busnews.com.au July 2019 ABC^43undertheCASEstrategy.From
anautonomylevelperspective,
it currentlystandssomewhere
betweenLevel2 and3.
I stillbelievewidthis notthereal
challengehere;anautonomousbus
potentiallywillbereleasedwitha
PBSapprovalanyhow.TheFuture
Bustechnologyworksondedicated
busBRTbuslines.AsfarasI cansee,
Brisbaneis theonlycityinvestingin
newBRTcorridorsandprojects.Of
course,Adelaideis alsostillinvesting
intheexistingO-bahnlines,which
wereinitiallydevelopedtogether
withMercedes-Benzin1980s.
Maybeoneday,wemightseethe
FutureBusinoneofthesetwocities.
A truedriverlessstrategyfor
busesis noteasy.Therearebasic
challenges.Thebusis usually
toobig;it stopstoooftenatbus
stationsandtakesoffagain.In
theforeseeablefuture,I seethe
autonomousbusesintheirown
BRTlanes.
However,thereareadvantages
offirststageautomation(adriveris
stillbehindthewheel)thatwillsoon
beavailablewithCitaromodels
includingsafetyandefficiency.ABC:Youarebasedin
Melbourne.Howoften,if atall,
doyougetoutandaboutto
visitdealershipsandoperators?
Isthereanygeographicarea
infocusforyouinthisinitial
stage?Anythingsthatneedto
beaddressed?MK:I usuallytravelatleastonceor
twiceeverymonth.Weofcourse
havededicatedpeoplebasedin
Sydney,BrisbaneandPerth.Myrole
is usuallytosupportourteamwhen
needed.Asourbiggestmarkets,
NSWandQLDareusuallypartofmy
typicalmonthlyitinerary.Duedueto
on-goingtendersI havebeenoften
toAdelaide,CanberraandPerth.runs somewhere? How far off are
we to get the right infrastructure
into place?
MK: Everything is within probability
under the right business case and
premises. I would say, why not? The
Future Bus is, of course, not a series
production vehicle at the moment, but
is based on a Citaro, which already has
some semi-automation features that
can deliver efficiency advantages and
also boost safety (for both passengers
and pedestrians).
The Future Bus is a strong statement
of what Daimler Buses has achieved
ABC: What’s your most popular
seller/bus chassis/product even
still today?MK: The universal answer to
this question is O405, which is
the predecessor of today’s OC500
series. You can still find them driven
across Australia. They can also still
be sold even after 20-plus years
without a problem in the second-
hand market.ABC: So what is it that you,
as a person, uniquely bring
to this role? What is it that
makes you different that will
help enhance the role you have
been appointed to?MK: We have a very experienced
bus team, who have a good rapport
with customers and other industry
stakeholders. The least I bring to this
role is the international experience
I gained over the years in Europe,
Middle East and Africa. I believe
this works pretty well. I am also
enhancing the communication
and cooperation between our
headquarters and teams in Australia
and New Zealand.
Of course, I am an ex-aftersales
guy and this gives you the holistic
understanding of a customer’s
journey. I can connect the dots
and sometimes come up with
solutions that require both sales
and aftersales knowledge.
Lastly, I have the grit to succeed.
Otherwise, I would have never come
this far.ABC: Thanks for your time
today, Mehmet. Is there
anything else you’d like to add?MK: There are some exciting times
ahead for Mercedes-Benz and I look
forward to sharing them with you
and your readers in the future.The Future Bus is a strong statement of
what Daimler Buses has achieved.