Annual Report 2019

Slight increase in unit sales

Daimler Buses sold 32,600 buses and bus chassis worldwide in financial year 2019 (2018: 30,900). The slight increase was due in particular to the noticeable recovery of the market in Brazil, ongoing strong demand in our important EU30 market and substantial sales growth in Argentina. A market-related decrease in demand in Turkey had a negative impact on our unit sales. The division was able to maintain its market leadership in its most important traditional core markets (EU30, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico). Revenue increased by 5 % to €4.7 billion and EBIT of €283 million was slightly higher than in the previous year (2018: €265 million). Return on sales was 6.0 % (2018: 5.9 %).

C.07 Daimler Buses

C.08 Unit sales Daimler Buses

Varied business development in the core regions

In the EU30 region, the Daimler Buses brands Mercedes-Benz and Setra offer a complete range of city buses, intercity buses and touring coaches, as well as bus chassis in certain markets. Due to continued high demand for our complete buses, sales in this region amounted to 9,300 units, which equaled the high figure recorded in the prior year (2018: 9,300). Daimler Buses defended its leading market position in the EU30 region with a market share of 27.5 % (2018: 29.0 %). At 3,000 units, sales in Germany were 5 % higher than in the previous year. However, sales in Turkey were significantly lower than in the previous year (2018: 300) due to the country’s economic situation, which remains difficult. The market situation in Latin America (excluding Mexico) improved further on account of the noticeable market recovery in Brazil. Sales of Mercedes-Benz bus chassis in Brazil rose by 30 % to 11,400 units. We were able to strengthen our leading market position in Brazil with a market share of 53.8 % (2018: 51.6 %). Sales of 1,600 units in Argentina were significantly above the prior-year level (2018: 1,300), despite a significantly contracting market in the country. We sold 1,600 units in India, thus equaling the previous year’s sales (2018: 1,600). Sales of 2,600 units in Mexico were significantly lower than in the previous year (2018: 3,200).

Complete e-mobility system from Daimler Buses offers practical public transport solutions

Daimler Buses offers its customers tailor-made solutions for locally emission-free public transport by providing them with a complete system for electric mobility that consists of the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro and a broad range of consulting services. The battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro, which has been manufactured in series production at the Mannheim plant since 2018, offers cities and transport companies the possibility of converting their fleets to locally emission-free operation. The battery-powered city bus therefore stands for environmentally friendly public transport and helps to improve air quality, and thus the quality of life, in urban areas.

The orders received for the eCitaro already number in the hundreds, which demonstrates the high level of customer acceptance of the electric bus. As a result, in 2019, Daimler Buses received a number of major orders for the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro, such as those comprising 56 units for Wiesbaden, 48 for Hanover, 27 for Aachen and 25 for Hamburg. The first orders from European cities outside Germany for the battery-electric eCitaro buses were also received. Today, eCitaro buses are already in regular service in cities including not only Berlin and Hamburg but also Oslo, Ystad (Sweden) and St. Gallen (Switzerland).

We plan to continuously refine the eCitaro in order to make the bus even more practical for regular service operation in cities. Depending on its intended use, the eCitaro can currently be ordered with as many as 12 battery packs. This results in a range of up to 170 kilometers in typical city driving conditions on a single battery charge. A further model variant of the eCitaro - an articulated bus that can accommodate up to 145 passengers - will be launched in 2020. Plans have already been made to convert the eCitaro to the use of new technologies such as powerful lithium-ion batteries and solid-state batteries in the coming years.

Because the electrification of bus fleets requires transport companies to make major changes, Daimler Buses’ overall e-mobility system also includes a comprehensive customer-advisory approach. More specifically, the e-Mobility Consulting team defines individual operation scenarios by taking into account route length, passenger volume, energy requirements, range calculations and charging management, among other things. Customers receive service support as well - in the form of eco-training courses for drivers, for example.

Range extension by means of fuel cells is being funded by a national innovation program

Daimler Buses is making use of an intelligent combination of batteries and fuel cells as it continues to develop the battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro city bus. This will enable the vehicle range to be further increased by using a fuel cell to generate electricity from hydrogen stored onboard the vehicle. The development of this technology is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure within the framework of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology National Innovation Program. The objective of the program is to support the market launch of initial products needed for the implementation of hydrogen and fuel-cell systems in various application areas.

Launch of online shop for bus spare parts

OMNIplus ON, the digital service portal from Daimler Buses, has launched its integrated online shop for replacement bus parts. The new OMNIplus eShop offers the entire range of parts for the Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands. In addition, because the system is fully incorporated into the OMNIplus ON customer portal, it already knows the specific fleet belonging to the person or company that places an order.

Numerous major orders received

Daimler Buses received a large number of major orders in the year under review. In Poland, for example, Daimler Buses was able to sign contracts for delivery of 48 Mercedes-Benz Citaro city buses to Gdańsk and 50 Citaro G articulated buses to Wrocław. A transportation company in Austria took delivery of 64 Mercedes-Benz city buses for the Vienna metropolitan area. The EMT Madrid transport company in the Spanish capital is already successfully operating several hundred Mercedes-Benz Citaro NGT buses equipped with gaseous-fuel drive systems. This number is to be increased through an additional major order for up to 672 environmentally friendly city buses in 2020. During the year under review, Daimler also received a major order from Bucharest, Romania for a total of 130 low-floor Citaro hybrid city buses. The city of Essen in Germany renewed its city bus fleet with the purchase of 45 Citaro hybrid buses, while the city of Trier signed an agreement for delivery of 90 Mercedes-Benz Citaro city buses. Daimler Buses also began fulfilling a major order for Hamburg by delivering the first of a total of 60 CapaCity L buses to the city. Daimler Buses also obtained major orders in other markets around the globe, including an order for 44 Euro VI chassis for delivery to Sydney, Australia. Daimler Buses is to deliver a total of 147 buses to Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, by the end of 2020. Finally, the Bus Rapid Transit System in Santiago de Chile placed a major order with Daimler Buses for delivery of 490 buses to the Chilean capital.

Award-winning products from Daimler Buses

Two models from Daimler Buses received an ETM Award in the 2019 readers’ survey conducted by the EuroTransportMedia (ETM) commercial vehicles publishing company. The Mercedes-Benz eCitaro and the Mercedes-Benz Citaro LE/Ü/hybrid captured first place in the electric bus and intercity bus categories, respectively. The battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro, the Mercedes-Benz Citaro hybrid and the Setra TopClass S 531 DT double-decker bus were all selected by the jury for the “internationaler busplaner Nachhaltigkeitspreise” (International ‘Busplaner’ Sustainability Awards) as the best buses in their respective categories. Daimler Buses was also presented with three awards at the Busworld Europe international bus show in Brussels. The eCitaro received the “Sustainable Bus Award 2020” in the “Urban” category from an international jury, which also awarded the Setra S 531 DT double-decker bus and the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro the “Comfort Label.” In addition, the Mercedes Benz eCitaro achieved an outstanding second-place finish in the “BEST OF mobility 2019” readers’ survey.