exhibition fiaamadridreview - telma

16 / Bus&Coach Buyer / 02 June 2017 @bus_coachbuyer / www.busandcoachbuyer.com

Exhibition

Left: Irizar i6S tri-axle.

Right: Irizar’s i4h Hybrid.

FIAA Madrid reviewMadrid International Bus & Coach Show 2017

REPORT BY STUART JONES

Spain’s major bus and coach showhighlights the latest developments fromthe country’s manufacturers as wellas those from the rest of Europe and

beyond and this year’s event reflected theincreasing optimism within a Spanish marketthat was hard hit by the recession, especiallyin terms of the public transport market.There are less major bodybuilders nowthan there once were but the majority ofthose remaining have built up strong exportbusiness and are already names well knownin the UK. With a 20% increase in companiesparticipating and occupied exhibition space,there were 128 exhibitors from 13 countries

In bus the trends are strongly towardsalternatives to diesel, particularly electricoptions, but gas is also popular in the countryand evidence of this could be seen in inter-urban coach as well as bus applications. Inthe coach sector Spanish operators are farmore open to integral concepts than theyonce were though there is still strong interestin body on chassis and an enduring, thoughperhaps diminishing, willingness among chassissuppliers to work with more coachbuilders thanwe have become accustomed to in the UK.Unbodied chassis were much in evidence on the

major manufacturers’ stands. In mini and midimarkets the number of players with innovativeoptions on Sprinter or Daily never ceases toamaze and the acceptability of front engines intruck derived chassis appears undiminished. Inthis 13th staging of the bi-annual FIAA event,the presence of suppliers from outside Spain isfar stronger and more varied than it was when Ifirst attended several decades ago.

The following is by no means acomprehensive revue but it seeks to bring younews of the more significant developments ona manufacturer by manufacturer basis, ratherthan rigidly splitting along bus, coach andminibus lines because many manufacturersserve multiple sectors.

IrizarDominating the Spanish market and witha growing worldwide presence as well asa rapidly expanding range of integral andbody on chassis products, Irizar showed sixvaried vehicles, all of them integrals, three oneach side of a central stage and hospitalityarea. Several will be of interest to UK buyers.Irizar believes it now has ‘one of the bestranges of buses and coaches offered byany manufacturer.’ However, they promisethey will not rest on their laurels and arealready working on future projects includingautonomous driving.

Readers will by now be familiar with the topof the range i8 coach, shown in 14m three-axleform with DAF/Paccar MX13 520hp engine, butthey won’t have seen the new i6S which hasalready been launched in Europe but won’t

arrive in the UK until this year’s Birminghamshow. It is located between the i6 and i8 inthe range but they didn’t want to call it thei7. In appearance it is much closer to the i8but without the chromework and it won’t beavailable with a number of features that remainexclusive to the i8, among them the distinctiveseats. Two were displayed, one a 15m tri-axlewith 460hp MX13 engine and the other a 13mtwo-axle with 435hp MX11 unit.

We are used to hybrids in city busesbut they are rare on inter city and coachapplications, something that might change ifIrizar has its way. Last year they introducednew parallel hybrid versions of the i3 and i4in Europe and that range has been extendedwith the announcement of additional 15m i4and i3 options. Two-axle models up to 13mcombine a 300hp 6.7-litre Cummins dieselwith an Eaton pack matching a six-speedEaton-Fuller robotic gearbox with inverter,a water cooled EDRIVE (44/65 KW) electricmotor and MGL lithium-ion batteries. Tri-axleIrizar hybrids will have a Cummins 8.9L 370hpunit, ZF automatic six-speed transition gearboxand Irizar group developed batteries andhybridisation packages. The two hybrids shownwere a 13m i4h with 55 seats and a 12.75mi3h low entry with 45 seats. Figures fromvehicles in service suggest a 21% fuel saving.

Remarkably, the 12m i2e full electriccity bus with 29 seats, 47 standees and376kWh sodium nickel chloride batteries,was the least innovative (in terms ofnewness) of all the exhibits havingalready been around for several years.

www.busandcoachbuyer.com \ @bus_coachbuyer 02 June 2017 \ Bus&Coach Buyer \ 17

Exhibition

Sunsundegui’s SC5 has a new door arrangement. Sunsundegui has now applied the grille style of the SC range to the SB3.

