| | Award presented at 2006 IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hanover |
Stuttgart/Hanover – Launched at the beginning of 2006, the Mercedes-Benz Citaro LE Ü low-entry rural-service bus can now proudly claim to be “Bus of the Year 2007”. The international jury, comprising the editorial teams of bus magazines in 15 European countries, has awarded the Citaro LE Ü the highest accolade for buses in Europe after an exhaustive round of testing and trial drives.
In May this year, the jury put the Citaro and two more buses built by other major European manufacturers through their paces for almost a week in Vienna. The buses were tested in operation on actual urban and rural regular-service routes in and around the city. The award ceremony took place at the 2006 International Commercial Vehicle Show on September 19, 2006 at the VDA evening for the commercial vehicle press held in the Convention Center on the show site in Hanover. |
The Citaro LE Ü won over the jury particularly with its coherent overall concept, leading them to reach the following verdict: “Its creators have managed to professionally combine function and aesthetics.” This achievement includes its economy-conscious design, which ensures maximum efficiency for the operator, as well as the extremely passenger-friendly design.
The successful drive concept with economical Euro 4 engines based on BlueTec diesel technology, ZF automatic transmission and hypoid drive axle was singled out as being particularly future-minded. Additional points in its favour included its outstanding ride quality, smooth running, low noise level, the innovative styling as well as the high standards of quality and safety resulting from the standard-specification Electronic Braking System (EBS), Voith retarder, anti-lock braking system (ABS) and acceleration skid control (ASR).
The excellent heating and air conditioning systems on board came in for special praise. It is also worth noting that the Citaro LE Ü is not a stand-alone product as it is directly derived from the well-honed Citaro low-floor bus, of which almost 15,000 units have been built to date. The bus shares numerous components such as the doors, electrical/electronic system, destination displays, seats, interior panelling and air conditioning with the Citaro regular-service bus and major assemblies with the Mercedes-Benz Integro rural-service bus. "
The Citaro LE developers went for a radical new departure in terms of implementing the low-entry concept compared with the standard Citaro," according to the jury. And what is more: “The jury members were equally impressed with the interior’s eye-catching design that greets passengers as soon as they board the vehicle.” |
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