Mercedes-Benz Conecto

The Conecto is a low-floor city bus that Daimler Buses sells under the Mercedes-Benz brand, built as a two-axle bus with three double doors and as the articulated Conecto G with four double doors. The figures on this page come from Daimler Buses’ English data sheet for the Conecto and Conecto G, dated 03/2026, and from the international model page (undated, read on 19 October 2026); from Mercedes-Benz Türk’s Turkish data sheets of 2026 for the solo and articulated diesel buses, its Turkish model page and its Turkish brochure printed in January 2026; and from Daimler Truck and Otokar releases dated 11 September 2025 to 22 September 2026. Mercedes-Benz calls the Conecto “an independently developed vehicle” and names the low-floor portal drive axle, the front axle with independent wheel suspension and the diesel engines among the assemblies it takes from the Mercedes-Benz Citaro city bus family.

Production and markets

The international model page says the Conecto has established itself “within the space of just 10 years” in Eastern Europe, Turkey and Central Asia, and calls the current bus “the new generation”. No document opened gives the dates of the earlier Conecto generations or of the start of production of the current one. Daimler Truck’s release of 11 September 2025 says the Conecto had until then been built only at Daimler Buses’ Turkish plant in Hoşdere, the Mercedes-Benz Türk bus plant opened in 1995 that the release calls the largest bus production site of Daimler Buses.

The same release announced an agreement, signed that day in Sakarya, under which Otokar builds the conventionally powered Conecto for Daimler Buses at its Sakarya plant from September 2026. Daimler Buses supplies all major vehicle components and dedicated production equipment, and a Daimler Buses team supports production on site. On 22 September 2026 Daimler Buses, Mercedes-Benz Türk and Otokar celebrated the start of series production at Sakarya, after a pre-series phase; Otokar’s Turkish release says the first series-production bus left the line at the Arifiye plant that day. Daimler Truck’s release of the same day gives the first half of 2027 for the start of customer deliveries.

Daimler Truck’s release of 9 April 2026 says Daimler Buses “will introduce the Mercedes‑Benz Conecto to the German market in the future”, as a 12 m solo bus, also in the Conecto hybrid version, and as an articulated bus, with deliveries for the German market planned to start in the middle of 2027. It describes the bus as complementing the Citaro range for operators “with straightforward, functional operational requirements”, such as school transport and replacement capacity. The release of 22 September 2026 says instead that Daimler Buses has offered the vehicle in Germany “since 2025”.

Engines

Each body is listed with one diesel engine.

Daimler Truck’s release of 9 April 2026 gives the OM 936 as 220 kW (299 hp) and “Euro 6 E”, and the OM 470 as 265 kW (360 hp) and “Euro VI”. Mercedes-Benz Türk’s data sheets name the solo bus’s engine OM 936 LA, with 7,698 cm³ and 295 HP (220 kW) at 1,800 rpm and peak torque at 1,200 rpm, and give the OM 470 10,677 cm³ and 355 HP (265 kW) at 1,600 rpm, with 1,700 Nm at 1,100 rpm. The model page describes the OM 470 as installed vertically, with Mercedes-Benz’s X-PULSE common-rail system, which builds a rail pressure of up to 1,160 bar and raises it to as much as 2,700 bar in the injectors, and a fixed-geometry turbocharger with an asymmetrical turbine housing. The Turkish model page lists common-rail injection, exhaust gas recirculation, an oxidation catalyst, a particulate filter and SCR with AdBlue injection for the Euro 6 engines.

Conecto hybrid and recuperation module

The 12 m Conecto is offered as the Conecto hybrid, with a 48 V system. The data sheet marks the hybrid system optional on the Conecto and does not list it for the Conecto G, and the Turkish model page says the hybrid module is offered on the Conecto Solo. A disc-shaped electric motor between the diesel engine and the automatic gearbox works as a generator when the bus coasts and brakes, the energy is stored in supercapacitors, and the motor supports the diesel engine when moving off, accelerating and idling, under its own energy management. The international model page gives the motor 14 kW; the Turkish model page and brochure give 16 kW, and the Turkish model page adds 220 Nm. The Turkish page lists an inverter, two storage modules on the roof and an additional cooling circuit for the motor and inverter. Mercedes-Benz states fuel savings of “up to 6.5 percent” in urban traffic.

