Winning Across the Board: Public Transportation Services in Brazil Rely on Mercedes-Benz Buses

Stuttgart / São Paulo: The 2014 World Soccer Championship gradually approaches and metropolitan cities in Brazil are preparing themselves for the rise in traffic volumes during the mega sports event with infrastructural projects and fleet renewals. As part of this, Daimler´s subsidiary Mercedes-Benz do Brasil has received large orders for a total of 80 Mercedes-Benz buses. The buses are equipped with environmentally friendly BlueTec 5-technology and meet the PROCONVE P-7 exhaust standard.

Advertisement

Already in 2012, Mercedes-Benz do Brasil came out on top in the segment of PROCONVE P-7 vehicles in Brazil with sales of over 5,200 buses. Last year, Daimler Buses sold around 17,800 units in Latin America and with a market share of around 43%, Daimler has asserted itself as the clear number one.

80 Mercedes-Benz Buses for Public Transport in Brazil

The current large orders of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil include 50 new buses of the model OF 1721 for the public transport company “Rodoviaria Caxanga” of Olinda City in northeastern Brazil. With around 1,000 buses, Rodoviaria Caxanga belongs to one of the largest regional fleet operators, “Empresa Metropolitana”, which is equipped predominatly with Mercedes-Benz buses.

“For the buses in our fleet we rely on extraordinary quality and total cost of ownership of the vehicles from Mercedes-Benz”, said Paulo Junior, Managing Director of Metropolitana.

The public transport company “VIP Transportes Urbano” in Brazil´s metropolitan region São Paulo recently placed 30 new Mercedes-Benz low-floor articulated buses Type O500 in operation. The up to 23 meter-long, four-axle articulated buses can comfortably transport as many as 200 passengers due to the adequate space between the seating areas. At bus stations, the low-floor models enable comfortable entry at sidewalk level. The articulated buses of Mercedes-Benz are optimally fitted to the requirements of Bus Rapid Transit Systems (BRT) in which line vehicles travel in separate bus lanes to enable rapid transport of passengers in large cities.

“Such transport concepts are in great demand in Brazil in the framework of the important sports event. Nine of the twelve cities that will host games of the World Soccer Championship have opted for this system”, said Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses, adding, “We’re in business: The BRT market penetration with Mercedes-Benz urban buses is about 70% in Brazil.”

In 2012 the company delivered more than 520 urban buses to the major cities of Fortaleza and Riberão Preto. Rio de Janeiro received more than 90 articulated buses bearing the three-pointed star for its BRT system “Transoeste”, which was inaugurated last June.

Lotus Award 2013 as Overall Winner in the Bus Segment

The tried and tested BlueTec 5-technology has helped Mercedes-Benz to win the “Lotus Award 2013” in three bus categories in Brazil – as “Brand of the Year” for city buses and coaches as well as overall winner in the bus segment. The coveted national Lotus Award is presented annually by the “Editora Frota” publishing house, which publishes the “Frota&Cia” specialist magazine for the transport sector. The scores were awarded mainly on the basis of the criteria `customer satisfaction´ and the `number of new registrations´.

About Mercedes-Benz do Brasil

At the plant in São Bernardo do Campo, Daimler AG manufactures trucks, bus chassis and aggregate systems such as engines, transmissions and axles, as well as truck driver cabs. Another site is located in Juiz de Fora, which is also a part of the worldwide commercial vehicles production network of Mercedes-Benz. Since 2012, the Mercedes-Benz Actros and the Accelo light-duty truck are produced at the site for the Latin American market to enable full realization of the future growth potential.

Further information from Daimler is available at: www.media.daimler.com and www.daimler.com

Ansprechpartner: Uta Leitner
Telefon: +49 711 17 4 15 26
Fax: +49 711 17 5 20 06
E-Mail: uta.leitner@daimler.com

Ansprechpartner: Simonette Illi
Telefon: +49 711 1783326
Fax: +49 711 1751607
E-Mail: simonette.illi@daimler.com