Sister company, Masats, producers of doorsystems, ramps and lifts and one of a growingnumber of component suppliers within theIrizar group, was celebrating 50 years inbusiness at the show.

SunsundeguiAlthough there were no completely newproducts on the prominent Sunsundeguistand, there were upgrades to existing modelsand other items of interest with five vehiclesexhibited. Greeting visitors when they enteredhall nine was a high-spec Sunsundegui SC7bodied Volvo B11R 6x2 chassis destined for thefootball club Malaga FC, but the main changeswere to the SC5 and SB3 models which havehad their features upgraded to bring them morein line with the SC7.

As Technical Director, Felix Aramendia,explained, they both have new central ceilingpanels that make access to components easieras well as new dash arrangements and, forthe SB3 a three slatted metal strip grille. TheSC5 gains the more easily maintained electricdoor from Masats fitted on the SC7 in placeof the previous pneumatic one, leaving onlythe luggage flaps and some minor functionspneumatically controlled. The door window andthe area around the lock are also altered. Thereis a new air conditioning system with a separatezone for the driver and a new command centre

with seven inch screen to control many ofthe body functions. On top of this, the SC5srefrigerator has been repositioned to the rightof the doorway (on left hand drive coaches) toimprove accessibility to the entrance.

A 13m two-axle Volvo B11R ER430 chassiswith Sunsundegui SC5 coachwork featuring 59Sege seats and a Hidral wheelchair lift causeda degree of confusion because a number ofpeople saw the name Bogas Bus on the sideand assumed it was a biogas powered vehicle.

Sales Manager, Alex Irizar, whomany UK operators will know well, isto retire in June after a long career inthe industry. We wish him well.

UnviAlready in production with orders from severalcustomers is a new full electric open top doubledeck bus, one of which was apparently outsidethe halls though I confess I didn’t see it. Onthe stand was the new SIL Class 2 intercitydouble decker on an MAN RR4 tri-axle chassis.According to the brochure it is available in13m, 14m and 15m lengths, heights between3.99m and 4.2m and on two or three axles

(though two seems unlikely). Up to 100 seatsis apparently possible, thought that shown had95 and luggage capacity. The company wouldlike to collaborate with Scania on an open topdecker. It already works with Volvo, MAN andIveco and is about to supply the first Urbisbodied Volvo hybrid deckers to Barcelona.

On the minibus side, there was a newversion of the Compa T coachbuilt body onthe 4750mm wheelbase Iveco Daily that offers29 seats and a four cubic metre boot ratherthan the usual capacity of up to 34 seats. Anaccessible version with double rear doors takeseight wheelchairs. On the Sprinter/Crafter basedVega XL a new rear shelf/bulkhead arrangementenables the driver to reconfigure the vehicle toreduce the seating capacity and increase theluggage space. Also new was the Daily 50Cbased Vendal minibus for up to 23 passengerswith panoramic windows, a lowered luggagecompartment and enhanced interior.

BeulasThere were no innovations on the Beulas standwhere the display highlighted the wide range ofchassis options it offers in Spain as well as itsown extensive variety of model options. Exhibitswere a 12.9m Volvo B11R Aura with 59 seats; a13.9m VDL SBR based Glory with 56 seats anda double courier seat, a 12.9m MAN RR2 Aurawith 59 seats and a 14.6m double deck Jewel

Left: Unvi’s new MAN mounted SIL intercity doubledeck.

Right: Beulas Glory on VDL chassis.


Exhibition

CaetanoBus eCityGold.

Castrosua new City Scania CNG bus.

Beneath the hatch on the Ayats electric open topper.

on an MAN RR4 26.460 with 89 seats. Versionsof the Jewel can be offered with less seats andup to 15 cubic metres of luggage capacity.

Not exhibited but still offered arethe Gianino/Stela on the MAN N14/N15 chassis at 7.5m, 8.3m, 9.0m and9.5m and the superhigh Mythos.

