Setra
Setra, a subsidiary of Daimler AG, is a manufacturer of buses and coaches based in Neu-Ulm, Germany. Setra has a large presence in Europe as well as an established presence in North America.
History
The company was founded in 1893 by Karl Kässbohrer as Wagenfabrik Kässbohrer (later named Karl Kässbohrer Fahrzeugwerke). The Setra name comes from the German word "Selbsttragend", which means self supporting. This refers to the integral construction of the first Setra bus, the S8, introduced in 1951. The self-supporting frame of the S8 was constructed from welded square tubes and allowed larger-scale manufacturing, improved stability, and lowered the weight.[1]
In 1955, Continental Trailways commissioned Karl Kässbohrer Fahrzeugwerke to design an intercity bus specifically for them. This would mark their entry into the North American market. They produced the Golden Eagle, a luxury 40-foot long coach with gold anodized aluminium sides. A 60-foot long articulated version was also produced. In addition, Kässbohrer supplied Trailways with lower specification Silver Eagle buses, so named for their bare aluminium sides.[1] By the end of the 1950s, Setra would focus more on the European market and cease building coaches for the United States.
Setra returned to the North American market in 1984 with a new coach design, the S 215 HDH. The 40-foot high-deck coach was followed by a 45-foot high-deck coach, the S 217 HDH in 1993.[1] The two models were replaced in 2003 by the S 417 HDH.
In 2012, Daimler announced they were restructuring their operations in North America. Production of Orion transit buses was discontinued, and a distribution rights agreement for Setra coaches was signed with Motor Coach Industries (MCI). In addition, Daimler took a 10 percent minority ownership stake in MCI.
New Flyer Industries purchased of MCI for $445m USD in 2015. [2] While New Flyer acquired 100 percent of the company, the distribution rights agreement with Daimler remained in effect. However in January 2018, New Flyer announced that the agreement would be terminated effective June 29, 2018. MCI had only sold 282 new Setra coaches, but had upgraded and expanded their own offering. Daimler believed that MCI's product offering began to overshadow the Setra offering. Distribution rights of Setra coaches was transferred to the REV Group. Parts sales, service and warranty support for Setra coaches in service remained with MCI until mid-2018.[3]
Restructuring its touring coach business in the U.S. and Canada, Daimler and the REV Group agreed in December 2019 to move the sales business into an independent business unit within the Daimler Group.[4]
Products
Current
MultiClass 400 - intercity and city coach
- S 415 H
- S 416 H
- S 412 UL
- S 415 UL
- S 416 UL
- S 417 UL
- S 419 UL
- S 415 LE Business
- S 416 LE Business
- S 418 LE Business
TopClass 500 - luxury touring coach
ComfortClass 500 - premium motorcoach
Past
200 Series
- S 211 H
- S 211 H
- S 213 H
- S 213 HD
- S 213 UL
- S 215 H
- S 251 HD
- S 215 HDH
- S 215 HDS
- S 215 NR
- S 215 RL
- S 215 SL
- S 216 HDS
- S 217 HDH
- S 217 NR
- S 221 HDS
- S 228 DT
- S 250 Special
- SG 219 SL
- SG 221 UL
TopClass 300 - luxury touring coach
ComfortClass 300 - premium motorcoach
MultiClass 300 - intercity and city coach
- S 313 UL
- S 315 NF
- S 315 UL--12 Metre suburban bus
- S 317 UL--14 Metre suburban bus
- S 319 UL--15 Metre suburban bus
- SG 321 UL Articulated 3-axle
TopClass 400 - luxury touring coach
ComfortClass 400 - premium motorcoach
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The history of Setra: an idea becomes self-supporting. Daimler AG.
- ↑ NEW FLYER ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF MCI, NORTH AMERICA’S LEADING MOTOR COACH MANUFACTURER, PARTS AND SERVICE COMPANY, NewFlyer.com, retrieved 10-11-2015
- ↑ MCI To Cease Distributing Daimler’s Setra Coaches. Press release. 04 January 2018. New Flyer Industries.
- ↑ Daimler Buses to assume sales of Setra motorcoach product. metro-magazine.com. Retrieved December 29, 2019