Two more Fuso Rosas for Martin’s Albury

Established back in 1931, Martin’s Albury has always moved with the times. Embracing new technology and developments has stood the company in good stead over the years, and the ethos continues with the recent addition of two new-generation Fuso Rosas to the firm’s 70-strong coach and bus fleet.

Already operating eight previous-model Rosas for school runs in and around Albury, the two newcomers will be pressed into a charter work role, serving both school and corporate requirements.

David Martin (pictured, below), along with his mother Rosalie, heads up the third-generation family business, which operates a range of tour services in addition to school and charter services.

According to Mr Martin, the solid track record of the company’s existing Rosa models, the fact they can have a generous 25-seat capacity, and their comprehensive safety features, made the purchasing decision simple.

The new Rosa models offer a range of benefits to broaden their appeal to operators, including standard features like autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection and lane departure warning.

“Safety always comes first at Martin’s Albury,” Mr Martin says. “We carry people, so we want to do everything we can to keep them as safe as possible.

“To have the integrated active safety features in the Rosa is very important for us.”

The Fuso Rosa also comes with a driver airbag and front passenger airbag, along with electronic stability control.

Powering the new-generation Rosa is a Euro 6-compliant 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine equipped with six-speed automated manual transmission. Producing maximum outputs of 129kW and 430Nm, Fuso says the engine is both lighter and more efficient than its predecessor.

“These are so easy to drive now,” says Mr Martin. “It really is just like driving a car.”

The Rosa has 15,000km service intervals and comes backed by a five-year or 200,000km factory warranty, whichever comes first.

The model is available in 25-seat and 22-seat formats, with each passenger benefitting from a three-point seat belt.