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Daimler Buses North America Reports Continued Success in 2008

Daimler Buses North America has continued its impressive growth from last year, recording its highest-ever sales figures for a calendar year in 2008.

Building off of a successful 2007, Daimler Buses reported increased revenue to $566 million (USD) in 2008. All vehicle brands (Orion, Setra and Sprinter) continued to show year-over-year growth, fueling the improved results. 1,210 units were delivered in 2008, while aftermarket parts also enjoyed a healthy improvement vs. 2007.

“Thanks to a strong first three quarters of the year, we were able to
withstand the down economy in the fourth quarter and yield good results for Daimler Buses North America once again in 2008,” said Dr. Andreas Strecker, chief executive officer and president of Daimler Buses North America. “Our staff worked hard placing an emphasis on quality and overall customer satisfaction for our Orion, Setra and Sprinter brands.”

“The entire organization played an integral role in achieving our positive results in 2008 and our
integrated sales, service and parts teams continued to provide value added benefits to our customers,” said Patrick Scully, chief commercial officer for Daimler Buses North America. “Customers continue to see the benefits of reliable transportation products as we make investments in technology and after sales support.”

Brand Highlights:

Transit Brand – Orion:

Daimler Buses North America’s transit bus brand Orion continued its lead
as the world’s largest producer of diesel-electric hybrid buses. With over
2,800 units either in service or on order, Orion is the hybrid bus of choice for North American cities. In 2008, Daimler Buses North America introduced the Orion VII diesel-electric hybrid transit bus with lithium-ion energy storage system and EPA 2010 technology at the 2008 APTA Expo in San Diego. Lithium-ion provides the best power and energy density of battery technologies available today. The batteries are lightweight and longer-lasting. Weighing 3,000 pounds less than the previous design, lithium-ion batteries offer a significant boost in fuel efficiency since a lighter vehicle gets more mileage from a gallon of fuel. Battery life is also expected to last more than
five years.

Daimler Buses has drawn upon its extensive worldwide network to utilize the best practices in incorporating the EPA 2010 technology as other markets are already using Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology. Being able to learn from our colleagues in these other markets allows us to eliminate costly mistakes, as well as utilize proven components and systems. This will translate to improved reliability and durability for our customers.

SCR is the process of converting NOx into nitrogen and water vapor. Since SCR considerably reduces the NOx in the flow of exhaust gas, engine combustion can be optimized to achieve higher performance with favorable fuel economy and reduced particulate emissions.

“The Orion brand has historically been known for dependability and reliability, and the Orion VII continues this tradition of excellence,” said Scully.

Motorcoach Brand – Setra:

The luxury motorcoach brand Setra experienced yet another solid year in new motorcoach sales in North America. The Setra S 417 continued to exceed expectations in North America, and most notably was the increase in the number of units sold in Canada compared to 2006 and 2007.

“The Setra S 417 is known for operational success, luxury and quality,”
said Tom Chezem, vice president of motorcoach sales for Daimler Buses North America. “Setra operators are seeing first hand that having the
Setra S 417 luxury motorcoach in their market can provide an added value, thus ultimately increasing their premium motorcoach business, producing higher demand and revenues.”

In pre-owned motorcoach sales, Daimler Buses reported a 12-percent increase in sales compared to the previous year.
“Motorcoaches from Daimler Buses are known to carry quality, and this holds true to our line of pre-owned coaches,” said Tom Chezem. “Our pre-owned customers have noticed that Daimler Buses provides affordable luxury in our selling of quality pre-owned products.”

Shuttle Brand – Sprinter:

In 2008 Daimler Buses increased its Sprinter Shuttle bus sales over twofold. The Sprinter Shuttle bus with side-entry wheelchair access made its debut at the 2008 APTA Expo in San Diego. The Sprinter’s side-entry wheelchair lift access door matches the vehicles body lines, maintaining the vehicle’s modern, streamlined design.

“There has been a strong demand for a side entry wheelchair lift with the Sprinter shuttle bus and we are happy to now offer this feature,” said Kevin Dawson, Sprinter product manager for Daimler Buses North America. “The Sprinter shuttle bus with side entry wheelchair lift continues to offer the same unsurpassed reliability and fuel economy as our other Sprinter shuttle buses and joins an already available rear lift to the available products for accessibility.”

The ADA-compliant Sprinter with side entry wheelchair lift offers seating for eight passengers, plus driver with two wheelchairs or 14 passengers, plus driver. The ease of entry and egress via the side lift makes the Sprinter shuttle bus an ideal alternative for an agency with paratransit needs. Further, the Sprinter shuttle bus leads the market in fuel economy with over 20 mpg as typical experience for operators.

Parts and Service:

Daimler Buses continued to grow its aftermarket parts business with a significant improvement in revenue from 2007. The parts division consists of transit, motorcoach and shuttle bus parts sales.

In 2008, Daimler Buses also saw substantial sales growth from the Orlando Metro Service Center. The Orlando Metro Service Center offers customers a trusted state-of-the-art service facility for motorcoach, bus and other commercial vehicles service and repairs. The staff has been awarded the Blue Seal of Excellence, the highest level of certification from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. This is the highest level of certification from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. To qualify, 75% of the service professionals employed at the business must be ASE certified, and have at least one master technician on staff, though Daimler Buses boasts having two master technicians at this location.

“We treat our parts and service customers as family,” said Sherman Williams, director of parts for Daimler Buses North America. “We take care of our customers through excellent customer service by providing competitive pricing and original high-quality parts.”

A Global Perspective:

From a global perspective, Daimler’s worldwide bus organization announced that bus and coach sales for the Setra, Orion and Mercedes-Benz brands sold 40,600 vehicles in 2008.