The Mercedes-Benz Group AG is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacturers. Daimler-Benz was formed with the merger of Benz & Cie., the world's oldest car company, and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft in 1926. The company was renamed DaimlerChrysler upon the acquisition of American automobile manufacturer Chrysler Corporation in 1998, and was again renamed Daimler AG upon divestment of Chrysler in 2007. In 2021, Daimler AG was the second-largest German automaker and the sixth-largest worldwide by production. In February 2022, Daimler was renamed Mercedes-Benz Group as part of a transaction that spun-off its commercial vehicle segment as an independent company, Daimler Truck.
Freightliner Trucks is an American semi truck manufacturer. Founded in 1929 as the truck-manufacturing division of Consolidated Freightways, the company was established in 1942 as Freightliner Corporation. Owned by Daimler AG from 1981 to 2021, Freightliner is now a part of Daimler Truck subsidiary Daimler Truck North America.
The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is a light commercial vehicle (van) built by Mercedes-Benz Group AG of Stuttgart, Germany as a large van, chassis cab, minibus, and pickup truck. In the past, the Sprinter had been sold under the Mercedes-Benz, Dodge, and Freightliner nameplates. In the U.S., it was built from complete knock down (CKD) kits by Freightliner. Re-badged and re-engined Sprinters were also sold by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles as the Volkswagen LT and the Volkswagen Crafter. They are now primarily marketed by Mercedes-Benz.
A minibus, microbus, or minicoach is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger-carrying van or panel truck. Minibuses have a seating capacity of between 12 and 30. Larger minibuses may be called midibuses. Minibuses are typically front engine step-in vehicles, although low floor minibuses are particularly common in Japan.
The Honda Ballade is a subcompact automobile built by Honda of Japan. It began as a four-door higher equipment content version of the Civic in 1980. The Ballade was developed at the same time the Honda Vigor appeared, which was a higher content Honda Accord. In Japan, the Ballade was sold exclusively at Honda Verno dealerships alongside the Vigor, Prelude, CR-X, and Quint. In the UK it was launched at the same time as the very similar Triumph Acclaim with which it shared a Honda-built engine.
Mercedes-Benz has been producing buses since 1895 in Mannheim in Germany. Since 1995 Mercedes-Benz buses and coaches are known by the brand name of Daimler Buses, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler Truck.
Switch Mobility is a British bus manufacturer based in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. It is a subsidiary of Indian company Ashok Leyland. The company is responsible for the EV operations of the group with Ashok Leyland focusing on its core business of diesel-powered vehicles as well as work on alternative fuels like compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen.
A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which are generally larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between 8 metres and 11 metres long. While used in many parts of the world, the midibus is perhaps most common in the United Kingdom, where operators have found them more economical, and to have a sufficient number of seats compared to full size single-decker buses.
The Switch Solo is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Switch Mobility in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketing its vehicle as having an entrance that is "so low" from the floor, namely 200 mm (8 in) with kneeling suspension. In January 2012, Optare announced the end of production for the original Solo design with a modified Solo SR taking over.
The Optare Excel was a low-floor full-size single-decker bus manufactured by Optare. Manufactured as an integral bus, the Excel was launched in 1995 as one of the first low floor single-deck vehicles, replacing the step-entrance Optare Sigma. The styling of the body was in keeping with existing Optare products. At the front, a simple flat panel with the Optare name was set between two pairs of twin headlamps, below a very large front windscreen. Approximately 600 were built.
The Optare Tempo is an integral low-floor, heavy duty, full-size rigid single-deck bus manufactured by Optare and was launched in late 2004. It is marketed and sold as the replacement for the Optare Excel. It is designed as a lightweight bus, to use less fuel than traditional heavy duty integral rigids. As of July 2017, 233 had been built, including 27 Tempo SRs. The Tempo SR has since been replaced in the UK market by longer variants of the Optare MetroCity, although production of the Tempo SR continues for the Australian market.
The Ferqui Solera was a midicoach built by Spanish manufacturer Ferqui on Mercedes-Benz Atego chassis between 1997 and 2008.
The Ferqui Toro and Ferqui Viedo were related designs of minicoach bodywork built by Spanish manufacturer Ferqui until 2014, when they were replaced by the Ferqui Sunset X and Ferqui Sunrise. The Toro, built on Mercedes-Benz Vario chassis, was launched in 2005; the Viedo, a lower-cost variant built on Iveco Daily chassis, followed in 2009.
The Optare Olympus is a double-decker bus built by Optare, East Lancs and Darwen. It could be built as a body available on Alexander Dennis Enviro400, Volvo B9TL or Scania N230UD/N270UD chassis with the 2-axle and 3-axle variants. It is the double-decker equivalent of the Optare Esteem. Some 3-axle Olympus buses were built.
A single-decker bus or single-decker is a bus that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term single-decker refers to a standard two-axled rigid bus, in direct contrast to the use of the term double-decker bus, which is essentially a bus with two passenger decks and a staircase. These types of single-deckers may feature one or more doors, and varying internal combustion engine positions. The majority of single-deckers have a length of up to 12 m, although some exceptions of longer buses exist. They also typically weigh between 11 and 14 t.
Smart is a German automotive marque established in 1994. Smart Automobile Co., Ltd. is a joint venture established by Mercedes-Benz AG and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2019 and aimed at producing Smart-badged cars in China to be marketed globally. The venture is headquartered in Ningbo. Originally, the marque was known for producing microcars and subcompacts, primarily the Fortwo and Forfour, at Smartville in Hambach, Moselle, France and additionally at Renault's Revoz plant. It now produces small battery electric vehicles at a manufacturing plant in China, with distribution, marketing and aftersales activities in Europe handled by smart Europe GmbH, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.
Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. is a subsidiary of the German Daimler Truck AG. This company designs, manufactures, and sells commercial vehicles that cater to the demands of Indian customers and are designed with nation's terrain in mind. These vehicles are branded as "BharatBenz", "Mercedes-Benz" and "Fuso".
Mellor Coachcraft, known simply as Mellor or Mellor Bus, is a British bus manufacturer based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Founded in the 1960s, Mellor has primarily produced bodywork for various different minibus chassis throughout its history. Mellor is owned by parent company, Woodall Nicholson Group, alongside Treka Bus.
The Mellor Strata is a minibus body manufactured by Mellor Coachcraft since 2016 on Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis. It is available as the Mellor Strata HF 16, a step-entrance version aimed at the access bus market, so named for its maximum seated passenger capacity of sixteen; or as the Mellor Strata LF, a low-floor variant targeting the service bus market, with a capacity of up to 21 seated passengers.
MOBIpeople is a bus and coach manufacturer based in Coimbra, Portugal. The company was founded in 2008 and primarily produces minibuses, midibuses and their coach equivalents. MOBIpeople is the second largest Portuguese bus manufacturer after Caetano.