AyatsAyats showed three vehicles on a longthin stand fronted by two Scania mountedcoaches. The single deck high floor Kronoshas a stainless steel structure that can beup to 3.80m high, up to 15m long and carryup to 71 passengers. The Eclipse doubledecker, like the Kronos, can be mounted ona number of commercial chassis or Ayats’own and can be up to 15m and seat up to100. When mounted on a Scania, it usuallyhas the 480hp engine. The Eclipse on MANand Scania chassis is the first Ayats’ productto be available in the UK following thebrand’s relaunch by Ayats UK Coach Sales

At the rear of the stand was a very differentEclipse based double decker, a fully electricopen topper prototype using Actia equipmentthat is scheduled to begin trials in Barcelonain July. It has three packs of Nickel ManganeseCobalt (NMC) batteries, all mounted at theoffside rear, with a capacity of 300kWh. Theseare charged overnight and need six hours toreplenish. Consumption estimates are 2.3kWhper km. Range was said to be 150km and theprice around €500,000, though this had not yetbeen finalised.

CaetanoBusThe Salvador Caetano Group is celebrating70 years in the business and initial talk at thelaunch was of the Cobus airside bus which isproduced at its Gaia plant in Portugal. Newelectric versions were launched three yearsago and are now regarded as mature enablingthe next step to be taken, the launch of a newelectric city bus using experience from theCobus and technology from Siemens. GeorgePinto of Caetano commented, ‘Our destinyis 100% electric.’ The e.City Gold is based onthe aluminium structure of the existing CityGold model and will be offered in low floor

and low entry formats in six lengths between9.5m and 12.7m on two axles and two lengthsin articulated form. That shown was a full lowfloor with three doors and an 88 passengercapacity. The synchronous motor has nominalpower of 160kW at 1,500rpm and maximumtorque of 2,500Nm drawing 350A. A paybackperiod of six to eight years and a range of upto 200km is promised with a choice of fast orovernight charging.

Caetano is hoping to succeed in the Spanishmarket with the Itrabus coach body for up to31 passengers on the Iveco Daily, a model italready sells in the UK. An example appearedon the stand.

CastrosuaCastrosua is an important player on the Spanishbus and inter urban market and also offersthe Stellae coach. Representing the New Citycity bus range was a 12m two door vehicle inthe blue of EMT Madrid. Mounted on a ScaniaNUB4x2 GNC gas fuelled chassis, it featuredThermo King X900 air conditioning, a Masatselectric ramp, and Fainsa Metropolis seats for27 passengers plus space for 58 standees. Also

Scania gas powered was a 14.95m two doorMagnus ES+ for ALSA, said to be the first tri-axle intercity gas bus manufactured in Europe.On the KIB 6x2 GNC base it offered 63 Civic V3seats, 29 standees, composite side panels anda Hidral Evo 14 lift at the centre door. Rather adifferent Magnus was a low entry E model ona 12.82m Volvo B8RLE 4x2 diesel chassis forTranvias de Sevilla featuring a rear mountedbike rack. According to the press release, youcan buy a double deck Magnus, but I didn’tnotice this in the small print until I got homeand was unable to quiz them on what I believemay be a translation error. The coach shownwas a three-axle Stellae 71 seater on an MANRR4 chassis. Features included parking sensors,Multiplex electrics and a Hidral wheelchair lift tothe rear of the centre door.

VectiaVectia concentrates on alternative drive systemsincluding hybrids and full electrics, workingwith train builder CAF (who built the Edinburghtrams) to produce an attractive range ofcity buses. Theirs was one of the few pressconferences I didn’t manage to attend and the


Exhibition

Left: Vectia’s Veris.12 Hybrid.

Right: Ferqui’s Nora C Iveco EuroMidi CC100.

press release issued was in Spanish, thougha brochure in English with covers showingLondon’s Embankment completely desertedrevealed that it is ‘committed to developing itsown technologies in critical systems as a keyfeature in delivering a high level of vehiclereliability.’ The 12m Veris.12 Hybrid has anelectric EPS, a 180hp six-cylinder diesel engineand an ultracapacitor based energy storagesystem. The Veris.12 Hybrid+ adds extendedautonomy in electric only mode and a LithiumIon battery energy storage system. The smallerTeris.10 (available in 9.6m and 10.6m lengths)has the Siemens Elfa hybrid drive train and afour-cylinder 160hp diesel unit.

