Higer Bus, the Chinese manufacturer based in Suzhou, sells its coaches and city buses under model codes that begin with the letters KLQ. A KLQ6129 is a twelve-metre V92 coach or a city bus depending on the series; a KLQ6850 is a shorter B8H city bus. The code is the common thread through a range that now includes coaches, city buses, school buses, BRT vehicles and electric buses.
Higer KLQ at a glance
| Maker | Higer Bus Company Limited (Suzhou King Long), Suzhou, Jiangsu, China |
|---|---|
| Founded | December 1998 |
| First 1,000 buses | September 1999 |
| Model code | letters KLQ followed by a four-digit number and a suffix |
| Coach series | A (with Scania), V, New H, Classic H, New V |
| City bus series | B series, KLQ6109G to KLQ6181G |
| School buses | KLQ6590X to KLQ6116X, 18 to 56 seats |
| Energy-efficient range | hybrid, electric, hydrogen and natural gas KLQ models |
| BRT | KLQ6181G, 161 passengers |
| Light commercial vehicles | H4E, H5V, H5C, H7V, Longwei |
There is no Wikipedia page for the individual KLQ models; this page is based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on Higer Bus, and uses only the model codes and dates given there.
History of the Higer KLQ
A bus maker from Suzhou
Higer Bus Company Limited was founded in December 1998 and is also known as Suzhou King Long. The company is based in Suzhou, Jiangsu, and by September 1999 it had built its first 1,000 buses. In June 2003 a new factory of 400,000 square metres was put into production in the Suzhou Industrial Park, and the same month Higer passed the international ISO/TS16949 certification.
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Coaches and the Scania link
In February 2004 the Higer V8 Series bus went on sale. In September 2006 Higer started a joint venture with Scania and launched the A80, an export-based luxury coach; the partnership continued with the Scania Touring buses and the Scania–Higer A90. In August 2008, 1,500 Higer buses served at the Beijing Olympics. The A series still carries Scania-based models: the A80 is sold in Europe as the Scania Touring HD (A80T), while the A90 is the KLQ6127Q, the A95 the KLQ6127D and the A98 the KLQ6147S.
City buses and new energy
Higer’s B series covers city buses from the KLQ6109G (B90H) through the articulated KLQ6181G (B98H) to the KLQ6850G (B8H). In May 2013 the foundation stone was laid for a new energy bus plant with first-phase investment of 1.5 billion yuan and a planned capacity of 10,000 new energy buses a year. The range now includes hybrid models such as the KLQ6129GHEV, electric models such as the KLQ6129GEV and KLQ6109GEV (Hypers), the hydrogen bus KLQ6129GQH2 and natural gas city buses such as the KLQ6129GC.
Design and features
- A readable code: the number after KLQ gives the length class, so KLQ6129, KLQ6125 and KLQ6119 are all twelve- or eleven-metre vehicles.
- One code, many bodies: the same KLQ number appears on a coach in the V series and on a city bus in the B series.
- Scania-based coaches: the A80 and A90 come from the Higer–Scania joint venture started in 2006.
- Electrification: hybrid, battery-electric, hydrogen and natural gas versions share the KLQ numbering.
Higer KLQ versions
- KLQ6127 (A90, A95): the largest Scania-based coaches.
- KLQ6129 / KLQ6119 (V92 / V91): the V series coaches, also built as the KLQ6129GQ1 and KLQ6129G city buses.
- KLQ6125 / KLQ6145 (Classic H series): H92 and H94 coaches, including the H92-KLQ6125B1C natural gas road bus.
- KLQ6109G / KLQ6850G (B90H / B8H): city buses, the shorter one also sold as the electric Hypers (KLQ6109GEV).
- KLQ6181G (B98H): the articulated BRT bus with 161 passengers.
- KLQ6116X and KLQ6590X: school buses, from 18 seats up to 53+2+1.
More Higer models and photos are in the Higer collection.
Sources
- Higer Bus, English Wikipedia: history, model codes, series