Daimler Buses has announced it is establishing a new wholly owned subsidiary, to be known as Daimler Buses Solutions, to specialise in designing and building e-infrastructure, because it says electrified buses can only achieve their full performance potential when they are embedded in a well-planned and coordinated system.
Daimler says as a result existing expertise is being pooled in the subsidiary and that its stand-alone status and entrepreneurial freedom will provide for faster growth and short decision-making processes, making it more like a start-up than a part of a global automotive giant.
Dietrich Müller, the former head of e‑systems at Daimler Buses, will take the role of managing director at Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH.
The move was announced at the UITP Global Public Transportation Summit in Barcelona by Daimler Buses CEO, Till Oberwörder, CEO , along with senior executives including head of marketing, sales and customer services, Mirko Sgodda, and Dietrich Müller.
Daimler says the company will serve customers across Europe and says that in cooperation with partners, the entire e‑infrastructure will be supplied from a single source. The company added that if requested by customers, construction of the electrified depots can also be implemented independently of brands.
“At Daimler Buses we have a clear e-roadmap with regard to our products. Our strategic approach to electrification goes far beyond the vehicle itself,” Till Oberwörder said.
“Our customers not only require electric buses, but also complete solutions for operating e-fleets. We are a genuine trailblazer with our offerings and we are channeling this experience into our new subsidiary,” he added.
“With Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH, our desire is to further expand the business area and provide the unit with maximum entrepreneurial freedom within a dynamic market environment,” Oberwörder concluded.
Mirko Sgodda: said the company can only drive forward the transformation together with its customers if it can offer a perfectly coordinated overall package of e-buses and ecosystem.
“We are already providing transport companies with complete turnkey e-systems today. In line with the growing number of electrically powered buses, however, the complexity of electric infrastructure is also increasing,” Sgodda added.
“The pooling of all activities into one powerful business unit is an important milestone in optimally shaping our service portfolio for the future,” he added.
Daimler says that its aim is to provide a turnkey electromobility solution from a single source and that transport companies need a holistic approach to e-mobility.
It added that this is the only way to ensure smooth operation of electrically powered buses.
The company said that can supply the entire e-system from a single source, from a custom-configured electric bus to the complete e-infrastructure for depots, including construction measures, electrical installations, chargers, battery storage facilities, charging management systems, and other digital services.
As a next step, Daimler says the portfolio will be additionally expanded to include services covering all aspects of the infrastructure required to operate buses with hydrogen-based fuel cell drives or range extenders.
“Experienced consultants will work with transport companies to determine where electrification should start and where it is most needed. Using a specially developed simulation program, the experts carry out feasibility studies based on customer-specific data, use them to create individual operating and charging concepts, and implement them on site,” said Dietrich Müller.
“We need to continuously develop our existing e-infrastructure service portfolio and scale it to meet demand. This will enable us to continue providing our customers with innovative solutions for their individual requirements,” Müller added.
“With the Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH, we have created the ideal conditions for this,” he said
Müller studied industrial engineering and has been with Daimler Truck since 2000 and after various positions in product and marketing management at Mercedes-Benz Trucks, he became CEO of Daimler FleetBoard in 2014., before taking over responsibility for the connectivity concepts of the bus division as the head of a global digitalization initiative in 2017. he became CEO of Mercedes-Benz Minibus GmbH from 2019 to the end of 2021 and since August 2022, he has been head of E-Systems at Daimler Buses.
Although Mercedes-Benz is not currently engaged in the bus business in Australia its eCitaro city bus has been in series production since 2018 and from this year it says the bus will also be available with a hydrogen-based fuel cell as a range extender.
In addition, by 2030 Daimler says it aims to offer battery or hydrogen-based CO2-neutral models in every segment. it says the initial focus will be on the core markets of Europe and Latin America. By 2039, only locally CO2-neutral new vehicles are to be sold in the core market of Europe. In the city bus segment, this is to be the case in Europe as early as 2030.
Daimler Buses plans to launch the first all-electric intercity bus from the second half of the decade and, by the end of this decade, coaches with hydrogen-based fuel cell drives.
