20 Years of Mercedes-Benz Tourismo

Mercedes-Benz Tourismo
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Mercedes-Benz Tourismo, the most successful touring coach in Europe, is celebrating its 20th birthday. It was launched in 1994 and over 21,000 units were handed to clients during the two model generations up to date.

Even though it was originally built as a high-decker in just one length, the current generation of Tourismo coaches covers a wide range of models. Otherwise, Tourismo’s formula for success is still unchanged – the outstanding economy and functionality.

Furthermore, the Tourismo is the first Mercedes-Benz bus to be given a name. The Mercedes-Benz O 350 Toursimo was the ideal solution at that time and the drive system kept up with the times, comprising the legendary V8 turbocharged diesel engine with 14.6 l displacement and an output of 280 kW (381 HP) and a six-speed manual transmission.

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The O 350 Tourismo rapidly turned into a bestseller with an average production of 1000 units a year. In ten years from its debut, a special “Edition 10,000 series” with exclusive specification was brought out to celebrate a major milestone. The development team did a great job keeping it fully up to date: an aluminium sandwich floor for the luggage compartment aluminium air reservoirs and further modifications helped to reduce the unladen weight by half a tone.

In 2006, after a production of over 12,000 models for more than 50 countries, the new Mercedes-Benz Tourismo was launched. Thus, the new Tourismo become more customized in order to adapt to individual operating requirements and specifications in different countries. Also, the key safety features included the electronic stability system ESP and vehicle’s width of 2.55 m.

Tourismo, BusAs expected, the new Tourismo quickly became another sales success. In 2008, the annual production broke through the 1000 barrier for the first time with a total of 1273 units. In February 2012 Mercedes-Benz delivered the 5000th second-generation Tourismo.

In the 2014 anniversary year, Mercedes-Benz presented the new assistance and safety systems for the Tourismo in the form of the Lane Assistant and the AEBS Advanced Emergency Braking System.

The best-selling touring coach will mark its birthday by simply sport a “20 Years Anniversary” badge. In this way, Mercedes-Benz Tourismo will continue its reign as Europe’s No. 1 touring coach.