German Car Scene

10 YEARS OF THE MERCEDES-BENZ MINIBUS

Posted 28th November, 2008 in Mercedes-Benz | Leave a comment

On 18 October the workforce at Mercedes-Benz MiniBus GmbH celebrated “10 years of the Mercedes-Benz minibus”. EvoBus first entered the minibus segment in 1998, and today the 220 employees of this Dortmund-based company produce around 1200 vehicles annually. This gives the company an approx. 7 percent share of the European bus market for vehicles between 3.5 and 5 t gross vehicle weight. MiniBus GmbH combines line-based series production with the advantages of a high content of craftsmanship. Individual minibus solutions in traditional Mercedes-Benz quality are the keystone of the company’s success.

In 1998 EvoBus GmbH acquired a 49% shareholding in the bodybuilding company Karl Koch GmbH. Daimler had already been working together with this long-established bodybuilding specialist for more than 30 years. The plant in Mudersbach, Rhineland-Palatinate, became the company headquarters at the same time, and production of minibuses commenced at the Dortmund location in early 2000 under the management of EvoBus. In 2004 the business was taken over completely by EvoBus. To document the company’s integration into the Mercedes-Benz brand, it was re-registered under the name “Mercedes-Benz Minibus GmbH” on 1 February 2004. That same year the headquarters were relocated to Dortmund.
Since 2005 the production capacities at the Dortmund location have been consolidated and expanded by more than 50 %, with production changed over to line assembly owing to the high volume of business. The market launch of the current Sprinter generation from the end of 2006 started the most major model initiative in the history of the Dortmund company. Within just 18 months, a range of 12 minibus models was created in four new model series: the Sprinter Transfer, Sprinter Travel, Sprinter City and Sprinter Mobility. The two low-floor bus models Sprinter City 35 and 65 have been particularly successful in achieving market leadership in Europe.
Everything from a single source
The Mercedes-Benz minibus range is based on durable and robust large-scale series production technology, into which the latest developments from the Mercedes-Benz bus and van sectors are regularly incorporated. The basic minibuses, bodies and interior fixtures are produced completely under the aegis of the Mercedes-Benz brand, which means that a Mercedes-Benz minibus customer purchases a fully-finished vehicle from a single source. He therefore benefits from other brand-specific advantages, from the company’s development know-how and technological leadership to the Europe-wide After-Sales service which EvoBus provides with OmniPlus.
The worldwide bus business of Daimler AG is consolidated into the corporate division Daimler Buses, with EvoBus GmbH responsible for the European bus business. As a full-line manufacturer, EvoBus has a complete vehicle range extending from minibuses to articulated buses.

[Source: Daimler]