Tamimi & Saihati Transport Corporation, TASECO, signed contracts worth $240 million with German companies Mercedes-Benz-Daimler and Volkswagen to import 1,500 buses, intended to transport pilgrims arriving to the holy cities of Mecca and Madinah during the Hajj season. The vehicles are to be delivered between 2001 and 2005.
DaimlerChrysler AG has been awarded a contract to deliver 800 Mercedes-Benz buses to Saudi Arabia as part of the tender issued by the Saudi private transport giant. The deal is the single largest bus order from the Middle East in the company's history. TASECO already has over 175 Mercedes-Benz buses in its fleet.
The chassis is produced at the DaimlerChrysler plant in Sao Bernardo, Brazil. The Saudi Arabian buses, which will be driven by 180 kW Mercedes-Benz engines, will be manufactured in co-operation with the Brazilian bodywork specialist Marcopolo. The company will equip the bus chassis with Andare bodies at its plant in the southern Brazilian city of Caxias do Soul.
German Volkswagen is to sell 700 buses to Saudi Arabia, in a 165.8 million Saudi riyal ($62 million) contract. The vehicles will be manufactured at Volkswagen's Resende plant in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. The export sale is the largest to be made by the company outside of the Americas, according to Agencia Folha. — (Mena Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
