FRANCE
Iveco Bus is launching a full-electric version of its Crossway Low Entry model, and mild hybrid options on its Urbanway, Crealis and Crossway Low Entry range, as well as looking at what the future might hold in a design study.
For the Crossway, the mild hybrid solution, which will be available for delivery in 2022, will also be available in combination with a CNG engine. At a press event held in Milan and hosted by Stéphane Espinasse, Iveco Bus Brand Leader, Iveco’s President (Bus Business Unit) Domenica Nucera said: “We are moving towards a new business model: from selling a product to selling a service. The key to achieve this shift is a well organised flow of information. Connectivity and digitalisation are key today.”
Stéphane added: “Sustainability is the main trend in the transportation industry and will remain so in the foreseeable future. The entry into force of the clean vehicle directive and the low emission zones issues in many cities mean that operators need affordable solutions, financially and environmentally. Today Iveco Bus has 8,000 gas vehicles in operations across Europe. The trend toward gas bus deployment in Europe remain strong. In the first half of 2021, 10% of intercity buses sold in Europe were gas-powered. The share grows to 48% in France.”
Meanwhile in a separate design study, Iveco parent company CNH Industrial has worked with the Iveco Bus design team to offer five transport design students the opportunity to work on a futuristic project, Urban Move Ability, focusing on the urban mobility of tomorrow.
The project aimed to imagine future expectations and needs of users that could improve their journeys and their quality of life in a smart city, and help to create an innovative and unique travel experience while respecting the environment. The team undertook an in-depth analysis of the subject aimed at defining the issues, followed by a creative phase to reframe the issues and propose several solutions, and finally developed the selected concept.
The program was overseen by Marco Armigliato, Strategic Design for CNH Industrial and Alexandre Verwilghen, Iveco Bus lead designer on the project.
“Design is in the DNA of all CNH Industrial and Iveco Bus projects to offer vehicles that combine aesthetics and functionality. Design can model volumes, modify architecture, create usage scenarios thus making it possible to offer sustainable transport solutions that enhance and energise cities,” explained David Wilkie, Director of Design for CNH Industrial.
