Today we have learned that our vehicle ONE T4 has been chosen as Microbus of the Year at the National Transport Awards, awarded by the Spanish road transport operators. The award is organised by the EDITEC publishing group, which publishes the magazines Viajeros and Transporte 3, and has registered more than 550 votes in nine categories. This year, due to pandemic restrictions, the communication of the awards has been virtual, but we are just as excited. ONE T4 is a Mercedes Benz Sprinter bodywork that is configured to carry 21 passengers and has 3.5 cubic metres of boot space, without exceeding 5,500 kilos.
Integralia’s value proposition
Integralia’s value proposition is to work with low weight and high capacity vehicles thanks to the use of high-tech materials such as carbon fibre and structural steel. This model is equipped with IBBC, Integralia Bus Board Control, an Integralia in-house development in collaboration with technology companies from Navarre, which allows all the parameters of the minibus to be controlled from a central touch-screen console. This system significantly increases driving safety by eliminating the traditional button panels.
Óscar Lana, CEO of Integralia, said on learning of the award that “it is gratifying that the transporters recognise ONE T4 for the most important award given in Spain for minibuses. ONE is a platform that we have been working on for three years and on which we have spent many hours of research and development to be able to offer a little more. Most of the technology suppliers are local, which gives us an extra advantage in quality control and speed and efficiency in the construction”.
A minibus with a difference
In 2020, Integralia was the bus and minibus company in Spain that bodyworked the most vehicles on Mercedes Benz, extending the renewal of the VanPartner agreement between the German brand and Integralia until 2023. One T4 is the result of the continuous process of active listening that Integralia applies on a daily basis. After studying the demands of the hauliers, Integralia’s Development Area applied the demands of the users and accepted the challenges to achieve 21 spacious seats and 3.5 cubic metres of luggage space.
In addition, ONE is the only vehicle in its category to offer a flat floor and special conditions in terms of accessibility and comfort for passengers, thanks to its two parallel interior rows. This vehicle is particularly recognisable from the inside, thanks to the application of the “Unique Spaces” concept that underpins all the product designs of this Navarrese company. This minibus is mainly marketed in Europe, with Spain and France being its main destinations.
More than 500 jurors
In the 2021 edition, the jury was made up of 532 members, an outstanding representation of experts, professionals and businesspeople from the sector from all the Autonomous Communities, both for freight and passenger transport.
Of the total, 37 jurors corresponded to the Coach category, 45 to the Bus category, 61 to the Midibus category and 33 to the Microbus category. In the freight section, there were 112 jurors in the Truck category, 41 in the Light Commercial Vehicle category, 124 in the Semi-Trailer category and 45 in the Tanker category. As for the common category for both sections, Ecological Commercial Vehicle, there were 34 jurors. The General Secretary of the Jury is Luis Gómez-Llorente, Director of EDITEC.
A transparent process from the industry for the industry
The election of the winners each year follows a scrupulous procedure of transparency in which the votes of the juries are sent directly to the notary who attests to their authenticity. It is therefore a prize awarded by the transport sector itself. EDITEC would like to thank all of them for their collaboration every year. In the 2021 edition, a total of 63 models have been nominated in the 9 categories of passengers and goods: 4 coaches, 7 buses, 7 midibuses, 3 minibuses, 5 trucks, 7 light commercial vehicles, 10 semi-trailers and 6 tanks. In the common category Green Commercial Vehicle of the Year, in which both passenger and goods vehicles participate, 14 models have been nominated.
In 2021, the jury for this category was made up of the following:
ACHA MOVILIDAD Patxi Acha
ADAPTRANS BUS Jaime Luis Sastre
ALSA Víctor Manuel López
ANPIAN Pilar Piña
ARRIVA SPAIN Carlos Crespo
ASCABUS Agustín Gómez Pereira
AUTOBUSES CUADRA José Luis Cuadra Roqueñi
AUTOBUSES URBANOS ANGEL HERRERA Justo López Marqués
AUTOCARES ADROVER Damián Adrover
AUTOCARES CABRANES Fernando Álvarez Alonso
AUTOCARES CANALS Alberto Canals Suñer
AUTOCARES DIPESA Emilio Díaz Planells
AUTOCARES DONATO Gregorio Francisco García García
AUTOCARES LACT Antonio Fuentes Cano
AUTOCARES LEVANTE Onofre Pascual
AUTOCARES NIKA Josep Maria Miquel Petisco
AUTOCARES SAIZ GARRIDO Juan Andrés Saiz Garrido
AUTOCARES SECO RODRIGUEZ Emilio Seco
AUTOCARES YUSTE Juan José Yuste
AUTOS GONZALEZ Fidel Martínez González
AVANT GRUP Rafael Zarza
HERMANOS MONTOYA José Luis Conde
IBIZATOURS & ISLANDBUS Antonio Cortés
IDIADA Ignacio Lafuente Buil
INSIA José María López Martínez
INTA José Luis Rivera Pardo
MICROBUSES GRANDOURE Carlos Grandoso
NORBUS Xema Camps
ROIG BUS Rafael Roig
RUBIOCAR Ana María Valladolid
SAGALÉS Ramón Sagalés Orteu
ULTRABUS José Ripoll Aycart
YOLCAR Carlos Sánchez Muñoz
The general secretary of the jury was Luis Gómez-Llorente (EDITEC)
Thanks to the sponsors
The sponsors of this edition of the awards, both for the freight and passenger categories are: Actia, AEC, Allison Transmission, Alpega (Wtransnet), Audiobus, BQB, Bridgestone, Busmatick, Carrier, Diesel Technic, EmarKiel, Frigicoll, Gesinflot, Hanover, Hidral Gobel, Hispacold, Masats, Vatservices and Webasto.