A recuperation module, listed separately from the hybrid, is marked optional on both bodies in the 03/2026 data sheet and listed as standard equipment in the Turkish data sheets; the Turkish brochure says the vehicle’s electrical consumers draw first on the recuperation module rather than on the alternator. Diesel, hybrid and other city-bus drives are set out in city bus propulsion.

Transmission and retarder

The data sheet names the Voith DIWA.NXT for both bodies, with the ZF EcoLife 2 as optional equipment. Mercedes-Benz Türk’s data sheets give “ZF Ecolife (6 ileri) - VOITH Diwa 6 (4 ileri)”, a six-speed ZF and a four-speed Voith, list an automatic gearbox as standard, and list a stalk-operated retarder with five stages as standard; the Turkish model page names the Voith DIWA 6 and the ZF EcoLife 2. How a retarder works is described in retarders and engine braking.

Axles, suspension and brakes

Both bodies have power steering (a ZF 8098 hydraulic unit in the Turkish sheets), a ZF front axle with independent suspension and an anti-roll bar, and a ZF AV 133 driven axle; the Conecto G adds a centre axle. The 03/2026 data sheet names the front axle ZF RL 82 EC and the centre axle ZF AVN 133, while the Turkish sheets name a ZF RL 75 EC front axle, a ZF AVN132 centre axle and a ZF AV133/83 drive axle. Air suspension with an electronic level control system (ENR) is standard. The Turkish sheets give two air bellows, two dampers, two level sensors and an anti-roll bar at the front, and four air bellows, four dampers and two level sensors at the drive axle and at the Conecto G’s centre axle. An anti-roll bar on the drive axle, a raising and lowering system, kneeling and a rough-road running gear are optional in the data sheet; the Turkish sheets list kneeling and the body raising and lowering device as standard. The Conecto G has the Articulation Turntable Controller (ATC) as standard.

Pneumatic disc brakes on all axles, EBS, ABS, an automatic bus stop brake with pull-away lock and a parking brake are standard on both bodies. Acceleration slip regulation (ASR) is optional on both in the data sheet and part of the standard “Ebs3/Abs/Asr” brake system in the Turkish sheets; the Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) is optional on the Conecto and not listed for the Conecto G.

Dimensions and weights

The data sheet prints the 3,095 mm height on its overview page and again as the height including the rear roof fans. Its turning-circle rows also give a ring width of 6,594 mm on the Conecto and 7,462 mm on the Conecto G at the minimum turning circle and, under the label BOKraft, a turning circle of 25,000 mm with ring widths of 5,830 mm on the Conecto and 6,700 mm on the Conecto G, with 7,200 mm as the maximum permissible; the row “Wheel impact front axle max.” gives 53 degrees. A separate row gives a usable AdBlue volume of 20 l from a capacity of 25 l on the Conecto and 22 l from 27 l on the Conecto G. Mercedes-Benz Türk’s data sheets give turning circles of 21,214 mm for the solo bus and 22,970 mm for the articulated bus, an inner height of 2,313 mm at the front and 2,317 mm at the rear, and 3,120 mm as the height with air conditioning.

Floor, doors and passenger capacity

The floor is 370 mm above the road and the pedestal height 280 mm; every door listed has an entry height of 320 mm and an opening width of 1,250 mm, and the slope angle is 7 degrees at the front and the rear. The Conecto has three double doors and the Conecto G four, with interior swivel doors as standard. A manual ramp and a wheelchair space are optional in the data sheet, while the Turkish sheets list a manual wheelchair ramp and a wheelchair space with a request button as standard. Mercedes-Benz describes stepless entrances and a continuous low floor from front to rear; the rules behind such layouts are set out in bus accessibility and bus doors and emergency exits.

The 03/2026 data sheet gives the Conecto 26 standard seats and up to 101 passengers, and the Conecto G 40 seats and up to 150 passengers; the international model page gives the same 101 and 150 passengers and the Conecto G’s 40 seats. Mercedes-Benz Türk’s data sheets give 26 seats and 104 passengers for the solo bus and 36 seats and 153 passengers for the articulated bus. The Turkish model page gives 104 and 153 in one paragraph and, for the articulated bus, “Azami 151 kişilik kapasitesiyle birlikte 34 koltuk” (up to 151 people with 34 seats) in another.

