At this year’s Busworld Awards, ten awards were given to the best vehicles at the show, as decided by a team of judges. The highest Grand Award for buses went to the hydrogen-powered Van Hool Exqui.City 18, whilst the Grand Award for a coach went to the Volvo 9900. The jury ranked the VDL Futura FHD2-135 and the Van Hool EX11H second and third.
The jury praised the safety features of the Exqui.City 18 FC, including the completely separated driver’s desk with centrally-located controls, the excellent visibility for the driver and the multitude of cameras covering the entire external area of the bus. In addition, the bus was awarded the bus Ecology Label for its greater autonomy in comparison with electric vehicles.
Volvo’s 9900 won through good scores on design, maintenance, ride quality, comfort and acceleration and was also highly praised for safety, which gained it the Safety Award once again.
The Comfort Label for a bus was awarded to the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro for its highly ergonomic approach to the driver’s desk, the space, the accessibility of everything, the display and the equipment.
The Yutong U12 was awarded the bus Design Label thanks to its European level of design, as well as its high score on aesthetics inside and out.
The MAN Lion’s City 12G was praised due to its extensive passive safety features for the driver, the newcomer receiving the Safety Label for buses.
The coach Comfort Award went to the double-decker Setra S531 DT and Van Hool EX11. Both performed well on vehicle ergonomics, driver ergonomics, touring guide comfort, media and passenger comfort.
The coach Design Award went to the Chinese manufacturer Yutong for its GT13, with the manufacturer also taking the coach Ecology Award for its ICe12. Yutong uses many recyclable materials in the interior. It was also the only electric vehicle in the coach category making it perform much better in terms of emissions than the other vehicles.
ZF picked up an Innovation Award for its CeTrax electric central drive. The system emerged victorious in the category for individual components and peripherals.
