King Long selects fully automatic transmission for new mini coach in the UK
Kinglong Direct Limited unveils new XMQ6800 8m coach equipped with an Allison fully automatic transmission at the Euro Bus Expo 2012 in Birmingham, UK; reputable, high quality componentry is key element of King Long’s international sales strategy.
MILLBROOK, UK – Chinese bus and coach importer, Kinglong Direct Limited, has specified an Allison fully automatic transmission in its new XMQ6800 8m mini coach for the UK market. The coach was unveiled at the Euro Bus Expo 2012 at the NEC in Birmingham, England, in November, where there was encouraging interest from the industry. Allison Transmission was chosen as its broad range of transmissions offer a unit which fit perfectly alongside the XMQ6800’s Cummins ISBe5 207bhp engine, and because of its reputation as a brand offering reliability, durability and performance.
The 7995mm long, 2450 mm wide, 3320 mm high XMQ6800 is designed to offer coach operators luxury transport for up to either 29 or 31 passengers. Twenty buses have already been sold in the UK. The first customer was Green Mountain Travel of Dinnington, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
“We have been importing King Long buses into the UK for eight years and make our own vehicle specification decisions for the UK. The XMQ6800 has been purpose-built for this market from the ground up and demonstrates how serious we are to grow our share. This is a true coach-built mini coach, offering operators another option in a sector dominated by van conversions,” says Paul Bicknell, Director of Kinglong Direct Limited. “As part of our strategy, we look to offer the highest quality componentry from well-respected global brands; when we looked at the XMQ6800’s drivetrain, it had to have an automatic from Allison Transmission. In a market where manuals and automated manual transmissions are the norm, our offer of the Allison is a distinctive advantage. We conducted rigorous trials of the transmission in China and found that the Allison transmission performed very well.”
The Allison Torqmatic® Series range is designed to optimise fuel consumption and simplify maintenance. It is the ideal automatic choice for a wide range of global buses and coaches.
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About Allison Transmission
Allison Transmission is the world’s largest manufacturer of fully-automatic transmissions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, medium- and heavy-tactical U.S. military vehicles and hybrid-propulsion systems for transit buses. Allison transmissions are used in a variety of applications including on-highway trucks (distribution, refuse, construction, fire and emergency), buses (primarily school and transit), motor homes, off-highway vehicles and equipment (primarily energy and mining) and military vehicles (wheeled and tracked). Founded in 1915, the Allison business is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. and employs approximately 2,800 people.
Allison has manufacturing facilities and customization centers located in China, The Netherlands, Brazil, India and Hungary, with a global presence, serving customers in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and Africa. Allison also has more than 1,500 independent distributor and dealer locations worldwide.
More information about Allison is available at www.allisontransmission.com.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by such terminology as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plans,” “project,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “intend,” “forecast,” “could,” “potential,” “continue,” the negative of these terms or other similar terms or phrases. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks. Factors which may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made include, but are not limited to: risks related to our potential indebtedness; our participation in highly competitive markets; general economic and industry conditions; our ability to prepare for, respond to and successfully achieve our objectives relating to technological and market developments and changing customer needs, the failure of markets outside North America to increase adoption of fully automatic transmissions, the discovery of defects in our products resulting in delays in new model launches, recall campaigns and/or increased warranty costs and reduction in future sales or damage to our brand and reputation; the concentration of our net sales in our top five customers and the loss of any one of these; the risks associated with our international operations; the risks related to our brand and its reputation; our intention to pay dividends; and labor strikes, work stoppages or similar labor disputes which could significantly disrupt our operations or those of our principal customers. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. All the information is as of the date of this press release, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or conform the statement to actual results or changes in expectations.
Press Contacts
Claire Dumbreck Miranda Jansen
Propel Technology Allison Transmission Europe
claire@propel-technology.com miranda.jansen@allisontransmission.com
+44 (0)1295 724130 +31 78-6422 174
Bloxham Mill Baanhoek 118
Bloxham, United Kingdom Sliedrecht, The Netherlands
Press Enquiries
Claire Dumbreck, Propel Technology, Bloxham Mill, Barford Road, Bloxham, Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK, OX15 4FF. 44 (0)1295 724130 / 44 (0) 7768 773857. claire@propel-technology.com
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