Scania, the world's leading heavy vehicle maker, eyes Beijing's
green Olympics drive as an opportunity to pry open the Chinese
market for its ethanol-powered buses, the company's top manager
told Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.
"I think Beijing will solve the problem of pollution. It has to
do with rapid, very very rapid expansion of the city. If we can
give a contribution to that, we are very happy to do that," Leif
Ostling, president and chief executive of the Sweden-based company,
said when asked about the company's plan to sell its ethanol-
powered buses to China.
Currently, there is already one ethanol-powered bus produced by
Scania in China, which is scheduled to make its debut show in the
streets of Beijing as a field test during the first week of
November, less than one year before the city hosts 2008 Olympic
Games.
Ostling said he hopes their environment-friendly buses could
catch up with the Olympic Games.
Due to the green Olympics drive, "the environmental quest is
much more under focus by the authorities in China than it was just
a couple of years ago," Ostling said, "I think it is part of our
interest for the ethanol bus being tested in Beijing. We want to
see what we can deliver."
Fredrik Morsing, director of Scania's alternative fuels, buses
and coaches, said the company was in contact with the Beijing
organizing committee for the Olympic Games, but he refused to say
whether they have found potential customers.
"The Olympic Games would be a very good occasion for us to show
the technology we could produce. That's one of the purposes why we
want to bring a bus to Beijing," Morsing said.
As one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses
for heavy transport uses and specialized in ethanol-powered
vehicles, Scania has made cautious steps into the Chinese market,
one of the most tempting place for foreign investment today. It
established a global strategic partnership with China's Higer Bus
Company in Suzhou, but not its own factory.
Ostling, who was in Brussels as the host for a high-level
conference on sustainable transport, said at present they are
simply making the test of the Chinese market, and if there is
enough demand, they are ready to jump in.
"We don't have manufacturing presence in China. It's not on the
agenda today. What we are doing now is that we are gradually
building up market in various cities of China and also finding
customers to our products," he said, "When we see prospects in the
market, then we will definitely establish manufacturing operation
in China."
Ostling said once they have their trucks and buses built in
China, the company would like to set up a wholly owned subsidiary,
instead of cooperation with local manufacturers.
"We want one hundred percent ownership. We want no joint
venture," he said, "We always go for one hundred percent ownership.
That's a policy of the company."
(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2007)