SmarTire Gains First Major European Bus Manufacturer

SmarTire Systems Inc. has announced that Van Hool NV has selected SmarTire to supply its tyre pressure and temperature monitoring systems (TPMS) on its buses and coaches. Van Hool is Europe’s largest independent bus manufacturer. The company exports 85 per cent of its buses and coaches, 60 per cent of them to Europe and an average of 600 coaches a year to the US.

Jan Ruyts, Automotive Relations Manager of Van Hool, said: “SmarTire is on the leading edge of sensing devices with its tyre pressure monitoring system. We value safety in our vehicles and this agreement with SmarTire validates our reputation for dependable, quality buses and coaches.””

Nigel Hammond, managing director of SmarTire Europe, said: “Renowned and quality conscious Van Hool is the first large bus and coach manufacturer to partner with us in Europe. This marketing milestone certainly confirms an increasing acceptance of our products in this sector as evidenced by SmarTire’s strong recent penetration of the North America bus market. Our next goal is to supply our products to all vehicles manufactured by Van Hool.”

Van Hool NV is Europe’s largest independent manufacturer of buses and coaches and an important player as a manufacturer of trailers, road tankers, tank containers and others, with more than 50,000 buses and coaches and more than 75,000 commercial trailers manufactured since the company’s start in 1947. Today Van Hool NV produces 1,700 buses and coaches and 4,000 commercial vehicles per year.