Handball World Championship: Top athletes travel with MAN

• As "Official Supplier", MAN Truck & Bus provides use of twelve team coaches for Handball World Championship
• German national team will travel in a coach with exclusive product refinements implemented by the MAN Bus Modification Center
• Sports sponsorship an established brand communications tool for MAN

10 January 2019 is the day: the start of the 26th Handball World Championship, when, until 27 January, 24 teams will be battling for the title of World Champions. The tournament is being held in Germany and Denmark, with the opening game kicking off at 18:15 in Berlin between the German and Korean teams.

The athletes will travel to the matches – taking place in Berlin, Cologne, Munich and Hamburg – in MAN coaches. As "Official Supplier”, MAN Truck & Bus has provided use of twelve team coaches for the tournament: eleven coaches from the MAN Lion’s Coach range, and one NEOPLAN Cityliner – reserved for the German team. The discernibly branded vehicles were handed over in front of the MAN Bus Forum in Munich in the middle of December.

"The German men’s national handball team coach has an unmistakeable design and will naturally attract a lot of attention. And the slogan 'Deutschland fährt MAN' (Germany rides with MAN) that is written on the black bus is ultimately what transforms it into a veritable eye-catcher," asserted Hartmut Sander, Vice President for Corporate Communications at MAN Truck & Bus and the one in charge of sports sponsorship. The coach is just as impressive on the inside as on the outside and is equipped with exclusive interior fittings, implemented by the MAN Bus Modification Center (BMC) in Plauen. The vehicle features a rear lounge with a table, and seven individual VIP seats made of leather. The team coach is also equipped with two vis à vis tables, a comfortable kitchen and a high-tech multimedia system, for use by the trainer, attendants and athletes. This will ensure that the teams have a comfortable place to discuss tactics before and after the matches.

"The well-thought out solutions, generous interior space, comfortable seats and ambient lighting will guarantee that the athletes are completely relaxed when they arrive at their fixture destinations," stated Andreas Losert, Regional Bus Sales Manager at MAN Truck & Bus Germany. The Cityliner L is powered by a 440 hp (324 kW) diesel engine, which not only meets the Euro 6 emissions requirements but is also setting standards in terms of environmental friendliness and economic efficiency. The German Handball team's mobile headquarters has numerous assistance systems that will ensure on-board safety, including the BirdView Camera System, the Electronic Brake System (EBS), the Emergency Brake Assist (EBA), plus the Lane Guard System (LGS) and the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC).

The other Handball World Championship teams can also rely on their team coaches with complete peace of mind. The vehicles from the MAN's Lion's Coach range – which are up to 14 metres long – offer first-class comfort paired with high economic efficiency. Even longer journeys are guaranteed to be a relaxing experience, thanks to the generous interior space and the comfortable, ergonomic seats. And due to the numerous assistance systems, both the driver and the handball players and their team will be able to enjoy top, all-round on-board safety.

As a partner of the 26th Handball World Championship, MAN can add another chapter of success to their sports sponsorship tradition: "Particularly when it comes to team sports, it's almost impossible not to come across team coaches that have been provided by MAN Truck & Bus. Sports sponsorship has now become an established corporate communications tool for us and helps to imbue our brands with emotion and to afford them a strong position in the market," concluded Hartmut Sander.