Ashok Leyland, flagship of the Hinduja Group, has launched the much-awaited Sunshine school bus in Vijayawada. Sunshine, an ideal combination of safety and comfort, powered with revolutionary design and features that makes it unique in the school bus segment, is the only school bus in India which has a rollover compliant design and frontal crash protection.
First showcased at the Auto Expo earlier this year, Sunshine is the next generation school bus, purpose built for children’s safety and superior comfort. The bus is equipped with segment first features like anti-bacterial interiors, anti-skid flooring, fire retardant interiors, i-ALERT system for real time tracking and a front collision avoidance system called 6th sense.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vinod K. Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland, said: “With the brand promise of Aapki Jeet, Hamari Jeet, we at Ashok Leyland have always believed in setting new benchmarks in everything that we do. Sunshine is very special to us and it will set new benchmarks in the school transport sector. Children are a nation’s future and to protect them and ensure that their travel to and from school is stress-free, it becomes imperative that we rehaul their mode of transport. Sunshine reflects the world of children and is a combination of artistically designed interiors along with state-of-the-art safety features. It is shaped by technology, know-how and expertise of global standards, durability, design and safety features that will transform the daily commute of children into an experience.”
The Sunshine comes in two variants, a 40-seater and a 50-seater accompanied with various features such as vibrant interiors and large worldview windows for good air ventilation. In addition, Sunshine boasts the industry’s first semi-integral chassis construction giving it the lowest fixed entry and a lower centre of gravity for a stable journey, state-of-the-art parabolic suspension guaranteeing smooth and bump free rides, emergency exit doors and door alarms.
Mr. T. Venkataraman, Senior Vice President, Global Buses, Ashok Leyland, said: “Sunshine is a result of extensive feedback from both parents and children and an immersive study into the lives of all its stakeholders. The bus has been crafted to ensure safety and comfort for all its occupants by providing artistically designed happy seats for the children and ensuring the most comfortable driving conditions for the drivers. At Ashok Leyland, our core philosophy behind each product is to launch every new vehicle with an endeavour to modernise the industry and taking this thought forward we are launching the Sunshine today.”
With best-in-class turning radius, Sunshine offers superior product design features such as easy to repair metal bumper, anti-drain battery system and free flow fuel system. Good quality and reliable aggregates guarantee low maintenance cost and longer service intervals.