RUSSIA MAN claims it was the no. 1 European commercial vehicles manufacturer operating in Russia for 2011, with sales of over 7,600 trucks and 220 buses.
Lars Himmer, head of the MAN sales region CIS and managing director of MAN Truck & Bus RUS, said: “Last year we saw clear signs of recovery on the Russian market. Our range of products places us in the vanguard of the growing trend towards efficient and ecologically sound vehicle concepts and will enable us to continue strengthening our position there.”
At the end of 2011, MAN took two major orders in Russia. In Wladiwostok, the city’s Administrative Council ordered 50 MAN city buses. The vehicles are being operated on the city’s regular service routes by municipal transport company VPOPAT-1.
LIAZ, a subsidiary of Russia’s biggest automobile company, GAZ Group, ordered 2,188 engines ranging from efficient diesels to natural-gas engines. The 12-18m citybuses equipped with these engines will operate Moscow’s local public transport system but bus services in St. Petersburg and other Russian cities will also be powered by MAN driveline technology.
MAN Truck & Bus is investing around €25m in setting up its own production facility in St. Petersburg. The St. Petersburg site is projected to produce approximately 6,000 vehicles a year.
