The German transport company Flix wants to have its green buses rolling in Mexico soon. Flix boss André Schwämmlein wants to enter the new market at the beginning of 2025. Sensible?
Anyone who has ever sat on a Flixbus knows: a trip like this is a little adventure. Unlike on the train, the driver is virtually approachable, the fellow passengers seem physically closer, and you even feel like you are part of a shared destiny. Sometimes one even goes along for the ride. This can all be quite fun until the toilet breaks down and it starts to smell.
The Flix company is now twelve years old and the worst teething problems have been cured. Flix makes headlines today when a major accident happens or you have one. Organizing bus trips is not glamorous. For many Germans, Flix may still be remembered as a quick-start venture that you use when money is tight.
Some people may have been surprised by the announcement from company boss André Schwämmlein at the end of September: Flix is expanding into Mexico. “Bus trips have a great tradition in Mexico that we want to contribute to,” says Schwämmlein. Mexico will become the third country in Latin America after Brazil and Chile in which Flix is active. I’m sorry, what?
Flixbus as an international transport company
In fact, Flix has evolved from a German low-cost bus tour provider into an international transport company in just a few years. Conquering the Mexican market is just one more step among many and anything but a novelty for the Munich-based company.
The aim is to be the European market leader in bus travel. In 2024, the company offered national lines in Norway for the first time. Flix also started an airport shuttle service in Sweden and expanded its offering in Finland. In addition, numerous new destinations have been added to the long-distance bus network in Portugal and there are now almost 100 stops there, according to the company.
In Ukraine, too, 19 new destinations have been connected so far in 2024, bringing the total number to 92. The latest expansion: India, where the Flix network now covers over 100 cities. Further expansion of offerings for Finland, Ukraine, India and the South American region is planned for this year.
Mexico just next step
The expansion into Mexico is scheduled to take place in the first half of 2025. With a volume of six to eight billion euros, Mexico is the third largest bus market in the world, Flix justified its planned market entry. Mexico is the third major Latin American country where Flix will operate, after Brazil and Chile.
Flix claims to operate Europe’s largest long-distance bus network and is also represented in the United States, Canada, Chile, Brazil and India. The company has around 3,000 employees and will generate sales of two billion euros in 2023. In addition to bus trips, Flix has also been offering train trips since 2018.
Source: Stern
