Volvo B12M

Motor vehicle

Volvo B12M
A Volvo B12M with Berkhof Axial coach bodywork in the Hodge's Coaches fleet
Overview
Manufacturer	Volvo Buses
Production	2002-2022
Assembly	Borås, Sweden, and other locations (including Curitiba, Brazil, where it was last produced)
Body and chassis
Doors	1-4
Floor type	High
Powertrain
Engine	Volvo DH12 12-litre Diesel
Power output	310-460BHP
Transmission	ZF 5/6HP602C Manual Voith automatic
Chronology
Predecessor	Volvo B10M

The Volvo B12M is an underfloor mid-engined bus/coach chassis introduced by Volvo Buses in 2002 as a replacement for the Volvo B10M. It is available with a variety of bodies such as the Van Hool T9 Alizee, Sunsundegui Sideral and Plaxton Panther/Paragon. Large British users of the B12M include Wallace Arnold, Park's Motor Group and Southern Vectis.^[1]

In Brazil, the B12M replaced the B10M in articulated/bi-articulated versions, not being built in a solo bus version like its predecessors B58E and B10M, and is produced since 2004. Also, in Curitiba, there are bi-articulated buses on Volvo B12M chassis in a 28-meter configuration, making them some of the world's longest buses. Since 2011, the B12M was renamed as B340M, and the chassis was updated to the Proconve P7/Euro V emission standard rules in the following year. Both articulated and bi-articulated versions are rated for 340 hp. After Euro VI-based Proconve P8 emission standard became mandatory in Brazil in 2023, the B340M chassis was discontinued with no diesel successor being developed; instead, Volvo developed an electric bi-articulated bus chassis which belongs to the BZR range;^[2] a single-articulated variant is presumably also in development.

References

^ Niederle, Pavel. "Volvo B12". Volvo club. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
^ "Volvo Buses starts validating electric bi-articulated buses in Latin America – the first buses from its BZR electromobility platform on trial". Volvo Buses. 2024-05-30. Retrieved 2024-06-16.