Car-BusCar-Bus produce high quality coachbuiltconversions on Mercedes-Benz chassis as wellas offering the futuristically styled 100% electricWolta 6.0m long minibus in conjunction withRampini of Italy. Rampini are responsible forthe electrics which have a Siemens motor andinverter and Winston Battery LiFePO4 batterieswith a choice of outputs.

A Mercedes-Benz Van Partner, Car-Busshowed a variety of Spica minicoacheson Sprinter bases including an open topPanoramic version with seats in very brightcolours and a low floor variant for city

bus use. For disabled passengers, therewas the Corvis PMR on a 519 for either 22passengers or two and six wheelchairs.

FerquiRepresented in the UK by Connaught PSV,Ferqui showed a new model called theNora, a body for mounting on the IvecoCC100 truck derived front engined chassis..The Nora L shown had 36 recliners anda 6.0cu.m boot, while the Nora C had 31seats and 4.8cu.m of luggage space. I thinkit is very difficult to achieve a stylish lookfor a coach on a truck derived chassisand this is one of the better ones.

Also shown were a Sunrise 28-seat coachbuiltbody on an Iveco Daily 70C18 and a Sunsetconversion of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter withhigh windscreen.

IntegraliaNot offered in the UK to date, Integraliastarted the show with two prominent exhibitsbeneath dustsheets. These were removedduring a press conference to reveal thenew One model in touring and executivelayouts which is additional to, rather than areplacement for the existing range. Based onthe 5.5 tonne Sprinter 519 auto, and retainingfull Mercedes-Benz warranty, the 7.5m longOne has 2+2 seating for 25 passengers inTourist form and 19 or 20 in VIP layout witha flat floor and more luggage space thanexisting models. Interior headroom is 1.93m.

Pamplona based Integralia’s aim is to offer‘more and more intensely personalised vehicles’to meet the needs of its customers. To thisend, every aspect of the interior is exclusive tothe company, including the seats which werespecially developed with Kiel. It currently sellsin France, Spain and Germany working directwithout distributors. Asked about any UKambitions I was told, ‘why not?’ with the provisothat they wouldn’t sell anywhere withoutfirst having aftersales provision in place. Thecoaches shown were the first two completed,requiring continuous three shift working for thefinal week to ensure they appeared in time andthere were signs of this, but by the Busworldshow they will be fully productionised. The firstdeliveries to a Spanish operator will be made inSeptember. I wasn’t entirely convinced by therather angular rear styling but there were a lotof attractive aspects.

IndcarIndcar plans to make itself more efficient andhas taken on the marketing of its own productsin France and Italy. MD Gael Queralt stressedthe company’s proposals to add value forcustomers and mentioned the wide network ofworkshops across Europe, parts warehouses inSpain, Italy and France and the availability ofsubstitution vehicles and extended warranties.

Left: Indcar’s Mobi City Low Entry.

Right: Integralia’s 25 seat One Sprinter.


Exhibition

He launched Indcar’s ‘I love minibus’ campaignand stressed strong links with manufacturerswhich see Indcar recognised by Mercedes-Benzas a Van Partner and by Iveco’s Busmastersscheme with certification of the plants in bothSpain and Romania. It produces the Wing,Mago and Next in Arbucies and the Strada andMobi at Brasov. 75% of production, which was475 units in 2016, is sold outside Spain.

Launched earlier this year was the Mobi CityLow Entry, an 8.55m city bus for 18 seated and11 standing passengers with low floor areasat the front and rear. This was mounted on anIveco Daily 70C18.

In the UK, the associated Moseley companiessell the Next range on the Atego chassis. Themost recent version launched was the NextL7 in 2016, shown in Madrid as a 27 seaterwith 4.3cu.m of luggage capacity on the Atego1024L. Larger 9.39m Next L9s with 37 seatswere shown on the Atego 1224L and the MANN14 chassis. On the IvecoCC100 was a Ferrariinspired 8.9m 30 seat Mago2 F1 for a Modenacompany. Future plans include an electricversion of the open top Mago Cabrio. Alsoshown were a 28 seat Wing on the Iveco Daily70C18 and a 19 seat Strada on a Sprinter 519.

