MAN buses for the 2010 soccer World Cup

MAN Nutzfahrzeuge is now able to further expand its market presence in South Africa - around nine months before the FIFA World Cup kicks off in the country. Regional sales company MAN Truck & Bus South Africa has secured an order from the Public Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) to supply 110 MAN Lion's Explorer buses. MAN's intercity buses will be used as general spectator buses to transport soccer fans from every corner of the globe to the World Cup games at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg from June 2010. The buses will later be used in local public transport for the city of Johannesburg and other cities as well as their surrounding areas.

Speaking at the contract signing, Thomas Hemmerich, CEO of MAN Truck & Bus South Africa, said: "We are proud of the fact that we have secured this major order in conjunction with the soccer World Cup. The vehicles boast excellent chassis that are made in Germany and first-class bodies tailored to suit the needs of the market and produced locally at our plant in Olifantsfontein."

The MAN Lion's Explorer is an intercity bus with right-hand drive that was specially developed for the African market. It is based on the fully airsuspended HB4/310 front-engine chassis with three axles that are manufactured to the highest quality standards as CKD kits at MAN's Salzgitter plant. The vehicles are driven by efficient MAN D20 common-rail engines with 310 hp that meet the Euro 3 standard.

MAN has led the bus market in South Africa for years. Based on current projections, MAN will supply just under 500 of the vehicles on the entire market (about 1,500 vehicles) in 2009 as a whole; this corresponds to a market share of around 30%.