Tecnobus gets prepared for a growing market, under new owner. Interview with CEO Paolo Marini
The new management of Tecnobus, an Italian company active in the production of electric minibuses since the early 1990s, has clear goals to make the company ready for the challenges (and the opportunities!) of a growing European e-bus market. We restarted operations between January and September this year thanks to a 40 million euro investment, […]
The new management of Tecnobus, an Italian company active in the production of electric minibuses since the early 1990s, has clear goals to make the company ready for the challenges (and the opportunities!) of a growing European e-bus market.
We restarted operations between January and September this year thanks to a 40 million euro investment, half of which should be financed by a development contract. Our business plan envisages a goal of achieving an annual sales volume between 200 and 250 vehicles with a turnover of around EUR 60 million
Paolo Marini, CEO of Tecnobus
Tecnobus: goal of up to 250 units per year
Almost 600 vehicles were sold in 47 countries until the company halted operations a few years ago. Tecnobus presented itself at Next Mobility Exhibition in mid October. Now ICAB group is the only shareholder. It’s a company from the industrial automation sector, and its sole director is Paolo Marini, that is now CEO of Tecnobus. Today the city of Civitavecchia presented a batch of vehicles.
He explains: ‘We have restarted everything, recertified the company with a new VAT number, and relaunched operations between January and September this year thanks to a 40 million euro investment, half of which should be financed by a development contract. Our business plan envisages a goal of achieving an annual sales volume between 200 and 250 vehicles with a turnover of around EUR 60 million».
What about staff? «We now have about 15 employees, we will reach 70 by the end of the year, and when fully operational we would like to reach 150. We will mainly hire profiles such as mechanics, bodyworkers, and electrotechnicians. From the production point of view, the headquarters will remain the current one, we will however double the size of the plant. We will build a test line in the current plant and the production lines in the new spaces that we aim to organise within three years”.
At the moment, Marini continues, the production capacity is between 70 and 100 vehicles. NME was the first public outing for the revised Gulliver. Little ‘restyled’ on the aesthetics, the main novelties concern the new-generation digital cockpit with video surveillance system, the introduction of LED lights, disc brakes on all four wheels, and the central electric motor (32 kW and 160 Nm, according to the technical data sheet). Batteries? 71 kWh. Interesting is the electric ramp for wheelchairs, fitted as standard.
