September 2011
Ci Munro wins bid to build ambulances for St John
Tourism Holdings Ltd (thl) Ci Munro has been appointed by St John to supply ambulance vehicles for the next five years.
Ci Munro’s specialist transport engineering arm, Action Motor Bodies (AMB), will work in partnership with St John to
deliver world leading ambulance vehicles.
This is the first time St John has tendered its ambulance purchasing on a national basis, whereby one supplier will
provide a complete in-house turn-key solution and a national standard.
While the numbers are expected to change due to fleet rotation, Action Motor Bodies’s annual output for St John is
expected to exceed more than 50 new operational vehicles in the first 12 months alone with an estimated value of over
$6.8 million. The first new generation vehicles will go into service early September this year.
“We are delighted to be working with thl and to be keeping manufacturing business and its associated jobs in New
Zealand” says Jaimes Wood, CE of St John.
“We are renewing our fleet to ensure we are providing the very best service to New Zealanders.”
In order to get a better understanding of what is required, the team at Action Motor Bodies spent time with the
operational staff of St John before putting together a new design.
This feedback from St John will continue to be sought once the vehicles go into service, and be used for future
innovations that could be used in similar services products and markets.
The final result is a specialist medical vehicle with modern styling, the latest technology and a layout that supports
St John staff to provide the best possible patient care.
Made up of the latest composite materials and manufactured using methods seen more often in aviation than transport, the
most noticeable change will be the reduction to the overall operational weight of the vehicle.
Built for Kiwis by Kiwis, the new vehicle, based on a 318 Mercedes cab chassis will also have improvements made to
emergency and internal lighting as well as the placement of MDT’s (Mobile Data Terminals) and radios.
Grant Webster, CEO of thl says both organisations are committed to ensuring the success of the project over the years to
come.
“thl is thrilled to assist St John successfully continue their invaluable services to the community and we will provide
a first class turn-key design and build service for the ambulances.
We will deliver vehicles that provide outstanding patient safety and care enabling St John to continue their great
work”.
Jaimes Wood says that enlisting the help of Action Motor Bodies was an easy decision.
“Having engineers and ambulance officers working together on the design has been key. The team at Action Motor Bodies
provided us with the very best in design and technology but more importantly they put a lot of care and thought into
their plans and really understand the inner workings of what we do at St John.”
With its considerable experience in the transport engineering industry, Action Motor Bodies has risen to the challenge
of designing and building such specialised units.
ENDS