The FINANCIAL — The 2014 World Soccer Championship gradually approaches and metropolitan cities in Brazil are preparing themselves for the rise in traffic volumes during the mega sports event with infrastructural projects and fleet renewals, according to Daimler AG., a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and engines.
As part of this, Daimler´s subsidiary Mercedes-Benz do Brasil has received large orders for a total of 80 Mercedes-Benz buses. The buses are equipped with environmentally friendly BlueTec 5-technology and meet the PROCONVE P-7 exhaust standard, according to Daimler AG.
Already in 2012, Mercedes-Benz do Brasil came out on top in the segment of PROCONVE P-7 vehicles in Brazil with sales of over 5,200 buses. Last year, Daimler Buses sold around 17,800 units in Latin America and with a market share of around 43%, Daimler has asserted itself as the clear number one.
The current large orders of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil include 50 new buses of the model OF 1721 for the public transport company “Rodoviaria Caxanga” of Olinda City in northeastern Brazil. With around 1,000 buses, Rodoviaria Caxanga belongs to one of the largest regional fleet operators, “Empresa Metropolitana”, which is equipped predominatly with Mercedes-Benz buses.
“For the buses in our fleet we rely on extraordinary quality and total cost of ownership of the vehicles from Mercedes-Benz”, said Paulo Junior, Managing Director of Metropolitana.
The public transport company “VIP Transportes Urbano” in Brazil´s metropolitan region Sã o Paulo recently placed 30 new Mercedes-Benz low-floor articulated buses Type O500 in operation. The up to 23 meter-long, four-axle articulated buses can comfortably transport as many as 200 passengers due to the adequate space between the seating areas. At bus stations, the low-floor models enable comfortable entry at sidewalk level. The articulated buses of Mercedes-Benz are optimally fitted to the requirements of Bus Rapid Transit Systems (BRT) in which line vehicles travel in separate bus lanes to enable rapid transport of passengers in large cities.
“Such transport concepts are in great demand in Brazil in the framework of the important sports event. Nine of the twelve cities that will host games of the World Soccer Championship have opted for this system”, said Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses, adding, “We’re in business: The BRT market penetration with Mercedes-Benz urban buses is about 70% in Brazil.”
In 2012 the company delivered more than 520 urban buses to the major cities of Fortaleza and Riberão Preto. Rio de Janeiro received more than 90 articulated buses bearing the three-pointed star for its BRT system “Transoeste”, which was inaugurated last June, according to Daimler AG.
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