Leinfelden-Echterdingen/Neu-Ulm/Ückermünde - Bus operator Unser Roter Bus GmbH, based in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, acquired a very special Setra S 516 HD. It is the 10,000th ComfortClass/TopClass series 500 touring coach produced at the plant in Neu-Ulm. Equipped with 48 seats, the 13.1 m long, three-axle vehicle of the facelifted model series has all the latest driver and safety assistance systems on board that Daimler Buses currently offers. Its new owner, René Riechert, is impressed. “By making seemingly minor adjustments to many details, the developers have succeeded in giving a completely new front end to the ComfortClass range of touring coaches,” says the entrepreneur, who has put another S 516 HD plus one S 511 HD into operation in addition to the anniversary touring coach. 

The Neu-Ulm site is the competence center for touring coaches of all drive types by Daimler Buses. The enterprise produces Mercedes-Benz and Setra brand touring coaches and inter-city buses. The first Setra ComfortClass and TopClass models of the 300 model series already rolled off the production line in Neu-Ulm back in 1991. The 400 series followed in 2001 and series production of the 500 series launched in 2012. The latest generation of the two models has also been produced at the site since 2022. The plant relies on state-of-the-art production methods, such as digital bus/touring coach production. All components in new buses/touring coaches are digitally preassembled in the correct assembly sequence and the individual process steps are analyzed on the computer. This makes it possible to optimize the assembly process ahead of time and minimizes the need for subsequent process adjustments.
The Neu-Ulm plant is also home to the Development Center for Safety and Assistance Systems, the Testing as well as the Competence Center for 3D printed parts. The site is also home to the paint shop, now covering more than 18,000 square meters, that has painted all of the buses/touring coaches for the European production network for the past 25 years.