Daimler expands in Latin America

Daimler is further expanding its bus business in Latin America. The company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Daimler Colombia SA, is opening a new bus plant in Funza near Bogota, the capital of Colombia. The 11,000 square metre site has the capacity to produce 4,000 units per year. This development represents an investment of $2m (£1.26m). The new site receives bus chassis as CKD (completely knocked down) kits and carries out the final assembly. Daimler Colombia will initially offer six different bus chassis featuring BlueTec 5 technology for the Colombian market. In future, the vehicles are also to be exported to surrounding neighbouring countries such as Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and Central America. It opened its first bus assembly facility in Bogota in 2012.

The manufacturer expects growing demand for regular buses in Latin America, as well as efficient mobility solutions such as bus rapid transit system in the metropolises of the region. The Latin American market is considered the second largest bus region in the world. The company has a 30% share of the bus market in Bogota, with over 2,300 Daimler buses running on the SITP and TransMilenio BRT systems in the city.

Head of Daimler Buses, Hartmut Schick, said, ‘In a currently challenging market such as Latin America, we are investing in the future viability of our locations and in modern vehicle technologies. With the new bus assembly, we want to further tap into market potentials in the Latin American bus vehicle business.’

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