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MG Group bags order from Ethiopia for its luxury coach, ‘Mammoth’

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MG Group (Alma Motors DESUR) bags order from Ethiopia for its luxury coach, ‘Mammoth’ built on MAN Chassis

MG Group today flagged off its first batch of 5 luxury coaches, ‘Mammoth’, for Ethiopia and have been built at the company’s Desur plant about 15 kms from Belagavi.

Mammoth ethopia Mammoth ethopia The total order MG Group received from Ethiopia is 32 coaches, out of which, the first batch of 5 coaches were flagged off. Prior to this, a few vehicles have also been exported to Maldives and the company has several enquiries from other countries in Asia, Africa and The Middle East.

The Chief Guest for the occasion was the Honorary Consul General, Ethiopian Consulate, Mumbai, Mr. Mesfin Gebremariam Shawo. Mr. Shawo expressed his heartiest congratulations to MG Group for bagging a sizeable order from Ethiopia. He wished MG Group a long and successful business relationship with Kaleb Services, the importer of the Mammoth buses in Ethiopia, and hopes that through this association, the existing ties between India and Ethiopia only grow stronger.

The ‘Mammoth’ has been developed and conceptualized by MG Group, in a strategic partnership with MAN Trucks India. This alliance will ensure an optimum delivery on sales and services that the two Companies will closely work on.

Built on the state-of-the-art MAN CLA 16.220 chassis, the customers are assured of one of the finest coaches. To enhance the riding experience, the chassis is made of rugged high strength steel, which caters to more rugged operating conditions with increased driving safety, while significantly reducing body vibrations and movements for best ride comfort.

At the Flag off ceremony held in MG Group’s Belgaum plant, Mr. Anil Kamat, Executive Director, MG Group said, “’Mammoth’ is a landmark achievement for MG Group in India. This product in partnership with MAN firmly positions MG in the Indian luxury coach Segment. The introduction of this luxury coach is even more special as it is designed and developed in India and has global technology. The coach has been developed keeping in mind the evolving customer, passenger and driver needs in India and other emerging markets. The’Mammoth’offers a range of features to help improve fuel efficiency, drive comfort and overall passenger experience.”

MAN is globally acclaimed for its safe products and it configures the chassis with maximum safety features. The fuel tank is safely positioned in the center of the chassis. The central position of the fuel tank improves passenger safety while also providing additional luggage space. The coach also addresses the problem of uneven load distribution by adjusting the air pressure in the bellows, thereby achieving uniform load distribution, which leads to better handling, good road stability and increased tyre life.

The MAN chassis offers one of the safest and most effective braking systems on the road, consisting of service brakes with ABS, the MAN patented Engine Exhaust Valve Brake coupled with Hydrodynamic Retarder for smooth and safer braking, increased tyre life, fuel saving, long brake liner life, low heat generation and a fatigue free journey. Keeping in mind the road conditions in India and other emerging countries, a 2ndRide Height System has been installed, which raises the chassis height by 50 mm for increased ground clearance. In addition to the regular Cruise Control, the coach is equipped with Downhill Cruise Control that maintains constant speed while driving downhill, without using service brakes or downshifting gears, which ultimately minimizes driver fatigue and increases passenger safety.

Furthermore, the vehicles are powered by the robust, quiet, efficient, reliable, state-of-the-art, time tested and renowned electronic controlled 6 cylinder MAN diesel engine, with optimized Power and flat Torque Curve over a wide engine rpm. The well configured driveline allows the driver to cruise at higher speeds at lower engine revs for high efficiency. It has significantly low noise levels inside the cabin, and the wider radial tubeless 295/80R22.5 tyres offer better standards of road stability and fuel efficiency and increased tyre life.

With an aerodynamic exterior design and a body that is fully engineered for serviceability and maintenance, the ‘Mammoth’promises to take driving and passenger comfort to the next level. Its full driver partition option gives passengers a private, saloon like experience blessing them with two essentials while travelling – peace and quiet. With opulent push back seats and cushiony padding alongside the window rail, providing a comfortable armrest for passengers, passenger comfort is assured. Every one of the lavish seats comes attached with personalized reading lamps, as well as mobile and USB charging ports. A centre head rack console provides an equal and well distributed flow of cool air for all passengers, while a pillar less head rack allows easy access to the spacious head luggage compartment above.

The ‘Mammoth’ has been built with the focus of being one of the safest luxury coaches in India. The coach is fully bus code compliant and comes equipped with an on-board safety instructions card for each passenger. A total of eight emergency exits including the EM-Secure (Emergency Management – Secure), a patented feature of MG Group, makes evacuation safe and panic free, in case of an emergency situation. Other safety measures include no sharp corners, seat belts for every passenger, and the full driver partition acts as an additional barricade in case of any frontal impact.

Equipped with MG’s EM-Secure, the coach is revolutionalising road safety and setting new benchmarks as far as the wellbeing of its passengers is concerned. Traditionally, the emergency exit is always on the right hand side wall towards the rear end blocked by a row of two seats in front of it, making it time consuming and hazardous to use in the unfortunate event of an emergency. EM-Secure provides a clear and well-marked emergency exit located at the rear end of the ‘Mammoth’, which is easily approachable and unhindered by any obstructions. A manually ejected stairway built with assist handles to provide support while descending, allows passengers of all age groups to evacuate the coach unharmed as the height between the last step and the pavement is less than two feet. This feature is further unique because the same stairway can be used to go back into the coach to assist other passengers to exit in emergency.

MAN has plans of expanding the product range with a 280 HP front engine and also Rear Engine in the near future.

MG – Alma Motors Pvt. Ltd.

To further the Vision and Mission of MG Group, Alma Motors Pvt. Ltd. was established in 2004, at Belgaum, Karnataka. It is spread over 18,000 sq. metres having an annual capacity of 4,500 buses. The company employs 800 people and its esteemed clients are Ashok Leyland Ltd. (Domestic and Export), Ashok Leyland – Nissan JV, MAN and Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles Ltd. apart from various leading Fleet Operators, Schools and Institutional clients.

MG Group has produced over 98,000 buses since its inception and is on track to complete 1,00,000 buses by end of financial year 2015 – 2016, making it a formidable player in the Indian Bus Building industry. MG Group offers its esteemed clients a one-stop shop solution for buses through its own integrated endeavours:

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