BUS2BUS 2019 looks ahead to the future of the bus industry

·         More than 1,700 participants from 34 countries
·         103 exhibitors from 13 countries
·         Next BUS2BUS from 13 to 15 April 2021

Trade Fair, bdo Congress and Future Forum - BUS2BUS, which took place from 19 to 21 March at the Berlin Exhibition Centre, is looking back on a successful event. 103 exhibitors from 13 countries presented their product innovations at the “Bus meets New Business” trade fair.  1,700 participants from 34 countries learned about various topics relating to the future of the bus industry. The focus was on issues such as alternative powertrains, autonomous driving, on-demand mobility and best practice examples, which were presented in cooperation with start-ups.
 
The second BUS2BUS event was bigger in every sense: the exhibition space has more than doubled, the number of exhibitors increased by around 50% and the number of participants grew by 30%.
 
“BUS2BUS covers the whole range of future technologies. Innovations and trends form the core of our event concept. In Germany, the most important European market, the bus and supply industry lacked a dedicated business platform for its customers until the premiere of BUS2BUS two years ago, with a special focus on digital topics. We are right on track in conceptual terms, as demonstrated by the impressive key figures for this year’s event,” says Kerstin Kube-Erkens, Senior Product Manager of BUS2BUS.
 
Satisfied exhibitors and trade visitors
The three largest trade visitor groups were private bus operators, public transport and suppliers. Around 90% of trade visitors were satisfied to very satisfied with their visit to BUS2BUS 2019. Likewise, around 9 out of 10 visitors would recommend BUS2BUS to their colleagues and business partners.

More than 80% of exhibitors had a positive response to the BUS2BUS concept, i.e. the triad of the trade fair, bdo-Congress and Future Forum. The range of products and services offered by BUS2BUS was well received and positively rated by 8 out of 10 exhibitors. 3 out of 4 exhibitors were satisfied to very satisfied with the quality of the trade visitors.

Andreas Scheuer, Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure
“BUS2BUS is a successful leading forum for the industry.”
 
Christiane Leonard, managing director of the bdo
“BUS2BUS 2019 was a sensational success. We had all the ingredients one could wish for here: a minister who gave his full support to SMEs and eco-friendly bus transport as well as exhibitors and speakers who presented a clear vision of the future of mobility today. I am delighted that we were able to continue the success story of the first BUS2BUS – on an even larger, more digital and international scale.“
 
Michael Foet, Sales Manager Coach Germany and Austria, VDL Bus & Coach (Netherlands)
“We wanted to show the presence of the brand here. It was about running our electric bus live, but also about introducing new customers to the coach on display here. We had very good discussions with existing customers and new interested parties in the area of travel, tourism and public transport.”
 
Volker Aderhold, General Manager DACH, Optibus Ltd. (Israel)
Our company, which was founded in 2016/17, has participated to increase awareness of our business in Germany. We wanted to show our face and it has been a success. We have had a good few days, a lot of traffic on the stand, we have been very well received and held many discussions with decision-makers who have promised very good follow-up talks"
 
Siegfried Seidel, Head of Product Marketing, MAN Bus
“We are very pleased with our visitor feedback. It’s great that we were able to meet a lot of private bus operators here.”
 
Ed Gillespie, Futurologist, Author (UK)
“I think events like the BUS2BUS can get people into a leadership mind set, more than just managing traffic and transport challenges, on to a pioneering leadership of how to effectively shape public transit.”
 
Pavlos Chatzakis, etail Cles, ZF Friedrichshafen AG
“You definitely meet a lot of bus operators and trade visitors here. The BUS2BUS concept is therefore also likely to be successful in the long term. ”
 
Jochen Grau, Marketing Bus, Iveco Magirus
“The advantage of this trade fair is that it focuses purely on buses. At trade fairs covering the entire spectrum of commercial vehicles, our product is not relevant to a relatively large number of customers. Here, we are focused and can concentrate on reaching our core target groups. That’s great!” 

Christoph Schultz, Managing Director, ProBus Omnibusvertrieb
“We have a very good feeling about this. There were a lot of professionals at BUS2BUS who were very interested in our products. We have achieved our aim of acquiring new customers, maintaining existing customer contacts and informing people about our new products.”

Luc Moulin, Director of Sales Buses, Scania Germany
“The trade fair allows us to focus on buses, have discussions with our partners and suppliers and meet new customers. The Future Night was a very successful networking event.”
 
Hande Ugur, Anadolu Isuzu Otomotiv Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S. (Turkey)
“As one of Turkey’s largest bus exporters, we aim to enter the German market. We tried to create an attractive stand and it has proved to be a great success. We have been very busy and had many visitors. We talked a lot and received very good feedback.”

Michael Klages, Manager Bus & Coach, Trasco BUS & COACH
“Customers tell us what they want, what they expect over the next few years, what has not worked so well in recent years and where we should be headed. This feedback is important. We also received good impetus from the bdo congress and the Future Forum.”

Fabienne Ehmann, Marketing and Communications, Valeo Thermal Commercial Vehicles Germany
“We are a relatively new brand. In addition to the increase in awareness, we aim to strengthen our connections with the bus market at BUS2BUS, as the VALEO brand is often associated more closely with cars.”

Alexander Prinz, Area Sales Manager, Michelin Reifenwerke
“As an industrial representative for truck tires, we usually only deal with the workshop and it’s difficult to fully get our message across. For us, the advantage of BUS2BUS is that the entrepreneurs, i.e. the decision-makers, are also in attendance.”

Martin Gruber, EMEA Business Development Director, Alexander Dennis (UK)
“We wanted to send out a clear message that we aim to expand across Europe. Our recently awarded major BVG contract has helped us to achieve this. More and more companies are considering the use of double-decker buses, which are one of our specialties. This also shows that the interests of municipal and private companies are the same in many cases.”
 
Christine Oertel, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, in-tech
“We are at BUS2BUS to increase awareness of our new product, the conversion kit e-troFit. We have succeeded in doing so. We are very pleased with the press and marketing response. We also had many interesting enquiries from customers. It was definitely worth it.”