Power Wheels Magazine A Notch Above
Volkswagen trucks and buses are now here in the Philippines. After three years of careful planning and hard work, MAN Automotive Concessionaires Corporation (MACC) partnered with Brazilian automaker VW Truck and Bus (VWTB) to provide Filipino businesses with heavy-duty trucks and mass transit solutions that boasts of German technology and reliability, which are tested and proven in the tough tropical climates and road conditions of Brazil. To provide tailor-made transportation solutions for the various business sectors, VWTB added the extra key components of flexibility and creativity to precision German engineering.
In 1981, VWTB turned to international markets and started exporting trucks and buses to Chile, Paraguay, and Mexico. The company have exported over 160,000 vehicles to more than 30 countries in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia for the past 40 years. Embracing its responsibility of providing sustainable transportation and mobility solutions to its clients and society, especially in Brazil, a country of continental dimensions and challenging logistical conditions, VWTB has been constantly evolving throughout the years. State-of-the-art technology along with the innovative and collaborative concept of Modular Consortium enables them to produce a complete line of vehicles that are tailor-made to the needs of the customers, from light to heavy trucks and buses, which are capable of meeting the most varied applications and requirements of the markets they serve.
VWTBs’ Philippine distributor, MACC, has been providing excellent business solutions through its product line as well as superior aftersales service and support for the past 32 years. MACC’s efficiency and ingenuity mixed with VWTB’s flexibility and creativity may prove to be the winning combination that can provide the trucking and mass transport sectors with faster, safer and more efficient vehicular options. To complement MACC’s existing Category 5 trucks, the Volkswagen line will offer Category 3 and Category 4 trucks, with various models in different weight classes ranging from 9 tons to 31 tons, and in a variety of 4×2, 4×4, 6×4, 8×2 and 8×4 drivetrain combinations.
2022 VW Delivery 11.180 4×2 Cab/Chassis
2022 VW Delivery 9.170 4×2 Cab/Chassis
Ergonomic cockpit of the VW Delivery 9.170
Spacious and comfortable seats of the VW Delivery 9.170
The VW trucks and buses are powered by popular Cummins and MAN diesel engines with efficient Common Rail Diesel Injection (CRDI) fuel management systems, Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) emission technologies that will make these vehicle Euro 5 compliant. They will come in 6-speed, 9-speed and 16-speed transmissions. Aside from performance, toughness and reliability, these vehicles are designed with comfort and safety in mind, with the added convenience of power door locks, power windows and side mirrors, and the comfort of ergonomic seats and spacious seating arrangements. The cabs of VW trucks are all designed to be aesthetically modern.
2022 VW Volksbus 9.150 passenger bus with Almazora body
Ingress and egress is easy with low floor height, high ceiling and large door opening.
A folding ramp helps persons with disability (PWD) and passengers on wheelchairs to ride the Volksbus bus with ease.
Driver’s seat is ergonomic and comfortable to ensure the bus driver’s optimum performance on the road.
Passenger seats are spaced for social distancing while the seats fitted individually with clear acrylic “head curtains” to help avoid spreading any airborne virus.
The big windows of the Volksbus offers airy feeling inside.
“Volksbus” is German for “people’s bus”.
To serve a much larger clientele in the truck and bus segments, MACC offers the Volkswagen line with various applications from closed vans, wing vans, refrigerated vans, drop sides, flat beds, passenger transport, or food & beverage transport, to boom trucks, tipper trucks, cement mixers, including specialty purpose vehicles. Each Volkswagen truck and bus undergoes meticulous and rigorous development and testing processes to provide the customer with the service and reliability expected of these heavy-duty vehicles. During our initial visit to the MACC dealership along EDSA, we were wowed by the impressive and modern 2022 VW Constellation 17.280 Tractor Head and the 2022 Volksbus 9.150 Passenger Bus with Almazora body.
The 2022 VW Constellation 17.280 Tractor Head is an impressive, modern and tall machine.
It’s built to haul trailers over long distances and difficult terrain with brute strength and finesse.
It’s a tall climb to get into the cab, but once inside, it’s spacious and cool.
The driver is seated in an ergonomic and modern cockpit with a great and high view of the road.
Seasoned truck drivers know which gear to engage as the situation, road condition, grade and load requires.
This VW Constellation 17.280 has a “sleeper cab” where the driver or his helper can catch some sleep after a long, long trip. Zzzz…
The front grille lifts to help ease refilling liquids and checking the vital fluids.
The cab tilts forward with the help of a hydraulic system to access the MAN D08 36 280 6-cylinder diesel engine that pumps out 1,050 Nm of stump-pulling torque.
MACC currently imports these heavy-duty Volkswagens as completely built-up units (CBU) but VW Truck and Bus of Brazil is looking forward to the day when local demand increases so they can export semi-knockdown (SKD) or completely knockdown (CKD) units that will be assembled in the Philippines by a future factory in partnership with MACC, which can help provide employment and business opportunities to Filipinos and help improve the National Economy. Such a vision really shows that Volkswagen trucks and buses are real authentic tailor-made solutions for building success stories worldwide.
2022 VW Constellation 14.190 Cab/Chassis
2022 VW Constellation 17.280 Rigid Cab/Chassis
2022 VW Constellation 31.280 Heavy Duty Dump Truck
To know more about the new Volkswagen trucks and buses, please contact:
Here’s a short video of the 2022 VW Volksbus 9.150 with the Almazora passenger bus body: