Mercedes-Benz do Brasil, market leader for buses and coaches, and a traditional manufacturer of school buses in Brazil, is to provide a total of 2600 model OF 1519 R chassis for the Brazilian Ministry of Education. The chassis will be assembled as school buses together with the Brazilian body builder Caio within the framework of the national fund for training development (Fundo Nacional para o Desenvolvimento da Educação – FNDE). The vehicles will be delivered in 2013 and meet all the state requirements of the FNDE for new acquisitions. The buses offer fundamental safety and comfort characteristics for the transportation of pupils on a daily basis and they are intended for use mainly in rural regions of Brazil.
Equipped with modern BlueTec 5 technology, economical and environmentally friendly engines, the vehicles comply with the PROCONVE P-7 emissions standard (which is comparable with Euro V).
With these 2600 buses Mercedes-Benz has already sold over 4700 commercial vehicles to state bodies in Brazil since August 2012: over 1700 Atego model all-wheel drive trucks for the Ministry of Defence and 400 Sprinter vehicles for the mobile resuce service of the Health Ministry in Brazil.
As Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses, remarked: “Once again we are demonstrating that we are well placed with our broad portfolio of commercial vehicles in Latin America. We are delighted that Brazil is placing its trust in our Mercedes-Benz products. The order shows us that the latest vehicle technology, impressive quality and low total costs of ownership are attractive selling points for our customers.”
According to Jürgen Ziegler, President of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil and CEO for Latin America, the Mercedes-Benz chassis OF 1519 R which was unveiled in 2012 was developed and extensively tested for special applications – including in off-road use – right from the outset in the technology development centre at Mercedes-Benz do Brasil. Our products are characterised by the highest quality as well as by robustness and reliability in daily operation and also on unsurfaced roads.”
A few days ago the OF 1519 R chassis won the Brazilian “Bus of the Year” prize at the AutoData 2012 Awards. Since 2000 the Brazilian publishing group AutoData has been bestowing this accolade annually. This year the editors selected 160 vehicles to be voted for in 21 categories. Those eligible to vote were the readers of the magazine of the same name and of the news agency.