NogebusNogebus has had its problems but surviveson a smaller scale, still offering a broad coachportfolio. Contrasting with a 6.95m 22 seatSprinter with unusual top supported racksthat the curtains ran behind was a 15m longTitanium with 67 seats on an MAN RR4 26.500chassis with TipMatic gearbox. Also on an MANchassis, but this time a front engined N14 withD0836FLAA unit and ZF 12AS1210 automatedtransmission was a 37 seat Touring H withrear continental door. The fourth exhibit was a13.2m Touring Gold HD 59 seater, again withrear continental door, on a Scania K450 chassiswith GR801R transmission.

VolvoI talked to Stefan Guttmann, Vice PresidentCommercial Development for Volvo Bus andhead of the Spanish market, Jaime Verdu, whotold me that when the Spanish market hadhalved following the 2008 recession, it was the

public transport sector that had fared the worst.Despite this Volvo had started to move into citymarkets with its hybrid designs, successfullyselling small numbers into important city fleets.It was now on the tender lists and had beenquite successful in the city segment selling over200 hybrids, which was as many as in Sweden,making it the market leader locally. A 7900Electric hybrid for Sales Lentz appeared on thestand, complete with recharging gantry.

They revealed that Volvo is now offeringa left hand drive version of the B5LH hybriddouble deck in Spain with eight Unvi bodied12m open toppers scheduled for delivery toBarcelona before the end of the year. It hopesto offer the same concept in other cities.

In the coach market Volvo had supplied290 units in a total market of 1,294. Onlythe products of Irizar, Sunsundegui, Beulas,Castrosua and Unvi are homologated for salelocally, none of them directly by Volvo whichonly sells the chassis.

New on the stand for Spain was a steelframed Volvo 8600 which had been built at the

plant in Bangalore, India. Though it employsa B8R chassis it is supplied as an integral withdoors from Masats, air conditioning fromCarrier and Turkish built Kiel seats. It is abudget bus for school type work and will onlybe offered in France and Spain. The showmodel offered 55 fixed and two folding seatsthough it has a four place podium that canbe removed to make space for a further twodouble seats. Prices start at €180,000 and thespecification can be enhanced from single todouble glazing and from the I-shift box to a ZFfull automatic.

IvecoBusThe big news for Iveco was the Daily Touryswinning the first ever Minibus of the Year titleawarded by the International Bus & Coach ofthe Year Jury following the hotly contestedMinibus Euro Test staged in Madrid last month

Winner of the first Minibus of the year competition,Iveco’s Daily Tourys.

Left: Noge Touring Gold HD Scania K450.

Right: Volvo 8600.


Exhibition

Daimler’s Bus ofthe Future.

which attracted seven candidates. The Tourys,which is available in the UK, features up to 19Kiel Touristic three point belted recliners onpodium mounted rails, a 2.5 cu.m rear luggagecompartment, LED lights, a multimedia system,USB ports, LCD monitor and air conditioning.It has a 180hp three-litre diesel engine and theHi-Matic eight-speed automatic gearbox, as wellas Telma retarder, rear air suspension and R66rollover compliance.

Daily takes over 30% of the Spanish marketand on the stand, in addition to the Tourys, itwas shown with coachwork by Unvi, Indcarand Ferqui. Also from Ferqui was an exampleof its new Nora body on the EuroMidi CC100.Further exhibits were a Crossway Line and aMagelys coach but the biggest attention waspaid to a model making its debut in Spain, thelatest version of the Evadys. This is powered bythe Cursor 9 400hp engine which is SCR only.It is available in 12m and 13m length optionsfor a capacity of up to 63 seats and a maximumluggage capacity of up to 12cu.m.

Daimler BusDaimler’s presence was a considerable onereflecting the 26.1% share of the Spanishmarket the company enjoys. Setra vehicles linedup in echelon along one side of the stand andMercedes-Benz along the other, with the locallybuilt OC500 RF2546 chassis displayed unbodiedat the front. Representing Setra were the new14.6m S418 UL Business, the TopClass S516HDH,and the smallest and biggest members of theComfort Class family – the 14.95m tri-axleS519HD with seats for 58 and the 10.465mS511HD 30 seater. A lower floor S516MD wasoutside with other demonstrators, some ofwhich were available for test drives.

