Iranian Firm Unveils Eco-Friendly CNG Bus

Oghab Afshan Industrial and Manufacturing Company— producer of Scania buses in Iran — has unveiled its latest model it says is eco-friendly.

The company unveiled a city bus named ‘Parsin’ during the 7th ANGVA biennial, an industrial gathering last week in Tehran, local automotive website Donyaye Khodro reported.

ANGVA, the Asia Pacific Natural Gas Vehicles Association, is a conference, exhibition and trade association of the natural gas vehicles industry in the Asia Pacific region. It helps players in the sector including fleet operators and vehicle manufacturers.

Parsin is promoted as eco-friendly by the manufacturer and supposedly meets Euro6 emission standards. It comes with a 9–liter, CNG-based Scania engine partnered with a six-speed automatic transmission.

It is a low-floor bus which has a ramp for wheelchairs and its body was designed and produced locally. The company is yet to announce the release date and price.

According to the Oghab CEO Behrouz Moradi, the vehicle meets the standards and regulations of the High Council for Coordination of Urban Traffic.

Based on rules announced last year by the council, auto manufacturers and importers are obliged to meet several emission standards. As for the CNG-powered buses, manufacturers have to use Euro6 engines.

Moradi said, “The Scania engine has been tested in different climatic conditions in countries like Colombia and Indonesia and has met stringent environmental standards.”

Air pollution in most cities has reached dangerous levels with the government and affiliated bodies trying a variety of ways to address the seemingly unending debacle. One policy is to replace the aging public transport gas-guzzlers with hybrids and eco-friendly buses.

Earlier in September, Azhitechs, an Iranian commercial vehicle producer and the official representative of Belarus’s Maz Trucks, said it will deliver 400 CNG-powered city buses to Tehran and Tabriz municipalities.

Karmania, another local carmaker, delivered its all-electric city bus ‘BYD K9’ to Shiraz Municipality for a test run in June but no further development has been reported.