The Netherlands Places Order for 75 Natural Gas Powered Daimler Buses

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:46:38 +0000

Daimler Buses has once again won two contracts, and as a result it will deliver a total of 425 buses to the Netherlands by December. The biggest contract from the Netherlands to date is for 350 Mercedes-Benz urban and intercity buses, which were ordered by Qbuzz, a private bus operator with headquarters in Amersfoort. The vehicles will be employed in the provinces of Drenthe and Groningen. The second major contract is for 75 natural gas-powered Mercedes-Benz urban buses, which were ordered by Connexxion, the Netherlands’ largest public transport company, with headquarters in Hilversum. The environmentally friendly low-emission natural gas buses will be employed in the Arnhem-Nijmegen region.

“We’re very happy about the two big orders from the Netherlands,” says Hartmut Schick, head of Daimler Buses. “They show that our high-quality and environmentally friendly buses are also successful in economically challenging times. As a result, we will be able to fully utilize the production capacity of our European plants until the end of the year.”

Daimler Buses will manufacture Mercedes-Benz brand urban and intercity buses for the two customers. Qbuzz has ordered Citaro LE and Citaro NF solo and articulated urban buses with a low-floor design. The Citaro LE and NF solo vehicles are 12 meters long, while the Citaro NF articulated vehicles are 18 meters long, offering seating for up to 53 passengers. The economical low-emission buses are equipped with the pioneering Mercedes-Benz BlueTec SCR diesel technology and meet the Euro 5 and EEV (Enhanced Environmentally Friendly Vehicle) emissions limits. Qbuzz has also ordered Mercedes-Benz Integro intercity buses, which are 12 meters long and offer seating for 47 passengers. The Mercedes-Benz Integro is an appealing and profitable solution for the bus operator, thanks to the low operating costs, high quality standards, great versatility, and long service life of the vehicle and its components. The whole contract is being financed through Daimler Financial Services Netherlands, while the EvoBus Service partner Wensink will repair and maintain the vehicles.

The other customer, Connexxion, is also focusing on environmental friendliness with its order of 75 natural gas-powered Mercedes-Benz Citaro CNG urban buses. Daimler Buses will be delivering two variants of the Citaro CNG: a solo bus measuring 12 meters and an articulated bus measuring 18 meters. The solo vehicle’s engine has an output of 185 kW (252 hp), while the articulated bus is equipped with a drive generating 240 kW (326 hp). The contract for 75 vehicles consists of 69 solo buses and six articulated buses, all of which generate very low emissions and meet the EEV standard. In total, more than 1,200 Mercedes-Benz Citaro CNG buses are in use by customers

Daimler Receives Order for 93 Diesel-Electric Hybrid & 75 Clean Diesel Buses

admin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:50:54 +0000

Daimler Bus

Daimler Buses North America announced today that they have recently received orders for more than 300 transit buses, motorcoaches, and shuttle buses. The biggest contract was awarded by the mass transit company King County Metro in Seattle, which ordered 93 of the extremely environmentally friendly Orion VII diesel-electric hybrid buses for delivery in 2010. Once the current order is completed, more than 2,500 Orion hybrid buses will be on the road in North America.

Patrick Scully, Chief Commercial Officer for Daimler Buses North America had this to say;

We are pleased seeing repeat orders and also seeing new customers joining the Daimler family in our latest wave of bus orders. We provide a unique advantage for customers by providing a diverse, full-line product portfolio that allows customers to work with one, solid company.

Another major contract was awarded by the globally operating transport company Veolia Transportation, which ordered 75 Orion VII clean diesel transit buses. Compass Transportation, a division of Veolia, ordered 30 Setra S 417 motorcoaches and 15 Sprinter shuttle buses. An additional 80 Orion diesel hybrid buses were ordered by OC Transpo, the urban transit service of the City of Ottawa, Ontario.

The more than 300 orders represent a variety of products, configurations, delivery timeframes, and customers. In addition to orders for Orion VII diesel hybrid buses and clean diesel buses, a contract was also awarded for five natural gas-powered Orion VII CNG transit buses, which will be delivered to CART (Cleveland Area Rapid Transit).

“Daimler remains committed to promoting clean drive technologies,” says Andreas Strecker, President and CEO of Daimler Buses North America. “These additional orders for the Orion VII diesel-electric hybrid bus further maintain Daimler’s position as the world’s hybrid bus leader — a position that we intend to retain through product excellence and continued innovative firsts.” The major contracts were awarded as part of Daimler’s “Shaping Future Transportation” initiative for commercial vehicles. With this initiative, the company aims to use clean and efficient drive systems along with alternative fuels in order to realize zero-emission commercial vehicles for tomorrow’s transportation needs. The initiative includes using resources sparingly and reducing emissions of every kind while at the same time guaranteeing maximum traffic safety.

Daimler Buses North America, headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, is part of Daimler Buses and combines three bus brands under one corporate structure: Orion transit buses, Setra motorcoaches, and the Sprinter shuttle bus.

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The Netherlands Places Order for 75 Natural Gas Powered Daimler Buses

Daimler Receives Order for 93 Diesel-Electric Hybrid & 75 Clean Diesel Buses