While its electric e-Canter and Vision One trucks grabbed all the attention for Fuso at the Tokyo Show, sitting quietly in one corner of its stand was its new Aero Queen touring bus, which if negotiations are successful and a few small hurdles can be overcome, may be on its way down under.
The Aero Queen is another example of the ‘Daimler-isation’ of Fuso and utilises a smaller Daimler 7.7 litre engine coupled to an eight speed AM/T.
Fuso Australia product planning manager, Romesh Rodrigo, is working hard to address a couple of local regulation challenges, but is confident these can be overcome. In the Japanese domestic version the Aero Queen is equipped with 62 seats, but it may have to forgo some seats to comply with local regs, if it comes to Australia.
The flagship Fuso tourist bus would come in CBU and would boast low fuel consumption and lower emissions thanks to its small displacement high output engine and Smart Pilot A/MT shifting.
Aero Queen’s control system and power train have been manufactured with future automated driving in mind and represent the benchmark for safety and quality in the market.
An advanced version of the ‘AMB’ brake for alleviation of collision damage called ‘ABA3’ has been installed, as well as ‘Active Attention Assist’, which monitors driver attention through a driver-facing camera.This adds automatic stop and automatic start functions to auto cruise, and includes a function to maintain the proper distance between cars to help alleviate driver fatigue during traffic congestion.
The new small-displacement has also allowed for an increase in the number of passenger seats due to the lower weight of the power plant.
T&B News had the chance to drive the latest Aero Queen at the Fuso test track in Japan during the Tokyo Show and will have a full report soon.
