ASTANA MOTORS ARRANGES TEST DRIVES OF BUSES

Astana Motors has announced the launch of the test drive program of Golden Dragon buses. The bus depots throughout the country have the opportunity to take a bus for a test drive during a certain period of time without purchasing it and without any other charges within the framework of this program. Based on the results of the test drives, they can further consider the possibility of purchasing suitable buses for intra-city routes.

The model range of Golden Dragon buses meets all modern needs of a city. The price of Golden Dragon buses starts from 32 million tenge, and it is much cheaper than the prices of similar buses in Kazakhstan. The buses will be available for leasing under the current state program of preferential loans for the purchase of commercial vehicles from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan. DBK-Leasing JSC provides financial leasing services for a term of seven years with an interest rate of 7% per annum in tenge with down payment of 15% of the contract value. The purpose of the program is to renew the bus depots of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The first customers who have applied for a test drive of Golden Dragon buses are the largest bus depots that serve tens of thousands of passengers daily in Aktobe and Petropavlovsk.

“We have used Golden Dragon buses for several years. And we are happy with them. These buses are large, reliable, and user-friendly not only for drivers but also for passengers. One of the advantages of Golden Dragon buses is a possibility to choose fuel for buses, in our case, natural gas. Gas-driven vehicles have two main advantages over traditional diesel-driven ones: environmental friendliness and cost-efficiency, which are important advantages for the bus depots. Pollution emissions to the atmosphere are minimum, and the cost of methane is three times lower than the cost of gasoline and diesel. Besides, a great advantage for us is fuel consumption which is small enough, i.e. 41-45 cc/ 100 km,” said Yerlan Askarovich Bliev, Director of the Passenger Motor Transportation Company in Aktobe.

A 10.5-meter low-floor gas-driven bus with the seats for disabled people is available for a test drive. Both drivers and passengers will have the opportunity to check its quality during a week. In a spacious cabin for about 81 passengers (31 seats) there are video cameras, which give signals to a driver’s screen so that he/she can fully control a passenger traffic flow. The buses are equipped with a number of illuminated signs outside and inside, air conditioning, a variety of handrails and hanging handles for the convenience of passengers. The low floor lets people of any height easily get inside, and a special retractable ramp provides unhindered boarding (existing) for disabled people on wheelchairs.

We remind that in March this year, a distributor agreement was signed between the Hyundai Trans Auto assembly plant (part of Astana Motors KMC ) and Golden Dragon Bus Company (Xiamen Golden Dragon Bus Co., LTD), a Chinese bus manufacturer. Under this agreement, Hyundai Trans Auto is now an official distributor for producing and selling Golden Dragon buses in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Golden Dragon is a leader in terms of sales in most countries. For example, it ranks first in Israel. The model range includes buses from 8.5 to 18.5 meters. The buses have three types of engine power: diesel, gas and electric. Low-floor urban, tourist, and small suburban buses are produced. According to the technical requirements of EAEC, emission class of buses complies with Euro-5 standard.

One of the major competitive advantages of these buses is the use of a monocoque technology (a whole-body frame) and a method of cathode electro-coating in production of all models of Golden Dragon buses. The company applies this complex bodywork process based on successive dipping of a bus body into tanks with different chemicals. The result of this process is a continuous and hard insulating film on a whole body of a bus. Thanks to these technologies, the weight of a bus becomes less that reduces fuel consumption and environmental pollution, increases corrosion resistance and useful lifetime of buses.

Astana Motors intends to offer various service options to customers and bus depots. First, it is a mobile service when technical specialists of the company will provide services outside working hours in the bus depots and on the road in case of a breakdown during a trip. Second, when purchasing a bus, a customer will be able to obtain the entire range of original spare parts required for maintenance service up to 100,000 kilometers.