Bucharest to take delivery of 400 buses split between this year and next
ROMANIA Otokar Europe SAS has been awarded a contract by Bucharest Municipality to deliver 400 buses worth €98.3m – Turkey’s biggest bus export deal. The Turkish manufacturer currently exports buses to more than 45 countries. Its Kent C city bus is built in 10, 12 and 18m lengths and can carry up to 164 passengers. A 300hp Cummins ISB6.7E6 engine driving through a Voith automatic transmission powers the 10m and 12m versions, while the articulated bus has a 369hp DAF MX11 engine coupled to a ZF EcoLife automatic gearbox.
Serdar Görgüç, Otokar General Manager, underlined his company’s 55-year long experience and expertise in mass transportation vehicles. “It is our great pride that our buses are preferred in a high quantity contract in Europe,” he said. “With this contract we have also broken our own record for bus exports. In addition to offering new generation inner city buses with lengths ranging from 10m to 18m to the people of Bucharest, we will also provide aftersales services for eight years to Bucharest Municipality.”
Stating that the city will acquire one of the best fleets in Europe as a result of the transformation activities launched to meet the increasing mass transportation needs of the metropolis, Gabriela Firea, Bucharest Mayor, added that delivery of the first 100 buses is planned for this summer and the remaining 300 for next year to hit the roads of the Romanian capita.
In 2017, Otokar’s total vehicle park rose to 2,500 levels in key target export markets, namely France, Italy and Spain, and 500 levels in the Balkans. The 18m Kent articulated bus was exported to Italy, Serbia and Spain in 2017. Otokar also continues to work on alternative-fuelled buses, and has already designed Turkey’s first hybrid bus and first electric bus.
