Designed to transport up to 35 people across some of Earth’s harshest environments, the PRAETORIAN is a 10-tonne 4x4 off-road bus based on an upgraded, heavy-duty MAN TGM chassis, powered by a 6.9L six-cylinder MAN diesel engine with 286bhp and 1,150Nm of torque. The vehicles are first built at MAN’s plant in Kraków then transferred to a second plant at Starachowice where several upgrades are made, before the PRAETORIAN is delivered to the TORSUS factory in Slovakia for final assembly.
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Having worked together on the PRAETORIAN since 2017, the two eastern European companies have now signed an agreement to expand cooperation, securing the vehicle’s production for the foreseeable future.
“We are extremely proud to build on our longstanding relationship with MAN Truck & Bus, for our flagship vehicle, the PRAETORIAN,” said Yulia Khomych, chief strategy officer at TORSUS. “Since 2017, we have been working very closely with them to develop the world’s toughest off-road bus and we are delighted to continue our cooperation with this new agreement.
“MAN Truck & Bus are the experts in producing high-quality buses and coaches of all kinds and the skeleton chassis they will build for our PRAETORIANs will be stronger and stiffer than ever before. We couldn’t wish for a better collaboration partner to develop the very best heavy-duty off-road bus.”
The PRAETORIAN’s welded chassis consists of 780 components, including 273m of 1182kg steel profiles and 351kg of sheet metal parts. Using similar processes and techniques to those used in the manufacture of its own buses, MAN deploys protective gases during the precision welding process of the PRAETORIAN’s skeleton, before it undergoes cataphoretic painting for protection against corrosion, then varnishing, and finishing with a final coat of paint. The MAN Truck & Bus Starachowice plant produces over 1,600 buses and 520 bus chassis a year, exported to customers in countries including Germany, France, Georgia, Norway, Sweden and Saudi Arabia.
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