2023-09 SUSTAINABLE BUS

OUTLOOKS
Therefore, it is essential to redistribute
production, increasing the specialization
of each plant and improving a margin that
is still not sufficient. Another announcement
from Munich’s product marketing is
the stop to Euro VII engines for city buses:
this is rather curious, since the engine
used on all line buses (including intercity
buses) is the nine-liter engine presented in
2018. Rumors see in the future the use of
Scania engines on the entire Traton group.
MERCEDES-SETRA
The last brand to build most of its buses
in Germany, Daimler has recently decided
to relocate part of its production to
the Czech Republic, specializing the current
German plants in the design and manufacturing
of alternative traction vehicles.
Basically, from 2024, Mannheim
will be a center of excellence specialized
in BEV and FCEV buses, while all tradi-
tional vehicles will be moved to Holýšov
where, from 2028, all the bodies for all
the group’s European plants will be manufactured.
All with a precise investment
plan in Germany (150 million) with the
maintenance of minimum employment.
The reduction in production in Mannheim
will however be compensated for by an
increase in the construction of components
for the entire group and the Setra
Top Class will remain in Neu-Ulm. From
the official press releases, however, it is
not clear where the Citaro diesels will
be manufactured starting next year: if
Mannheim only makes electric buses,
will production already go to the Czech
Republic? What happens to the French
factory in Ligny-en-Barrois? We will see
it in the coming months. One thing is certain:
the development of new technologies
remains entirely in Germany, at least
for the next ten years, and it will also concern
battery and H2 coaches.
IVECO
customization point for buses destined
for our market, but without body construction
lines. This is perhaps a gamble
from a strategic point of view, but also a
transition point towards a future that is
not clear to anyone, least of all to those
who manage (quite well) the demands of
today’s market but do not seem to declare
any new medium-long term projects. Just
like businesses for sale do.
BYD
The saturated production
lines of Vysoke Myto in
the Czech Republic have
prompted Iveco Bus to
collaborate since 2022
with Otokar. A special line
of KTL (cataphoresis) has
been installed to create the
normal-floor interurban and
manufacture the Streetway,
derived from Otokar Kent.
The fifth European manufacturer
of buses over 8
tons comes from a 3-year
period of constant decline
in original vehicles registered.
This is quantifiable
in a minus 35 percent since
2019, compared to a Scania
bus turnover that for 90
percent is made of vehicles
built through bodywork
partnerships all over the
world. The choice is then
to concentrate investments
on engines, chassis and
technological parts, making
more use of partners.
BYD has opened and then
closed (once a large order
had been completed) a
plant in France. Now it
launched a e-bus with
Castrosua body.
On sale for years, at least unofficially,
Iveco has survived better than other
manufacturers thanks to its most successful
bus ever: the Crossway, which
was intelligently also proposed in CNG
and, lastly, electric variants. The perpetually
saturated production lines of
Vysoke Myto in the Czech Republic have
prompted the Italian-French group to collaborate
since last year with the Turkish
Otokar, where a special line of KTL (cataphoresis)
has been installed to create the
normal-floor interurban and manufacture
the Streetway, derived from the Otokar
Kent. For the other ‘surviving’ models
(remember that Iveco has exited the Class
III segment if not for some Evadys), it
makes use (less and less) of the former
Renault factory in Annonay as well as
of the collaboration of Heuliez, which in
the meantime has become a development
center for electric buses. The new Foggia
plant, in southern Italy, should also be
mentioned. It is the final assembly and
The only Chinese company with production
plants located, at least partially,
in Europe, is also the one who has
shown the most discontinuity in recent
years. After the plant in France which
opened and then closed (once a large order
had been completed) and the main one
in Hungary, BYD gets around some European
protectionist limits by assembling
where it is most convenient, following
that concept of ‘microfactories’ distributed
throughout the territory, with the only
task of producing close to the customer.
Whether it is a winning choice we do not
know, but it is curious that, on the occasion
of the last UITP congress in Barcelona,
BYD presented an electric bus with
a Castrosua body, the Nelec, declaring it
technically and commercially suitable for
all of Europe. Even more curious is the
fact that the Nelec already existed on Scania
parts, as if to confirm that the future
is (again) in bodybuilders. Will it really
be like this?
eDAILY Minibus
Free a new energy
. JUST ELECTRIC
100% Connected & Assisted
- Advanced and smart assistance systems
- Tailor-made Maintenance & Repair offer
Sustainable & Energetic
- Zero emission and battery capacity
up to 111 kWh
- Optimized operational-costs
Versatile & Flexible
- Compact solution for short lines
with low passengers’ capacity missions
Strong & Powerful
- Unique body-on-frame chassis
- 140 kW motor with Hi Power boost
and Eco mode
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