Due to the pandemic, «global bus markets recorded a significant decline of almost 40 percent in 2020 and the core markets of Daimler Buses of 45 percent. With a good 20,200 complete buses and chassis sold, sales in fiscal year 2020 were almost 40 percent below the strong sales result of the prior year». Daimler Buses today unveiled the group’s results concerning the difficult 2020.
In the core European market (EU 30: European Union, Norway, Switzerland), the coach market fell by almost 60 percent in 2020 compared to the prior year. A downward trend was also noticeable in the city bus and intercity bus segments (in Europe it was around 10 per cent). In this framework, although losing sales volumes, Daimler Buses says the group was «once again the undisputed market leader in the EU 30 (European Union, Norway, Switzerland), as well as in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Turkey. Sales in Germany were also satisfactory last year. With a full 3,000 units sold, sales were at the prior-year level. The reason being that the city bus business was a very good».
Large order received in 2020
The group underlines that it received in 2020 «numerous large orders, despite the challenging market situation. In 2020 Daimler Buses was awarded a contract for a total of 415 city and intercity bus units for Israel and 500 city buses for Morocco. Furthermore, the first of a total of 112 intercity buses for Sweden were delivered in December. The bus business expanded its product portfolio in 2020 with the Mercedes-Benz Intouro. This intercity bus is not only more economical in terms of fuel consumption, it is also the first bus from Mercedes-Benz to be equipped with the Active Brake Assist 5, or ABA 5 in short»
2020: the year of the eCitaro articulated
2020 has been the year of the launch for the Mercedes eCitaro articulated version and of the new solid-state battery, provided by BlueSolutions. In the next announced step, Daimler Buses is launching the eCitaro with a fuel cell as a range extender. In addition to the electrification of its fleet, «Daimler Buses is working on further reducing the CO2 emissions of future generations of vehicles. Daimler Buses’ goal of reducing fuel consumption in coaches and city buses by more than 18 tons and by 20 percent from 2005 to 2020 was 90 percent achieved for touring coaches and 100 percent for city buses, the latter thanks in large part to the introduction of the Mercedes-Benz Citaro hybrid» the company highlights.
Daimler Buses, the partnership with IVU
By means of strategically meaningful and targeted partnerships, such as with IVU Traffic Technologies AG, «Daimler Buses also looks to develop new business areas in the field of mobility solutions that contribute to the transformation of the bus industry. Together, we will promote the use of electrically powered buses in public transport. In November 2020 Daimler Buses and IVU won the first full e-mobility project, which is currently being implemented».
Till Oberwörder, Head of Daimler Buses: «The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the entire bus industry in the past year and the situation in global bus markets will remain tense in 2021 as well. Our broad and worldwide positioning with a comprehensive product portfolio helps us in relation to the countermeasures we have taken, such as maintaining cost discipline. In the year 2021 we will continue to “drive by sight” and remain confident. When the pandemic is behind us people will want to travel again, which will normalize our business. At the same time, we are not mortgaging our future and continue to invest in our strategic projects such as CO2-neutral mobility. Our goal is to shape the transformation in our industry and to put sustainable and efficient mobility solutions on the road».
