Otokar begins building Mercedes-Benz Conecto buses in Sakarya for Daimler Buses
Otokar has started series production of the Mercedes-Benz Conecto at its plant in Sakarya, Türkiye, the next step in a manufacturing cooperation agreed with Daimler Buses and Mercedes-Benz Türk in 2025.
- First half of 2027
- More than 117,000
- 58
- 422,000 square meters
What Happened
Daimler Buses, Mercedes-Benz Türk and Turkish bus manufacturer Otokar have celebrated the start of production (SoP) of the Mercedes-Benz Conecto at Otokar's plant in Sakarya, Türkiye. The launch is the next milestone in the manufacturing cooperation the companies agreed in 2025 and follows the successful completion of the pre-series phase at the Sakarya facility. The additional production capacity will support Daimler Buses and Mercedes-Benz Türk in meeting continued customer demand in Europe, and customer deliveries are scheduled to begin in the first half of 2027.
Daimler Buses, Mercedes-Benz Türk and Otokar sign the manufacturing cooperation agreement.
Daimler Buses starts offering the Mercedes-Benz Conecto in Germany, expanding the model's role in its European product portfolio.
Otokar completes the pre-series phase and starts series production of the Mercedes-Benz Conecto at its plant in Sakarya.
Customer deliveries of the Mercedes-Benz Conecto are scheduled to begin.
- Low-floor bus designed for high passenger capacity in urban transit.
- Available as a three-door solo bus and a four-door articulated bus.
- Fully low-floor design enables level entry and exiting.
- Available in numerous European markets for many years.
- Offered in Germany by Daimler Buses since 2025.
“The start of production marks an important milestone in our cooperation with Otokar. Demand for our buses in Europe remains strong, and the Mercedes-Benz Conecto continues to play an important role in many European markets. By expanding production capacity, we are strengthening our ability to serve customers reliably while further supporting the profitable growth of our business. Otokar is a highly respected and reliable partner with extensive manufacturing expertise. Together, we will ensure the high quality standards our customers expect from Daimler Buses.”
Under the cooperation agreement signed by Daimler Buses, Mercedes-Benz Türk and Otokar in 2025, Otokar manufactures the Mercedes-Benz Conecto for Daimler Buses at its modern production plant in Sakarya. Daimler Buses supplies all major vehicle components as well as dedicated production equipment directly to Otokar, and an experienced Daimler Buses team supports production on site. Mercedes-Benz Türk CEO Heiko Selzam said the teams from all three companies worked closely over past months to prepare production, establish processes and ensure the required quality standards, launching series production on schedule while fully meeting Mercedes-Benz brand quality standards.
“Today, we are seeing the results of the strong collaboration between the teams of Otokar, Daimler Buses and Mercedes-Benz Türk. The successful start of production reflects the dedication, expertise and teamwork of everyone involved in the project. We are proud to manufacture the Mercedes-Benz Conecto at our Sakarya plant. With our expertise in bus production, we look forward to delivering vehicles that meet the customer expectations with high quality.”
More than 117,000buses
Mercedes-Benz Türk has operated in Türkiye for 58 years as part of the Daimler Buses production network.
Why this matters
The added production capacity is meant to help Daimler Buses and Mercedes-Benz Türk keep serving continued strong demand for their buses in Europe, with customer deliveries due to start in the first half of 2027. European bus operators are the customers who benefit, while Otokar's Sakarya workforce builds the vehicles and Daimler Buses supplies the components and on-site support.
Terms in This Story
- start of production (SoP)
- The point at which a vehicle model moves from trial or pre-series builds into regular series manufacturing.
- pre-series phase
- A trial production stage before series output, used to set up processes and check that quality standards can be met.
- low-floor bus
- A bus whose floor is low enough that passengers can board and exit at roughly platform level, without steps.
- articulated bus
- A long bus made of two rigid sections joined by a flexible joint, which raises passenger capacity.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.