The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is the most commonly used low floor transit bus in mainland Europe. Introduced in 1997 the Citaro is produced in 5 countries and comes in 6 different variants .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: The Citaro can be found in service with fleets all over Europe, Asia and Latin America. The Citaro's ability to be customized to the exact specification of the customer have made the brand extremely adaptable to many different types of driving conditions. Intercity and Suburban applications are the most common.

 

 

 

Driving Experience: Mercedes-Benz is well known for its extensive testing of all of its vehicles before beginning mass production. The Citaro was taken on extremely rigorous testing trials in Scandinavia to ensure that its suspension would be able to compensate for rough and bumpy road surfaces without compromising the drivers ability to control the steering wheel. The results learned from off road experiences in Scandinavia have gone in to the finished product and the suspension was calibrated to compensate for those results.

 

 

 

The unfortunate side of the extensive testing is that Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles tend to be much more expensive than their rivals such as Van Hool. Mercedes-Benz however dominates the commercial vehicle market through acquisition of competition. German heavy vehicle manufacturer MAN is a subsidiary of Daimler Group. Mercedes-Benz has not sought to export the Citaro to North America due to heavy competition and differences in emissions and vehicle length standards. Mercedes-Benz owns American truck manufacturer Freightliner as well as the Canadian bus manufacturer Orion (now defunct). Mercedes-Benz sells highway coaches in North America under its Setra brand.

 

 

 

In 2008 the Mercedes-Benz Citaro was tested in New York City as a template for what would eventually become the Orion IX. As Mercedes-Benz closed down Orion's operations the Orion IX was never completed.

 

Summary: Its use worldwide and extremely customizable frame have earned the Citaro a place among the transit greats. The Citaro will be taken out of production once its replacement has been declared finished, although most speculate the next bus will use most of the lessons learned from the Citaro.