Since its establishment in 2016, Torsus, the Czech-Republic-based manufacturer of heavy-duty, off-road 4×4 buses, has launched two models – the Praetorian and Terrastorm – in Euro III–VI variants. Marketing these vehicles as the ‘world’s toughest off-road buses’ is a bold claim, one that has caught the attention of fleet managers and enthusiasts worldwide.
Prior to entering the manufacturing business, Torsus’ parent company Pulsar Expo made its mark in the vehicle conversion industry, supplying special purpose to clients such as the United Nations, Red Cross, and United States embassies.
Vakhtang Dzhukashvili, CEO of Pulsar Expo and Torsus, explains the evolution of the group’s business from vehicle conversion to serial production.
“Having been in the bodybuilding business for several years, we were exposed to the capabilities and flaws of converting leading OEM brands. For instance, vehicle quality and performance vary from one converter to another or even within the same converter. Also, there are severe limitations on how the design, engineering and marketing departments can collaborate. All these issues can be solved with serial production where the same stringent standards apply across the entire supply chain, from prototype to production. We also studied in detail the applications of buses and vans to understand the features that were most useful to the end-users for daily use and what significant improvements we could introduce to existing vehicles. Our study revealed a gap in the market for off-road people transportation in various industries.”
Vakhtang Dzhukashvili, CEO, Torsus.
Initially, Torsus planned to enter the market as a reseller and went looking for a vehicle brand that would meet its internal safety and performance standards.
“We couldn’t find a vehicle that we could endorse as the safest or toughest off-road bus. So, we decided to build the vehicle ourselves, which led to the Torsus project and the production of our first bus, the Praetorian. We were able to take such a decision because of our extensive engineering and vehicle conversion experience,” says Vakhtang.
The Praetorian was initially developed for the mining and oil and gas industries to transport workers. Since then, the applications of the bus have been extended to emergency services, law enforcement, expedition, and tourism. As customers began to adopt the Praetorian, they also demanded new variants.
“So far, we have delivered the Praetorian to customers in all the continents. During one of our customer feedback interactions with a mining company, we were told that the Pretorian was ideal for their off-road transportation but the passenger capacity was more that their requirement. Following similar requests from other customers, we realised there’s a need for a smaller and more accessible vehicle but with the same off-road capabilities of the Praetorian. Some customers also wanted a smaller vehicle that could be operated without a heavy vehicle license or additional training. This led to the development of the Terrastorm,” says Vakhtang.
The Torsus Terrastorm.
Torsus opted to partner with MAN and its parent company Volkswagen for chassis and powertrain technology as well as vehicle servicing for customers.
“On the basis of our experience, MAN offers the best combination of quality, price, service and support for the products, international distribution and service. Our agreement allows Praetorian and Terrastorm owners worldwide to service their vehicles at the nearest MAN or Volkswagen service centre,” says Vakhtang.
Torsus’ global footprint includes a purpose-built factory in Slovakia and offices in Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Turkey. Sales channels for Torsus’ vehicles include direct to consumer and international distributors.
“We accept online orders and ship our vehicles to customers anywhere in the world. The lead time for online orders ranges from three to nine months for production and delivery, depending on the specifications. As we expand globally, our business model will require contract manufacturing plants in different parts of the world,” says Vakhtang.
Having appointed distributors in Australia and Chile, Torsus is preparing for market entry in the Middle East and Africa and is in advanced talks with several prospective distributors in the region.
“Our strategy is to set up a global distribution and dealer network like any other automotive company. We are in talks with several distributors worldwide, and we will be announcing a partner in the Middle East soon,” says Vakhtang.
Bus 4×4 Group, the distributor of Torsus in Australia, is a specialist bus bodybuilder and 4×4 conversion company that offers AWD conversion kits for the Toyota Hiace and Toyota Coaster and also builds bus bodies on the Iveco Daily 4×4 cab chassis. Adding Torsus to Bus 4×4 Group’s offering is more complementary than competitive, according to Vakhtang.
“We have to look at this partnership from the perspective of whether Torsus has competitors. We don’t think the Preatorian or Terrastorm has any competitor in their categories. Our vehicles have a unique proposition when considering the combination of their off-road features, production quality, service and price. As an OEM, we do not compete with vehicle conversion companies; instead, we can learn from each other,” says Vakhtang.
Torsus intends to retain the manufacturing of 4×4 heavy-duty, off-road vehicles as its core business. The next step in its product development is the introduction of electric variants for the Praetorian and Terrastorm.
“We are not limited to manufacturing buses, but we would like to maintain the same form factor while broadening the applications of our vehicles, which now include mobile services, extreme sports, adventure tourism, and recreation. We get requests for 6×6 and 8×8 configurations from time to time, but the demand is not enough for us to mass produce such vehicles and their benefits are marginal compared to 4×4 configurations for our target markets. We have been receiving requests for electric buses from ecotourism companies, and therefore, we’ve started the development process to launch electric drivetrains for the Praetorian and Terrastorm buses,” says Vakhtang.