Marcopolo was founded in 1949 and is listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange; and over the past 70 years has evolved and migrated on a worldwide scale to become an industry leader, producing more than 350,000 units on five continents - a world-class benchmark.

Concurrently, Marcopolo South Africa (also known as MASA) has witnessed an exponential growth in its operations as a result of enhanced tender attainment and customer loyalty in a country that has taken Marcopolo to its heart and that offers an abundance of export opportunities too.

Marcopolo has been present in South Africa since 1996, with the establishment of Brasa (Pty) Ltd, which was an agent for sales and after sales of imported vehicles from Brazil. Marcopolo then established its assembling subsidiary in 1999, located originally in the city of Polokwane. Shortly thereafter in 2001, the facilities were transferred to Germiston, in Johannesburg.

In 2009 Marcopolo South Africa became the first bus body builder in South Africa to be awarded the First BRT project. Since then Marcopolo South Africa has been involved in a number of BRT projects namely, Johannesburg’s Rea Vaya, Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay, Western Cape’s My Citi and Tshwane’s Are Yeng.