New MCV facility inaugurated in Cairo for the production of Volvo e-buses headed to Europe

Egyptian bus bodybuilder MCV has inaugurated today, 16 September, a new production facility in Cairo dedicated to Volvo’s electric bus range for Europe. The Volvo MCV plant is announced with a production capacity of 1,200 vehicles per year, confirming the strategic shift initiated in March 2023, when Volvo Buses decided to cease the manufacturing of complete buses in Europe and instead rely on external bodybuilders under a contract manufacturing scheme.

MCV, a long time Volvo partner on markets such as UK and Asia Pacific, was then chosen as the exclusive partner for the production of the 7900 and 8900 e-bus range headed to Europe. Vehicles for De Lijn and Transdev are already visible on the production lines, with deliveries in the Benelux region underway, where De Lijn was the very first for order a batch of Volvo 7900 Electric buses with MCV as coachbuilder.

A plant for Volvo e-buses made by MCV

The plant layout is based on two parallel lines with ten stations each, plus a mezzanine, fed by a central supply line. Chassis are produced in Sweden, shipped in Egypt and assembled in one of MCV’s factories serving as ‘feeding facilities’ to the new facility, where the complete bus is assembled.

Around 300 workers—mostly newly hired—are dedicated specifically to the Volvo 7900 and 8900 program, within a wider workforce of 2,000 blue-collar staff engaged across the Cairo industrial site, including logistics and feeding operations.

“Today marks the beginning of a new era for MCV,” said Karim Ghabbour, President of MCV. “In the last 15 years we saw constant growth in our collaboration with Volvo Buses in Asia, the UK and Europe. Now the full production of Volvo electric buses for Europe is ready to commence.”

Anna Westerberg, President of Volvo Buses, added: “Today Volvo electric buses operate in more than 80 cities around Europe. This newly created facility will enable great flexibility in meeting the demand of different markets and customers. For us, the business model of collaborating with body builders is well established. With MCV we have been collaborating for a long time for the UK and many other markets.”