Head of the Daimler bus division: "Buses have gained in sex appeal"

The corona crisis is also hitting bus manufacturers hard. "We have a certain roller coaster ride behind us," says Till Oberwörder, head of Daimler Buses. Nonetheless, in the podcast "Die Stunden Null" he looks confidently into the future.

Until Corona came, it seemed to be a lucrative market: buses have been ordered on a large scale in recent years. In travel, because new rail operators competed. In the cities, because they invested in local transport and switched to more economical drives. Daimler's bus division also benefited from this trend; in 2019, sales grew by six percent to 32,600 vehicles.

Now the industry is facing a hole, especially since the second corona wave is still to come. "Overall, the market has gone down around 50 percent," says Till Oberwörder, CEO of Daimler Buses, in the podcast "Die Stunden Null" ("Capital", ntv, "Stern"). In the second quarter, sales in the bus division slumped by 63 percent. "We've had a certain roller coaster ride behind us." Orders have plummeted, especially for coaches. After all: the public sector continues to put out contracts for public buses.

There is one problem, however. Many people fear the danger posed by the virus and avoid bus journeys. Manufacturers such as Daimler are therefore working on technical ideas and converting the buses. Active filters are installed in the ventilation, sensor-controlled dispensers deliver disinfectants and separating discs protect the driver. Oberwörde's message: It's safe to travel by bus.

In addition, the head of the Daimler division believes that buses are safer than closed spaces such as offices anyway: "With public buses, the door for getting in and out opens every few hundred meters and the air is automatically exchanged," says Oberwörder . It is these circumstances on which he lays his hopes for the coming months, as well as the image change of the buses due to the expansion of public transport: "Buses have gained a bit of sex appeal over the years," he said. Better vehicles, but also new drive technologies would have changed the image.

However, there is still a long way to go for the car manufacturer's bus division. Many employees are still on short-time work, orders are only slowly picking up again and the industry is going through a radical change. At the moment you drive "on sight", says Oberwörder.

Now listen in the new episode of "The Zero Hour"why there could be many hydrogen buses in the future, how Daimler is researching antiviral surfaces and why Daimler has developed an extra Corona sticker. You can find the new episode of "Die Hour Null" directly at Audio Now, Apple or Spotify or via Google.