Looking to the future EvoBus

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

EvoBus GmbH is the largest European subsidiary of Daimler AG. With the brands Mercedes-Benz, Setra, OMNI plus and BusStore the company today is both a leading full-line supplier in the European bus and coach market as well as a growing global player. Evobus provides sustainable solutions for the mobility problems of the future. Romana Moares reports on the group’s activities in the Czech Republic, which are on the rise.

Daimler Buses is the world leader in the segment above 8t, with its brands Mercedes-Benz and Setra representing a long tradition and employing the latest manufacturing processes and technologies. Setra as a premium brand focuses on comfort, individuality and the highest standards in technology. Mercedes-Benz is considered a synonymum for safety, quality and innovative technology. The whole range provides attractive total cost of ownership and the highest environmental requirements.

The group’s numerous production sites and service centres today employ more than 8000 people in Europe. As part of Daimler Buses, EvoBus GmbH is embedded in the global bus activities of the Daimler Group.

EvoBus GmbH is the largest European subsidiary of Daimler AG and responsible for the European bus activities of the Daimler Group. The merger of Setra and Mercedes-Benz in 1995 paved the way for the success of EvoBus GmbH. Mercedes-Benz and Setra are among the pioneers of bus and coach production. Increased production facility

EvoBus Česká republika s.r.o. is responsible for the sales and service of Mercedes-Benz and Setra buses in the Czech Republic, as well as the production of body shell segments and bus components for all bus types of the Mercedes-Benz and Setra range in its production facility in Holýšov near Plzeň. The business employs around 400 people.

In 2012 Evobus opened a new modern production hall in Holysov, which expanded the production area by approximately 6000m2. The total production area now covers about 40,000m2 . The additional space is used for the new generation of coaches and further production.

“The Holýšov factory produces segments of body shell and components for urban low-floor buses, intercity buses of the MercedesBenz brand and all Setra buses and coaches. Currently we also produce body segments for Unimog trucks and commercial vehicles,” says Bülent Acicbe, the Czech plant manager. He further confirms

that in recent years the Czech company has been experiencing positive growth in sales as a consequence of growing bus markets. The plant increased the number of segments and components manufactured in 2014, approaching almost 7000 sets of body segments.

Continuous development

Daimler invests continuously in technological development. One of the biggest changes in the past few years has been the introduction of the Euro 6 engines, which has impacted all product lines from the city buses to coaches. The new buses meet the highest requirements for efficiency and safety. They are equipped with a range of active and passive safety device such as the Active Brake Assist 3rd generation (ABA 3), which can recognise an obstacle in the path of the bus and secure safe stopping, Lane Assist, Attention Assist and other innovative features. The body shell complies with European directive ECE R66 / 01, which defines the survival space in the rollover.

“We introduced a completely new bus concept – the Setra LE business – thus responding to rising market demand, which is also significant in the Czech Republic. Another new model will reflect the need for alternative fuel: the new Mercedes-Benz Citaro NGT will be driven by the new M 936 G engine for compressed natural gas (CNG). The new city bus will be presented at the international exhibition Busworld 2015 in October,” says Mr Acicbe.

New trends

The manufacturing plant in Holýšov is part of the European EvoBus production network and delivers its components to the plant in Mannheim, Germany. The final products are delivered throughout the world, as far away as Singapore or the USA, although the main market remains Europe.

“High quality in terms of raw materials and services is key for us, therefore we choose our suppliers very carefully. For the production of our buses we use only approved materials and technology which meet the highest quality standards set by Daimler, therefore our supplier relationships are very important to us. For our customers, we want to be a reliable partner for their business so we take care to offer top quality products and services at all times, such as our 24H Service,” says the plant manager.

He further explains that for the Czech plant, the strategy is to employ state-of-the-art technologies in order to meet all quality and efficiency requirements, to invest in improving the qualifications of current employees to reflect developing technologies and to increase the added value in Holysov for the European Production Network and Daimler overall. “We have a wide Euro 6 engine range, to which we will soon add a NGT engine. The trend is to develop low-emission hybrid and alternative drive systems and that is the way forward for us also,” he concludes. n