Nigeria’s domestic and cross-border passengers, transporter operators, corporate fllet owners and commuters are in for comfortable and stress-free travelling experience and good returns on their investment with the presentation of the latest Yutong range of commercial passenger buses on the roads.
This follows the recent premiere and public presentation of Yutong range of commercial buses which Kojo Motors Limited, sole franchise owners and assemblers of the brand say is suitable for use by transport operators, corporate fleet operators, schools, churches and other blue chip organisations.
Yutong’s luxury bus model range public reveal which comes in diverse configurations, also witnessed the presentation of awards to Kojo customers and localisation of the world premiere of the Yutong 14 meter long luxury bus that has been fortified with Mercedes-Benz powertrain, double rear axle.
These buses which have been customised for the African region and presented to an enthusiastic audience that defied the early morning rain to gather at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagosa according to Chinedu Oguegbu, executive director, Kojo Motors Limited also has the new 14 meters long commercial bus leading other Yutong super luxury model on display which is being launched for the first time is positioned to benchmark any competitor in the segment.
Apart from the 14 meter T139HDH premiere during the day, some of the Yutong range of buses on display during the day includes the 7 meter, 25 seater city bus ZK6729D and DG city bus versions that comes with more space and the ZK6858h, 33 and 35 seats upgraded coaches respectively.
The advantage of some of the buses is that it fits perfectly into the BRT lanes in some of the mega cities like Lagos. The 7 meters bus version is good for schools and church logistics needs and shuttles. There is also the 8 meter bus models which in terms of seating capacity is about half of the 14 meters bus range that carry’s 33 passengers with luggage compartment.
The Kojo executive director disclosed that, both the 14 meter high capacity luxury passenger bus and other model line-up comes equipped with more re-enforced tonnage to carry more of customers and traders luggage who would want to go back the same day.
It is also strengthened with double rear axle which are are the critical key requirement for the local market considering the bad conditions of the Nigerian roads.
According to him, rather than taking a high capacity bus, operators have the choice of buying the small and medium range buses in case, there are fewer passengers and luggage to carry especially for interstate shorter distances like Benin and Onitsha.
The executive director said that the buses can travel up to 1000 kilometers without any breakdown, even as passenger has the opportunity to travel in safety and comfort with all the facilities for entertainment and powerful air-conditioning system. They are very durable and designed for Nigerian roads.
Among the unique selling points of the new Yutong buses is the durability which places the Chinese bus maker as among the top manufacturers in the world that does not compromise in spending huge resources in the development of their buses in terms of craftsmanship and engineering proficiency.
Yutong is no longer competing in the Chinese market; rather, they are at par with other established European brands.
In terms of interpretation of the latest technology such as artificial intelligence into the brand, Chinedu Oguegbu maintained that, some of buses is equipped with drive recorders some of which have cameras and other additional features which the both the transport companies and the travelling are beginning to embrace as a preferred bus brand of the future.
He expressed the view that what has been hindering an efficient and effective commercial bus transport system where the operations of the company are still done manually with leakages is the lack of adoption of road technology.
The absence of technology he regretted leads to loss of time and revenue, the industry stands to lose and commuters lack the confidence of traveling safely.
Apart from the Yutong Mercedes-Benz power-train which Kojo Motors does not assemble presently, the company said it is currently assembling other models in the country and plans to increase the number of buses it is currently assembling once the demand for the models increases.
MIKE OCHONMA
