Winner of Mini Bus of the Year 2023 announced

At a special ceremony during the FIAA International Bus & Coach Show in Madrid, Spanish manufacturer car-bus was presented with the coveted Mini-Bus of the Year 2023 Award. The car-bus Shaula, a 24 seater luxury bus which is built on a Mercedes-Benz chassis, impressed the International Bus of the Year (IBOY) jury with its original design and attention to detail. Jury chairman Tom Terjesen said that car-bus had presented a very impressive vehicle that would be popular with passengers, drivers and operators. Accepting the trophy, the Commercial Director of car-bus, Jordi Monferrer Munoz said he was delighted to accept the award on behalf of all his team. ”This bus came out of Covid-19, we used the time to finish the design and get it ready for the market,” he said.

On the weekend before the show the IBOY Jury organised a group test session and hosted presentations by the three nominated manufacturers before selecting an overall winner. A driving route on the outskirts of the city, around a hilly area near the town of Paracueiios del Jarama overlooking Madrid Airport was part of the test. The event was organised by Spanish Bus Magazine Autobises & Autocares, in association with FIAA (show organiser) and IFEMA (venue owner).

ISUZU has redesigned this bus giving it a futuristic look. Presented with 35 seats, it is more coach like, with two entry doors while it is also designed to have a wheelchair lift, a feature which was fitted on this vehicle. The lift carries a penalty of three seats and some luggage space in the back.

Driving the bus is a pleasant experience, and the new dash cluster is easy to see and read. Although there is an adjustable steering, the movement is limited enough. Mirrors on the passenger side are well positioned, however they are not as good on the driver’s side. Switches are close at hand and there is plenty of storage space for the driver. The Grand Toro is powered by a Cummins diesel (206hp) and uses an Allison gearbox, with an option to have a ZF 6-speed gearbox. Air suspension is not standard, but available. Passengers will like the wide entrance up front and in the middle, allowing for speedy ingress and egress. Priced in the region of €140,000, the Grand Toro is ideal for urban or tourist transfers.

A product of the pandemic is the way car-bus introduced this bus. Impressively there are already 110 of these newly designed units in service already. Although built on a MercedesBenz chassis and platform, it is marketed and sold as a car-bus product. car-bus offers a 2-year warranty on the driveline and 10 years on the bodywork.

The Shaula is available in six variants, and this test vehicle had 24 seats and was built with a facility to add a wheelchair lift. The entrance areas is wide and uncluttered, and the driving area is also spacious with all controls close at hand. However, there was some criticism of the size of the A-pillar and the blind spot it creates. It requires extra vigilance from the driver, not least that because of the design, it is difficult to improve the mirror frame position. When designing the bus, car-bus engineers tried to make the vehicle look slick and slim, and while adding some extra width, they managed largely to achieve this. Fitted with the Sprinter 519 diesel engine and automatic transmission, it’s a unit that is possibly a little underpowered for the vehicle’s size. Priced at €130,000, there are over 2,000 similar buses on the road throughout Europe. to everybody’s tastes, but these can be tailor-made for any customer. A good example of the type of innovative changes made is the moving of the spare wheel from the rear to the side, giving extra luggage space. Clever designing of the rear seats allows them to fold down and be used as a luggage area if required.

Romanian company Aveuro International started in business as an operator. By bringing the experience of its transport company to mini-bus operations, the Aveuro was created. Using the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 517, the body has been extended behind the rear wheel arch by 40cm. In general this space provides some extra leg room, however, in some applications it allows for extra seating to be added. Working with MercedesBenz approval, Aveuro offers up to 100 different variants. Warranty is covered by the Mercedes-Benz dealer network on the driveline and the coachbuilder provides warranty cover for the other parts.

This bus has some nice internal touches and the test vehicle featured some original internal designs, maybe not

One of the disappointing aspects from a driving point of view was the manual gear change. Thankfully it is available with automatic option. At the front the regular door is electrified, allowing the driver to open and close the door. Most impressive however, is the overall cost, €65,000 to €70,000, depending on spec, and it is sure to be a popular seller. RHD versions will be on sale in the near future.

Since 2015, Tranzaura, the Limerick-headquartered SaaS company, has successfully worked with London bus market operators to enable them to maximise efficiencies in the daily running of their fleets. Seven years on, 55 percent of the London Red Bus market uses the Tranzaura App instead of paper for unplanned maintenance.

Around 3.4 million individual items are now inspected every 30 days in London (113,000 everyday) by bus drivers using an intuitive App from Tranzaura. This ensures a thorough safety check to pre-determined standards is done by walking around the vehicle, while recording items on a smart phone with a digital audit trail. Benefits include improved vehicle reliability, real time defect reporting, and improved communications between drivers and engineers.

The obvious starting point on the digital transformation journey for the bus sector was to digitize the pre-use inspection process and get in control of unplanned maintenance, in a way that engages the end users and reduces defect reporting times. However, with that having now been largely achieved, Tranzaura is not stopping there. The fast moving company has moved on to solving the next challenge for the industry – centrally managing planned and unplanned maintenance on one integrated digital platform.

Tranzaura, with its extensive experience and understanding of how