OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
- For the past 60 years Setra has been setting the trends for technological innovations and key improvements in bus manufacturing
- 100,000th Setra vehicle — the brand’s productivity and range of products have increased rapidly since it became a part of the Daimler Group
- Celebration of the 60th anniversary of the premium Daimler brand Setra, followed by a family day for the employees
Neu-Ulm, Germany, May 13, 2011 – In the 125th year after the invention of the automobile by Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, an internationally recognized bus brand is also celebrating its anniversary: Setra Bus in Ulm is turning 60. “Setra’s success is demonstrated by the fact that the brand has been best in class for the past 60 years,” said Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses, during the run-up to the big anniversary celebration. “We’re very proud of this achievement. The anniversary will be made all the more satisfying by the handover of the 100,000th Setra bus to a customer.” The ceremony will be held at the Setra Customer Center in Neu-Ulm on Friday, May 13.
Setra has invited around 800 guests to the event, including Andreas Renschler, the Daimler Board of Management Member in charge of Nutzfahrzeuggeschäft GmbH.
On Saturday, May 14, the company will hold a family day at the bus plant for the EvoBus employees from Ulm, Neu-Ulm, and Stuttgart. Visitors can look forward to the “transparent factory” and a big evening event. Sixty years ago, Otto Kässbohrer, who was at that time the managing partner of the former company Karl Kässbohrer Fahrzeugwerke GmbH in Ulm, launched the first integral bus with a unitized body.
Known as the S8, this first Setra was presented at the Frankfurt Auto Show in April 1951. The vehicle can look back on a very successful history and remains Daimler’s premium product for the bus segment to this day. During these 60 years, the brand has launched a total of five bus series on the market.
To date, Setra has manufactured 100,000 units of its comfortable leading travel coach. The milestone vehicle, a three-axle TopClass 400 S 416 HDH, will be handed over during the anniversary celebration at the Setra Customer Center in Neu-Ulm on Friday evening. The bus will be presented to the bus operator Baumeister-Knese of Ulm, one of the brand’s long-standing customers.
The establishment of EvoBus GmbH, Stuttgart, on February 23, 1995, was the start of a new era for Setra, which was jointly founded by the company then known as Mercedes-Benz AG, Stuttgart, and Karl Kässbohrer Fahrzeugwerke GmbH, Ulm. The creation of EvoBus enabled Setra, which is one of Europe’s most renowned bus brands, to be very successful.
In 2003, EvoBus GmbH and its Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands were integrated into Daimler Buses, the world’s largest bus manufacturer. Since then, the company has consistently enhanced Europe’s two most notable bus brands and their product ranges. Setra has greatly benefited from the technological leadership and entrepreneurial strength of the world’s leading commercial vehicle company. In the 15 years since EvoBus was established, Setra has not only launched more than 15 models of the former 300 series, but also 22 models of the 400 series introduced in 2001.
Daimler Buses sells about 40,000 complete buses and chassis every year. One of the chief reasons for the unit’s success is undoubtedly the European production network encompassing six plants in Germany, France, Spain, Turkey, and the Czech Republic. The network is headed by Wolfgang Hänle, Managing Director of Production at Daimler Buses in Ulm. Referring to this demanding concentration of bus-specific production processes, Hänle said that “it was crucial for this production network to incorporate the successful Setra and Mercedes-Benz workforces from the very start, because the employees have a lot of expertise for ensuring the reliability and quality of both of the brands’ products.”
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