Every car is an argument about what matters, and the Volvo B12M makes its case with Volvo DH12 12-litre Diesel and 310-460BHP. Volvo built from 2002 to 2022 — in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids.
The story
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. 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; a single-articulated variant is presumably also in development.
What is underneath
Under the skin sits Volvo DH12 12-litre Diesel; it is rated at 310-460BHP. The gearbox is a ZF 5/6HP602C / Manual / Voith automatic. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in Volvo's history is not in doubt: the Volvo B10M came before it; it was built at Borås, Sweden, and other locations (including Curitiba, Brazil, where it was last produced). On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Mazda RX-8, the Lincoln Aviator, the Dodge Tomahawk. Nearby in the Volvo catalogue sit the Volvo 144 and the Volvo 264 TE.