Strong partners: FC Bayern heads for the future with MAN

• FC Bayern and MAN Truck & Bus extend partnership by another two years until 2024
• Focus on sustainability: FC Bayern team travels to airport with MAN electric bus
• Munich club also relies on the all-electric MAN eTGE Combi minibus since 2021
• Electrification of MAN intercity buses and coaches in the pipeline

Wow, it's quiet!", "I could definitely get used to this." and "Fun and sustainable - perfect." Players and coaches of FC Bayern München traveled emission-free from the club's headquarters on Säbener Straße to Munich Airport in the MAN Lion's City E in mid-July - and were thrilled. "FC Bayern stands for a responsible approach to the environment and mobility. So it's all the nicer that in MAN Truck & Bus we have a partner at our side who is making a significant contribution to advancing precisely these issues and has now also provided us with an eBus for the trip to the airport," says Andy Jung, Marketing Director at FC Bayern, and adds, "In this context, the joy is now naturally particularly great that we have extended our long-standing partnership with MAN by a further two years and can thus realize many more sustainable projects together."

In addition, the record champion will continue to arrive at its home and away matches efficiently, safely and comfortably in an MAN Lion's Coach in the upcoming football season, which starts on August 5. "We have been a partner of FC Bayern since 2008 and have been able to realize great projects together in a wide variety of areas. We are now continuing this successful partnership so that the FC Bayern team will continue to travel to away games in an MAN bus in the future," says Marc Langendorf, Head of Communications & Government Affairs at MAN Truck & Bus. The extensive comfort and multimedia equipment make the team bus a feel-good place and important retreat for the players. "The Lion's Coach is extremely efficient on the road thanks to innovative technology. Nevertheless, it would of course be terrific if trips with the team bus were soon also possible without emissions - like our trip to the airport with the electric city bus," says Andy Jung.

In urban transport, MAN Truck & Bus is already in an excellent position in terms of sustainability: By 2025, half of MAN's new city buses will be alternatively powered, and by 2030, 90 percent of city buses will be battery-powered. "The feedback on our eBus has been excellent, and a look at the rising order intake also clearly shows that we can achieve these figures," says Rudi Kuchta, Head of Business Unit Bus at MAN Truck & Bus, adding, "But the goal is definitely also to start electrifying intercity buses and coaches as quickly as possible, depending on further market developments. After all, in the future, bus travelers like the FC Bayern team should also be able to get from A to B sustainably and comfortably on long distances."
 

FC Bayern relies on electric minibus from MAN

The club has already been on the road sustainably since summer 2021 with a MAN eTGE Combi. "With our electric minibus, FC Bayern has opened a new chapter in its mobility. The players and managers of FC Bayern München already drive mostly purely electric passenger cars. However, there has not been an electric commercial vehicle in the fleet so far," says Kuchta. Since the MAN eTGE Combi replaced an identical vehicle with a combustion engine, the club is also helping to improve the air in the city. The 100% battery-electric vehicle is used to transport staff and equipment quietly and in an environmentally friendly manner within Munich on match days of the 1st Bundesliga. When there are no games, the minibus is also used for inner-city tours between the club headquarters, the junior training center and the Allianz Arena, among other places. "Together with MAN, we want to drive forward the transformation of mobility by integrating new forms of drive into everyday work," Jung makes clear.

MAN Truck & Bus has already been involved in sports for many years, most recently also as the official partner of the FC Bayern women's team. "In the field of team sports, you can no longer get around team buses from MAN. Sponsoring sport clubs is an established brand communication tool for us and helps to emotionally charge and clearly position our product brands," says Marc Langendorf, adding, "Thanks to campaigns such as the ride on the MAN eBus, we are now increasingly focusing on the topic of sustainable mobility in the area of sponsorship as well. This is very close to our hearts, but also to those of many associations and clubs."