If I say there was nothing new fromMercedes-Benz it is a bit harsh because oneof the exhibits was The Bus of the Future, thefully autonomously driveable city bus withfuturistic exterior and interior styling that webrought you a full report on last year. Alsopresent were a Citaro NGT natural gas bus,a 12.9m Tourismo 16RHD/2 two-axle coachwith OM470 394hp engine and 55 TSE Luxlineseats, and a 7.7m Sprinter City 65 city minibus.The OC500 can be supplied at up to 15mlong with the OM470 unit rated at 455hp oroptionally 428hp and in Spain comes withthe automated Powershift transmission.

MANRestating its eMobility plans, MAN confirmedit would launch a pre-series battery electricbus and introduce a demonstration fleet in2018, with series production of a full batteryelectric bus planned for late 2019. These willbe modular 12m and 18m models. Innovationpartnerships have already been agreed inWolfsburg, Munich and Hannover and anadditional one has now been signed withVoyages Emile Weber in Luxemburg. It aimsto produce a bus that charges overnight and

has a range of 200km, although it points outthat features such as air conditioning can have‘considerable influence’ on this. On the standwas an articulated Lions City showing whereMAN is on eMobility.

New was a 13.254m long two-axle versionof the InterCity model with 63 seats and theD0836.LOH80 290hp engine with a choiceof manual and automatic transmissions. Forchassis customers the latest Euro6C engines areavailable with 420hp, 460hp and 500hp offeringan additional 200Nm of torque at each ratingwith no increase in engine speed. The TipMaticgearbox is now linked to predictive GPS.Completing the display was a 12.2m NeoplanTourliner to the latest specification. Apparentlythis is the first time Tourliner has been offeredin Spain, though both Cityliner and Starlinerhave previously been offered.

ScaniaThere was nothing not seen before in termsof the Scania content on the Scania stand.Displayed were: a 55-seat Scania Touring coachwith 410hp DC13 engine; a Scania CitywideLE hybrid bus incorporating a 320hp nine-litre engine; a 14m Irizar i6S 59-seat intercitycoach on a K450EB6x2*4 chassis; a 12m ScaniaN250 UB 4x2 with Castrosua New City lowfloor bus body; and an unbodied Scania K450EX6x2*4 chassis with DC13-147_450 engine and12-speed Scania transmission with Opticruise

Nine-litre gas and 11-litre diesel engineunits, a GRSO895R gearbox with Opticruiseand a display showing Scania’s exhaust after-treatment system were also shown.

SolarisGeneral director of Solaris Iberica, Anna Lopez,said that, ‘All customers that put their trust inus are brave because we are a new brand,’ andwhilst that is true because Solaris has only beenselling in Spain for two years, it is also truethat it now has in excess of 15,000 buses onthe road and around 200 of these are in Spain,where 18 hybrids will be delivered to TMBBarcelona in September.

Both of the vehicles shown were 12mUrbino 12s, one the Urbino 12 Electric that

won the International Bus of the Year 2017 titleand the other an Urbino 12 CNG with CumminsISLG 320hp engine, a Voith Diwa6 automatic boxand revised longitudinally mounted gas tanksenabling the height to be lowered. Followingthe Solaris appearance at last year’s Bus EuroTest in Brussels, the Belgian SRWT concernhas placed an order for 208 Urbino 12 hybridswhich is the biggest order yet placed for Solarishybrids. With this and other orders including athree year contract for 300 Interurbinos for Italy,Solaris is on course to set a new productionrecord of around 1,400 units this year.

King LongFour Cummins engined coaches were shown byKing Long, the smallest of which was the 9m longC9 with 320hp ISB6.7unit and 35 seats. A similarlypowered 9.9m C10 seated 39 and the 12.2m C12had the ISL9e rated at 400hp unit and seated 55.Completing the line up was a 12.2m long, 3.3mhigh U12 model with double centre door and liftthat was certified for 55 seated and 20 standingpassengers. It had a 380hp ISL9e engine.

