Moses Akaigwe
As the count-down to the Tuesday, January 28 date for the launch of Comil Invictus 1200, the latest model in the luxury bus industry in Brazil, continues, the two firms behind the coming of the vehicle to Nigeria, have assured the market of a solid after-sales backup for users of the vehicle.
Weststar Associates Limited and Utobras Nigeria Limited said last week that beyond the unique selling point of quick return on investment, operators of Invictus 1200 luxury bus will enjoy the advantage of being supported by an efficient service and maintenance available at Mercedes-Benz service centres across the country.
The partners assured last week that the new luxury built by Comil in Brazil on the latest version of the reinforced popular Mercedes-Benz O 500 RSD 2436/30 chassis and powered by Mercedes-Benz engine and drive-train, will benefit from the three-pointed star’s well known global service standards.
The plan for premium attention to the buses at the workshops featuring modern equipment manned by trained technicians, is intended to ensure that they operated successfully in Nigeria’s motoring environment and stay more on duty with less incidence of breakdown for the users who are mainly long-distance road transporters.
It was learnt that arrangements have also been made to ensure the availability of replacement parts when needed in order to achieve very short down time for users of the bus.
Invictus 1200 is scheduled to be launched at Weststar’s head office in Ikate area of Lekki expressway with some of the luxury bus transporters expected to witness the event to discover the exciting features the vehicle flaunts, and possibly place their orders for the next batch. Weststar Associates Ltd is the authorised Mercedes-Benz distributor in Nigeria,
Managing Director of Utobras Nigeria Ltd, Frank Utomi, disclosed recently that some luxury bus owners who got early hint of the introduction of the latest Comil luxury bus in Nigeria, placed orders for the delivery of some units even ahead of the formal launch.
Utomi disclosed that the transporters were thrilled to discover that despite the superiority of Mercedes drive-train and chassis, as well as the interior configured in a manner that is suitable for his their business, the bus was still competitively priced.
Though the bus powered by the robust Mercedes-Benz OM 457 LA – Euro 3 engine would be coming with standard air-conditioning system, three-screen video player {for on-board entertainment}and 59 comfortable seats, the seats can be altered to suit individual operator’s needs.
According to him, one of the features integrated into the bus with the Nigerian road network in mind, is the sturdy frame with short front overhang, because a longer overhang poses a problem when a luxury bus has to manouevre through deep pot-holes.
Also standard and intended to help the transporters in managing the operation of the bus is a weekly tachograph {a tachometer providing a record of engine speed over a period of one week}, as well as a speed limiter to enable the driver stay within the Federal Road Safety Corps-permitted speed in order to reduce the likelihood of an accident.
Utomi, who is a well known heavy duty truck and bus spare parts provider to road transporters, disclosed that apart from comparatively more affordable price, one of Invictus 1200’s strongest selling points is its generous cargo space. This is an indication that Comil had taken into cognizance the fact that road passengers in Nigeria, a good number of whom are traders, travel with many pieces of heavy luggage and bulky goods.
Some Invictus 1200 vital specs include drum brakes on front and rear axles; automatic break adjustment; adjustable steering bracket; two units of 12-volt/170 AH maintenance-free batteries; oil cooler for gearbox with retarder; clutch wear indicator; buzzer for fire incident alert; 20 litre extra {plastic} fuel tank; cruise control; and an additional alternator for the air-conditioner.