Stuttgart, 14 August 2008 - Two years ago the new generation of minibuses from Mercedes-Benz based on the Sprinter celebrated its premiere at the IAA Commercial Vehicles. Since then the young programme has established itself and been expanded with additional models. Sprinter Transfer, Sprinter Travel, Sprinter City and Sprinter Mobility have a diverse offering of twelve basic models with many variants. With this range, EvoBus subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Minibus GmbH in Dortmund covers practically every wish in the growing market for smaller buses. In the 2009 model year the minibuses are starting off with the enhanced top urban bus model.
Sprinter City 65.

The bestsellers in western Europe and the market leaders in urban regular service are the low-floor buses of the Sprinter City model series. The compact Sprinter City 35 (length: 6.9 m, up to 22 passenger seats) is based on a panel van, but the second model, the larger Sprinter City 65 (length: 7.7 m, maximum of 30 passenger seats) is based on its own independent body and is distinguished by a self-supporting bus frame and panoramic windows.

The urban regular-service bus is powered by Euro 4 four-cylinder turbodiesel engines with a standard engine output of 80 kW (109 hp) in the Sprinter City 35 and 110 kW (150 hp) in the Sprinter City 65. All diesel engines in the minibus range have particulate filters.

The top-of-the-line Sprinter 65 model is welcoming the new model year with many enhancements. The developers have expanded the low-floor zone between the axle by around ten percent. The first row of seats is now mounted on the low-floor area and accessible without any barriers. The high floor in the rear can be easily reached via a single step. The manual wheelchair ramp has been improved visually and in handling. A new ticket counter for flexible mounting of a ticket canceller and printer and for stowing the fire extinguisher, breakdown kit and driver’s bag are now all available in the range of equipment.

The Sprinter Transfer is a big presence in rural transport and shuttle service as well as for excursions. Four length variants from 5.9 m to 7.7 m and four weight variants are available for five basic models. High comfort in excursion, touring and shuttle service comes courtesy of the Sprinter Transfer, the top model series of the minibus range. The Sprinter Travel 65, which has its own body design, is the top-of-the-line model. The Sprinter Mobility model series is tailored precisely to transporting limited-mobility passengers.

The Sprinter provides the ideal basis for all minibus applications. Powerful, economical diesel engines with outputs from 65 kW (88 hp) to 135 kW (184 hp) provide the propulsion together with a six-speed manual transmission with joystick or a five-speed automatic transmission with torque converter. The standard-fit particulate filter and long maintenance intervals further add to the overall appeal.

Minibus GmbH presents the enhanced variant of its urban bus calling card, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter City 65, in an attractive dolphin blue paint finish. A large low-floor platform, air suspension on the rear axle, suspension seat for the driver, ticket counter cabinet, electrically operated roof hatch, destination display with LED matrix, rating according to EU Directive 2001/85 Class 1 and many other details demonstrate the performance of the compact urban bus for up to 30 passengers.