After four years it is taking place again: Busworld in Brussels. At the trade fair, MAN Truck & Bus is presenting innovative vehicles from the MAN and NEOPLAN brands as well as smart services – and thus the latest portfolio of efficient and sustainable solutions. Highlights include the MAN Lion’s City 12 E LE and the MAN Lion’s Intercity LE 14, which will celebrate their world premieres at the MAN stand in Hall 4, as well as buses with a new electronic platform. From model year 2024, this will bring a new digital cockpit, enable numerous assistance systems and thus offer more comfort, safety and efficiency.
The mobility of tomorrow should be one thing above all: sustainable, connected and autonomous. Public transport, and buses in particular, make an important contribution to meeting people’s changing mobility needs. In order to take into account the increasing traffic volumes, to relieve cities and to support bus companies in the best possible way, innovative and future-proof vehicles and services are needed – for urban, intercity and long-distance transport. With its MAN and NEOPLAN brands, MAN Truck & Bus already offers suitable solutions for a wide range of applications. A selection of these can be seen at the Busworld Europe 2023 trade fair in Brussels from 7 to 12 October. Visitors can expect to see a total of five innovative buses on the MAN stand in Hall 4 – including two world premieres. “The vehicles and numerous innovations in equipment and technology as well as modern services clearly show that MAN is consistently and successfully following the path towards sustainable, automated and digitalised transport,” says Barbaros Oktay, Head of Bus at MAN Truck & Bus.
MAN Lion’s City 10 E: Impresses with compact dimensions, sustainability and impressive performance
In public transport in particular, sustainable solutions are more in demand than ever. Together with partners and customers, MAN is therefore driving sustainable mobility forward and is committed to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. By 2050 at the latest, the company wants to become greenhouse gas neutral in terms of its balance sheet. “We at MAN are convinced that the future belongs to emission-free vehicles. That’s why we are consistently pursuing the path towards sustainable public transport and are fully committed to electric drive – and our MAN Lion’s City E,” says Oktay and adds: “The sales figures show how well this is being received. The 1,000th eBus recently rolled off the production line.” Fittingly, MAN is showing the Lion’s City 10 E, the latest model in the MAN electric bus family, at Busworld. The midibus version with a length of 10.5 metres has been in production at MAN’s Polish city bus plant in Starachowice since the beginning of 2023. Among other things, the compact size of the all-electric city bus will attract attention. This is because it can play to its strengths especially in the increasing use of customer-oriented “on-demand” services and as an amplifier at high-frequency times as well as a manoeuvrable city centre shuttle. After all, the city bus has a similar passenger capacity to many 12-metre solo buses, but requires significantly less traffic space in narrow city centres and depots and is much more manoeuvrable. The exhibit on the Busworld stand also impresses with an individual rear lounge and thus offers the right solution for comfortable and at the same time sustainable shuttle needs. The fact that the MAN Lion’s City 10 E with its record-breaking turning circle and compact dimensions is also an ideal solution for demanding routes was recently proven by a practical test through alpine terrain in the South Tyrolean Dolomites. On the 531 km tour, the eBus covered over 10,000 metres in altitude and consumed an average of 0.77 kWh per kilometre. The Lion’s City E achieved these top values in terms of efficiency thanks to innovative technology and a remarkable recuperation rate of over 50 percent.
MAN Lion’s City 12 E LE: Electric low-entry version celebrates premiere
The Lion’s City 12 E LE will celebrate its world premiere at Busworld 2023. The first electric MAN low-entry bus will be launched this year. It is based on the award-winning electric 12-metre solo bus with central drive and modular batteries, but ensures a particularly high level of seating comfort with the floor landscape adapted to customer feedback. With up to 41 passenger seats plus special use space for wheelchairs and prams and an engine tower-free rear landscape in low-entry design, the Lion’s City 12 E LE is perfect for suburban lines with Class 1 approval. “In particular, the fact that the seats in the rear of the vehicle are all facing in the direction of travel ensures that passengers are comfortable even on longer journeys,” says Heinz Kiess, Head of Bus Product Marketing at MAN Truck & Bus.
