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The Grand Award Coach 2009 turned out to be a riveting neck and neck race.
Grand Award Coach goes out to the Setra 416 GT-HD.
Grand Award Bus also goes to a product from the Evobus stable: the Mercedes-Benz Citaro Low Entry.
In the midi coach category, amongst other things the jury succumbed to the abundant on-board facilities for the tour guide in the Otokar Vectio 250T. The Environment Award goes to the hybrid fuel cell A330 FC coach built by Van Hool. The Innovation Award goes to the VDL Group for the wide raft of innovations on board the Citea bus intended for Dubai and the Jonckheere SB400 coach. The prizes were handed out to the winners at a reception held at ’s headquarters in Rumbeke Castle.
Grand Award Environment goes to Van Hool
Presenting the Van Hool A330 FC hybrid bus with a fuel cell as the big surprise of this European Coach & Bus Week 2009 is not even an understatement anymore. In actual fact, the bus is a development that transcends every power of imagination. To the jury, there was something magical about seeing how a bus constructor that ranks among the smaller-scale manufacturers in a global sense, is capable of developing and building a bus that is so utterly revolutionary and managing to sell this bus outside of Europe to boot, i.e. in the US which is the second home market for this bus builder from Koningshooikt.
Grand Award Innovation goes to VDL
These are troubled times for the VDL Bus & Coach Group. By the same token however, these are also times of opportunity to come up with innovative ideas and fresh new approaches to do well in market segments and territories that are perhaps not quite matter-of-course. Something which VDL proved during the European Coach & Bus Week with its Citea CLF-120 for Dubai.
Grand Award Midi-coach goes to Otokar
As a bus builder, Otokar is fairly unknown brand in Western Europe. In its home country of Turkey however, Otokar is one of the biggest manufacturers of mini and midi coaches, one that in the short term aspires to move onto full-size 12-metre length coaches and city buses.
Awards List
BUSWORLD Kortrijk Grand Award Coach
Setra S 416 GT-HD
BUSWORLD Kortrijk Grand Award Bus
Mercedes-Benz Citaro Low Entry
BUSWORLD Kortrijk Grand Award Midi Coach
Otokar Vectio 250T
BUSWORLD Kortrijk Environment Award
Van Hool hybride brandstofcelbus A330FC
BUSWORLD Kortrijk Innovation Award
VDL Bus SB4000, Citea CLF 120