First coach is for RB Travel; five more stock chassis ordered ahead of anticipated customer demand
BASE Coach Sales has launched an extension of its MOBIpeople Explorer range with a high-capacity variant based on a two-axle Scania K-series chassis.
The 12.5m, 74-seat model is powered by the nine-litre DC09 engine rated at either 320 or 360bhp. Both the eight-speed Opticruise automated manual and ZF EcoLife automatic gearboxes are available. Retail price starts at £195,000.
“The Explorer comes with 9m3 of luggage space and on the Scania chassis it maintains the twin nearside door arrangement, which has become very popular,” says BASE General Manager Nick Dodgson.
The first Scania-based Explorer is for Kettering-based RB Travel. It was displayed at Euro Bus Expo last week. BASE sees potential for conquest sales of the coach as it returns a high-capacity, two-axle offering on Scania chassis to the UK.
“We believe that this will be a desirable product in this sector of the market,” adds Martin West, Scania Great Britain Sales Director New Bus and Coach.
Five stock chassis have been ordered. For the first 12 months only a fixed-beam front axle will be available but after that independent front suspension will be added as an option. Scania can also incorporate its popular chassis repair and maintenance package if desired. The first coach will shortly move to Scania’s technical centre at Loughborough to allow its service staff to examine it and become familiar with it.
“We have placed 120 Explorers into the market on MAN chassis and we believe that the addition of a Scania option will further add to its appeal,” says Mr Dodgson. “Already, we are seeing new operators that we have not spoken to before.”
