operations of the Marcopolo, responsible for manufacturing the bodywork of vehicles requested by the JCA.
The package is celebrated not only by the quantity, but also by product type. The road segment is the largest collective market, but represents the mother lode where higher prices, given the high level of equipment and technology on Board of vehicles.
Only the closed contract with Scania surpasses $ 70 million and includes 67 double-decker bus, also known as "double deckers". Most-about 50 "double deckers"-goes to the fleet of Viação Catarinense. "In terms of product profile, this sale is one of the most significant for Scania in the last ten years," says Cyrus Pastore, head of sales of chassis Scania road in Brazil.
The purchase of JCA is part of a fleet renewal program of the group that has already consumed investments of r $ 633 million in the purchase of 1.5 thousand new buses from 2012. The goal is to reduce to three years the average age of a fleet of almost 3 thousand vehicles, which at the beginning of the renewal cycle was in five years. "We renew between 10% and 15% of the fleet every year," says Marcelo Antunes, Director of the JCA.
That, however, there has been a constant in the industry. In the last six years, the possibility of losing lines in bids of service caused many interstate road transport operators to cut investments in fleet. Recently, the Government, in view of the election of these companies, dropped the bidding process of the transmission lines between States and determined that the operation will be under a system of authorization by the National Agency of terrestrial transports (ANTT).