São Paulo – Brazilian bus manufacturing company Marcopolo saw its Africa and Middle East sales go up 500% in H1 2018 from H1 2017. Total sales amounted to 860 units. The result was driven by urban and school transportation fleet renewal projects in 17 different countries, the company reported. Five of those countries are Arab: Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. Sales are expected to keep climbing throughout H2.
Marcopolo has been working since 2015 to break into new markets in Africa and the Middle East. AFrican buying countries also include South Africa, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Mozambique, Congo, Nigeria and Gabon.
Marcopolo first started selling buses in Africa during the 1980s, and over 30-plus years at also made its way into the Middle East, with over 5,000 units shipped so far, according to the company itself.
Foreign sales as a whole are going up for Marcopolo, which imputes this to dedicated programs to this end, the integration of its commercial operations – formerly divided into two separate departments – and the opening of offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Dubai, UAE.
Its exports were up 67.5% year-on-year in H1. Marcopolo has manufacturing operations in s several countries, Egypt included. The company said its best-performing markets were Australia and China, with sales respectively going up 84.1% and 20% year-on-year. Marcopolo buses are sold in 100-plus countries in all continents.
Total numbers
Marcopolo posted BRL 1.856 billion in net income during H1 2018, up 43.3% year-on-year. Exports accounted for BRL 1,176.2 billion of that. Net profit was USD 54.3 million, up 86%.
A statement quoted CEO Francisco Gomes Neto as saying sales by Marcopolo should keep increasing in H2. “We expect this rebound in sales volume to be sustained over months to come, especially in foreign markets, since the depreciation of the real (Brazil’s currency) can drive net income and operating results,” he said.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