Driver’s area, interior and equipment

City Star Basic seating is standard and City Star Eco seating optional; the driver’s seat is an air-sprung GRAMMER Linea MSG 90.6 P. The model page describes the driver’s seating position as raised by 60 mm. A turbo roof ventilator is standard, and air conditioning for the driver’s area, EvoCool Basic, a roof-mounted unit with heat pump and modular electric roof air conditioning are optional in the data sheet. The Turkish sheets list a 32 kW passenger air-conditioning unit as standard on the solo bus, with 39 kW as an option, and 43 kW as standard on the articulated bus, with half-enclosed (solo bus only) and fully enclosed driver’s cabins as options. Single glazing is standard, and double glazing and a heated windscreen are optional. Halogen daytime running lights are standard and LED daytime running lights and a front fog lamp optional in the data sheet, while the Turkish sheets list LED daytime running lights and fog lamps as standard. The Turkish sheets give two 12 V, 225 Ah batteries, two 150 A alternators on the solo bus and three on the articulated bus, and a 24 V system. Mercedes-Benz Türk says the complete body is immersed in a cathodic dip coating (KTL) bath, a process its brochure says was first used in Turkish bus production at the Hoşdere plant.

Safety and driver assistance

Standard on both bodies in the data sheet: Sideguard Assist 2, Frontguard Assist, Traffic Sign Assist, Attention Assist 2, tyre pressure monitoring, a reversing camera and an extinguishing system. Optional: Preventive Brake Assist 2, MirrorCam and a reversing buzzer. The international model page lists Preventive Brake Assist 2 among the systems fitted “as standard” in its highlights and calls it “optional” in its safety section; the Turkish data sheets list it as standard equipment.

• Preventive Brake Assist 2: warns of collisions with pedestrians, cyclists and stationary or moving objects and initiates partial braking. The Turkish model page says the area up to 250 m ahead is scanned, with the function available up to 60 km/h; the Turkish brochure gives 260 m.
• Sideguard Assist 2: monitors both sides of the bus in turns and, above 40 km/h, takes over the function of lane change assist, by the model page; the Turkish brochure gives 0–36 km/h for turning and a blind-spot warning above 36 km/h.
• Frontguard Assist: warns of people directly in front of the bus when moving off or driving slowly, up to 15 km/h by the model page and up to 9.3 mph by the data sheet.
• Attention Assist 2: a driver camera; fatigue is detected from about 30 km/h and distraction from about 20 km/h.
• MirrorCam: camera images on 7-inch and 15-inch monitors, with an overtaking overlay activated with the indicator from 10 km/h.

The Turkish brochure says the body strength was designed to UN ECE-R66.02; the requirement is described in bus rollover strength.

Source notes

Length, width, height, wheelbase, turning circle and gross vehicle weight above are the 12 m Conecto’s, from the Daimler Buses data sheet dated 03/2026. The articulated Conecto G in the same sheet is 18,124 mm long, 2,550 mm wide and 3,095 mm high, with 5,900 mm from the front to the centre axle and 5,990 mm from the centre to the drive axle, a turning circle of 22,878 mm and a gross vehicle weight of 28,000 kg. Height including the air-conditioning system is 3,120 mm on both bodies, and 3,300 mm on the Conecto and 3,350 mm on the Conecto G including optional equipment. Maximum permissible axle loads are 7,500 kg front and 13,000 kg drive, with 10,000 kg on the centre axle of the Conecto G. The OM 936 (7.7 l, 220 kW, 1,200 Nm at 1,200 to 1,600 rpm) is listed for the Conecto and the OM 470 (10.7 l, 265 kW, 1,700 Nm at 1,100 rpm) for the Conecto G; the rated speeds of 1,800 and 1,600 rpm are from Mercedes-Benz Türk’s Turkish data sheets of 2026. The 03/2026 sheet gives 26 standard seats and up to 101 passengers for the Conecto and 40 seats and up to 150 passengers for the Conecto G; the Turkish sheets give 26 and 104, and 36 and 153. The Turkish sheets also give turning circles of 21,214 mm and 22,970 mm, a ZF RL 75 EC front axle where the 03/2026 sheet names the ZF RL 82 EC, and a ZF AVN132 centre axle where it names the ZF AVN 133. Fuel tanks hold 250 l on the Conecto and 300 l on the Conecto G, the AdBlue tanks 25 l and 27 l.