Major ambulance order for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles

Over the next two years the Scottish Ambulance Service will take delivery of up to 180 Volkswagen LT46 coach-built ambulances. The order, worth in the region of £4.5 million, will increase the number of Volkswagen front-line ambulances within the service’s fleet to 340, which is over 70 per cent of its operational Accident & Emergency units.

The Volkswagen LTs are replacing the Scottish Ambulance Service’s older Mercedes-Benz and Ford A&E ambulances. The investment follows the purchase of an initial fleet of LTs in 2002. Many of the new ambulances are already operational, responding to 999 calls and attending to critically ill patients all over Scotland.

A significant factor in the success of the Volkswagen LT46 ambulance is the performance of the 2.8-litre TDI 158 PS common-rail diesel engine. This four-cylinder turbocharged unit provides exceptional power and impressive amounts of torque, resulting in quicker response times.

‘Since purchasing our first batch of Volkswagen LT46 ambulances in 2002, we’ve been very impressed with their performance as frontline A&E units,’ said Mike Jackson, the General Manager of Fleet Service for Scottish Ambulance. ‘In addition to the quality engineering and efficient operating costs of the LT46, we’ve received excellent support from Volkswagen and its dealers in Scotland.’

UV Modular of Brighouse in West Yorkshire, the UK’s leading supplier of coach-built emergency vehicles, builds the Volkswagen LT46 ambulances. On to the chassis of the Volkswagen LT46, UV Modular constructs a Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) body with steel frame. The vast array of equipment fitted includes air conditioning; sophisticated electrical power management equipment; communications equipment; and a large quantity of medical and patient-caring apparatus.

The vehicles are built to conform to CEN (Certification of European Norm) standards; this dictates that all cabinetry and equipment within the vehicle remains intact in the event of a collision.

The Scottish Ambulance Service is supplied by a number of Volkswagen Van Centres throughout Scotland, part of a UK network of over 70 dedicated Volkswagen Van Centres.