Neu-Ulm – The paint shop at the Daimler Buses plant in Neu-Ulm has completed its 100,000th coach. The anniversary vehicle is a Setra S 531 DT in royal blue metallic, with decals displaying the customer's logo. The double-decker coach will be ceremoniously handed over to Luxembourg-based coach company Demy Schandeler immediately after completion. The paint shop started operations in 1998 and now paints all buses and coaches for the European production network.

Around 350 employees work at the paint shop site, which covers more than 18,000 square metres. The parts of the buses and coaches to be processed are first washed and sanded, to be able to apply a primer. Vehicle parts are then once again lightly sanded and provided with the final layer of paint, the so-called top coat. Primer and individual paint layers are applied fully automatically by robot. The final steps consist of interior and cavity sealing, as well as the final assembly of the processed body parts on to the complete vehicle. The range of colours includes around 450 in-house colours, which can be expanded as required by adding further colour nuances at customers' special request. As a result, customers can choose from numerous individual design options at the in-house design centre.