MAN Lion’s Intercity LE 14: low-entry series now on three axles
World premiere number 2: Visitors to Busworld can expect to see another new vehicle on the MAN stand, the Lion’s Intercity LE 14. The three-axle vehicle with significantly more capacity completes MAN’s successful low-entry series. This means that the Lion’s Intercity LE is now available in three sizes – a cost-effective and modern entry-level model for intercity and urban transport that offers bus operators maximum flexibility. With its length of 14.43 metres, the new Lion’s Intercity LE 14 is one of the shortest vehicles in the popular three-axle bus market. And yet it offers space for up to 63 seats and a maximum of 127 passengers. Thanks to the steered and relievable trailing axle, it has a compact turning circle of 23.8 metres. Optionally, the bus is available with a third door at the rear – this is the variant it will be presented in at Busworld. There is also a choice of two versions of the ultra-modern digital cockpit. In addition, there is comprehensive safety equipment that is second to none and will be introduced in all MAN buses in model year 2024 on the basis of a new electronics platform. The Lion’s Intercity LE 14 will also be equipped with the proven MAN EfficientHybrid drive with market-leading automatic stop-start system for all engines.
MAN Lion’s Coach: more comfortable, safer and more efficient
Another eye-catcher on the stand is the MAN Lion’s Coach. Numerous top teams in competitive sport travel comfortably and safely with this successful model among coaches. Visitors to the fair will experience a Lion’s Coach with a length of 12 metres and 44 seats. The coach also features a wide range of innovations for the 2024 model year: from next year, for example, the vehicles will be based on a completely newly developed electronics platform, which will entail the introduction of a new digital driver’s workplace. This can be seen for the first time at Busworld. The new cockpits with the innovative SmartSelect operating system meet the highest ergonomic standards and can be operated intuitively, which significantly relieves the drivers. The electronics platform also enables numerous new assistance and safety systems – including radar-based turn-off assistance and lane change assistance as well as lane departure warning and lane departure warning. The Lion’s Coach is powered by the new MAN D26 coach engine in Euro 6e exhaust quality, which is particularly economical: despite an increase of ten hp and around 50 Newton metres more torque at peak, the highly developed 12.4-litre unit now consumes up to 2.5 percent less fuel overall. Another innovation is the further developed topographical gearshift programme EfficientCruise 3, which is optionally available for coaches of the MAN and NEOPLAN brands.
MAN TGE Coach: Made for small travel groups
The MAN portfolio at the stand is rounded off by a MAN TGE Coach. The 7.4-metre-long vehicle impresses with its size, its low consumption values – especially on the motorway – and its performance. With 177 hp (130 kW) and a rich maximum torque of 410 Newton metres, the journey can even take in challenging terrain – and that for up to 16 passengers. This is because the exclusive minibus can be equipped with 16 seats in various configurations, making it perfect for small travel groups and shuttle services. The ergonomically designed driver’s workplace in combination with the numerous safety assistance systems ensures that driver and passengers reach their destination as relaxed as possible.
NEOPLAN Skyliner and Cityliner in the outdoor area
In the outdoor area – in the immediate vicinity of the MAN exhibition stand in Hall 4 – visitors can expect to see two NEOPLAN Skyliners, one of which has an exclusive bistro concept, and a NEOPLAN Cityliner “Diamond Edition”. In addition, a MAN Lion’s City 10 E, a MAN Lion’s City 12 E – both equipped with MAN OptiView – a NEOPLAN Tourliner and a MAN TGE Coach will be available for test drives together with the experts from MAN ProfiDrive®.
Smart solutions: MAN Transport Solutions and MAN DigitalServices
Visitors to Busworld can experience the buses live on the MAN stand and also find out about MAN’s extensive services. One focus is on electric mobility: in addition to future-proof vehicles, MAN offers a holistic eMobility package and all-round advice for customers switching to eMobility. This involves looking at the entire process of the changeover with a 360° analysis. The aim is to ensure that the switch to electromobility is successful and involves as little effort as possible for the operators. In total, the MAN team has already successfully completed more than 250 projects in 19 European countries in the truck, bus and van sectors, building up an enormous amount of know-how in the process. But MAN also supports customers with expertise and digital tools after the acquisition of buses. MAN DigitalServices are designed to help simplify processes, optimise the efficiency of the entire fleet, save operating costs and increase sustainability. True to the motto “Simplifying Business”, the customers’ business is to be simplified as much as possible. In order to achieve this, the digital portfolio of services is being continuously expanded. Customers also have the opportunity to test MAN DigitalServices for three months free of charge. The trial offer can be used once per new and existing customer; the free trial period ends automatically and does not need to be cancelled.
SOURCE: MAN Truck & Bus
