Avia Pulls a Secret Green Vehicle Ace at Autotec
Friday, 28. May, 2010
Brno/Prague - In addition to two conventional diesel powered vehicles, Avia Ashok Leyland Motors (AALM) ofPrague - Letňany has exhibited at the largest domestic truck and utility vehicle fair a Smith Newton electric vehicle from theUK, which features an Avia chassis and cab. It is for the first time that this new environmentally friendly vehicle has been officially introduced to the professional public, and Avia will start offering the product to customers in theCzech Republic and abroad during the fair.
“The electric vehicle is an important project as it expands the portfolio of our products and our co-operation with the manufacturer of fully electric powered vehicles, the British company Smith. Seventy of these vehicles bearing the Avia face are already owned by large companies inAmericasuch as Coca Cola or DHL and TNT forwarding companies,” says AALM Executive Director Marcus Pauels about the future of our motor transport.
Negotiations are currently under way about the deliveries of these vehicles to other countries of Central andEastern Europe. The company has successfully tested the vehicle on Czech roads and expects the vehicles to appear in regular operation as early as within two years.
No Competition for Czech Trucks
Much like other manufacturers of utility vehicles, Avia was affected by the crisis last year. For that reason, the company’s strategy focused on expanding to the automotive markets across the entire Central andEastern Europe. The brand returned to the Russian market in April by opening seven dealerships and successfully participating at the Comtrans utility vehicle fair inMoscow.
“We want to show that we can make trucks in theCzechRepublicwhich lose nothing against the other vehicles on the market and even surpass them in certain technologies,” adds AALM Marketing Manager Michal Bačkovský. Avia is the only truck manufacturer that provides an 8-year warranty for body corrosion. In addition, Avia underlines the quality of its vehicles by a three-year warranty for the entire vehicles without any mileage limit.
Avia plans to manufacture and sell over one thousand vehicles this year. The company sold 102 vehicles and increased its sales by nearly two hundred percent in the first quarter of this year as compared to the previous year, when its production reached a historic low