Marcopolo targets Europe, LatAm as Brazil bus market softens

Brazilian bus maker Marcopolo has confirmed it is targeting expansion across Latin America and Europe after international operations accounted for fully 45.4% of total net revenue in 2025, up from 36.3% the previous year. The push comes in the midst of a sustained period of high interest rates suppressing domestic fleet renewal, with the Brazilian market expected to slip further during 2026.

Chief Executive Andre Armaganijan told Reuters that Argentina was a primary export driver last year, with momentum now building in Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Domestic revenue concurrently fell 10% year-on-year in 2025 to BRL 4.95bn (US$945m), largely a result of borrowing costs that prevented fleet operators from committing to new purchases.

Brazil’s central bank has begun easing rates, trimming its benchmark Selic rate to 14.75% earlier in March after holding it at a near two-decade high of 15% since July 2025. The move is cautious and unlikely to have a substantial impact—if any—until H2 2026 at the earliest. In the meantime, Marcopolo will need to lean on boosting overseas sales to surmount the local deficit. 

Over in Europe, the bus maker is pursuing product certification—a tentative step towards regional assembly—and has already secured a partnership with Volvo Group to sell buses in France and Italy, with the Swedish manufacturer functioning as the prime contractor for both sales and aftersales support. International Operations Director Jose Luiz Goes said to Reuters that the initial focus spans France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, with a local final assembly line planned for the longer term.

Establishing a production footprint in Europe arguably carries strategic logic beyond offsetting the domestic shortfall. Local assembly operations would give Marcopolo a degree of insulation from tariff exposure that pure exporting from Brazil cannot provide, and would position the company more credibly as a local supplier in a market that increasingly favours proximity. At the same time, it will face stiff competition from Chinese bus makers like Yutong and BYD that are also staking out a presence in Europe.

The durability of Marcopolo’s export pivot will depend on whether it can convert near-term sales in neighbouring markets into a base of loyal customers. Local manufacturing presence will also help to sustain market share in Europe once market conditions in Brazil improve. For now, the company is effectively running two parallel strategies: keeping volume up through Latin American exports while laying the groundwork for a longer-term European position.