TemsaWill we see it in the UK or won’t we? I don’tknow yet but alongside Temsa’s HD12 coach,already popular in the UK as the HD12 Safari,was an example of the attractive Maraton coach.I am told that another possibility for the UKmarket, though no decision has yet been taken,is a lower height 13m version of the Safari ontwo axles that would offer enhanced capacity.

Also shown was the front engined MD7minicoach which I understand is unlikely to cometo the UK.

OtokarRight hand drive product news is that Malta is totake an additional 28 fully low floor Kent 12m busesfollowing a previous order for 33. The new busesare for a service between the airport and Valetta(10) and for routes to the east of the city (18). Thiswill take the number of Otokars in Malta over 200.There have now been 16 Navigo Ts registered inthe UK (13) and Ireland (three) against an originalanticipation of ten in the first year which leadsOtokar to feel that the 37 seat model


Exhibition

MMAANN’’ss eeMMoobbiilliittyyLLiioonn’’ss CCiittyy aarrttiicc..

SSccaanniiaa wwaassoonnee ooff tthhoosseesshhoowwiinngg aannuunnbbooddiieeddcchhaassssiiss..

has been accepted.In Spain, where the business is currently

focused on retail coach sales of the Vectio T andNavigo T models, the current Otokar parc isaround 350 vehicles. A new Vectio TH certifiedto R66.02 rollover regulations and equippedwith a Braun wheelchair lift was displayed. Itis destined for ALSA. Also shown was a TerritoU intercity and a 7.7m Navigo T. The companynow aims to go further and increase bus salesand has started participating in tenders. On thestand was a 10.8m version of the Kent for ALSAwhich takes their Kent fleet into double figures.

Auto CubyKnown for some very creative conversions, thisyear’s eye-catcher was a superhigh 5.5 tonneSprinter 519 marketed as the Cuby Tourist LineHD. Certifiable with up to 19 passenger seats,it has a raised floor and extensive underfloorluggage space including a coach rear end.

CentoTransA Romanian company that imports to the UKthrough Jonathan Vamplew, an operator/dealerbased in Llanfair Caereinion, is CentoTranswhose main activity is transport provision.The manufacturer arm has been trading sinceNovember 2012 and builds on Mercedes BenzSprinters in a 3,000sqm factory, producing 400vehicles to date of which 90 were exported.Products range from 8+1 seats to 22+1+1 on anextended 519. All vehicles sold in the UK havebeen long 519s with another currently goingthrough the build process.

Bus PrestigeBus Prestige, which was promoting itsrecognition as a Mercedes-Benz Van Partner,showed Exclusive and Tourist conversions ofthe Sprinter 519, both of which retained theirdouble rear doors and offered 19 seats.

HeritageA welcome adjunct to the show was a displayof historic vehicles along one side of a hall.Among Spanish brands such as Hispano Suizaand Pegaso, was a splendid bonneted LeylandComet with coachwork built in Valencia byXativa in 1949.

Last wordThe Madrid Show is a well organised eventand always a pleasure to attend. Open forlonger hours and over more days than theBirmingham events we are accustomed to,

it is a more relaxed affair with wide aisles,generally spacious stands and plenty oflocal ham and tortilla to graze upon. Themodern facilities are located only a shorttaxi or subway ride from the airport.

Though undoubtedly worthy of InternationalShow status, there are manufacturers wewill see at Kortrijk in October who were notpresent in Madrid, among them VDL, Van Hooland any of the British contingent, with onlyKing Long of the many Chinese contendersin attendance. I find attendances difficult tojudge because though there never seem tobe huge numbers of public visitors, crowdsgather for the various set-piece events. Forthe press, the facilities and support areexcellent though you do get ushered fromone press conference to another for muchof the first day, with some presentationsgreatly more worthwhile than others.

KKiinngg LLoonngg’’ss ddiissppllaayy..

OOttookkaarr’’ss 1100..55mm KKeennttllooww fflloooorr ffoorr AAllssaa..

TTeemmssaa MMaarraattoonn..

exhibition fiaamadridreview - telma

Documents