Carrosserie Hess

Carrosserie HESS AG is a bus, trolleybus and commercial vehicle manufacturer based in Bellach, Switzerland. Their products can be found operating in several countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia.

HESS AG

Trade name	Carrosserie HESS AG
Industry	Automotive
Founded	1882; 143 years ago (1882)
Founder	Heinrich Hess
Headquarters	Bellach, Switzerland
Areas served	Worldwide
Key people	Alex Naef (CEO) Ernst Basler (CFO)
Website	hess-ag.ch

History

The company was founded in 1882, when Heinrich Hess set up business in Solothurn to build customised car bodies. The company first began building buses in 1919, and production reverted to aluminium products in 1933. It produced its first trolleybuses in 1940 for the Swiss cities of Basel and Biel/Bienne. In 1961, it commenced building of articulated vehicles, some of which were supplied to operators in the United States and Canada in 1975. The company soon began to expand, and businesses were set up in Portugal and Australia in 1957 and 1978 respectively. The U.S. business was set up in 1996.

The company began production of low-floor buses and trolleybuses in 1991, and its first "Swisstrolley" model, built in conjunction with Nutzfahrzeuggesellschaft Arbon & Wetzikon (NAW) and introduced in that year, was one of the first low-floor trolleybus models anywhere.^[1] In 2003, Hess built the first double-articulated trolleybus in Switzerland, when it built and added a middle section to Geneva articulated trolleybus No. 709 (which was then renumbered 721).^[2] The experimental addition eventually led to series production at Hess of double-articulated trolleybuses in 2005, for the Geneva trolleybus system,^[3] followed the next year by orders from the Zürich trolleybus system and the Lucerne trolleybus system.^[4][5]

In 2022, the company delivered its first right-hand drive variant of the lighTram 25 bi-articulated bus, to the Australian city of Brisbane. For use in the Brisbane Metro starting January 2025,^[6]

Products

Buses

A Carrosserie Hess bus built on DAF chassis in Bucharest, Romania

• N UB 2-2: A low-floor, two-door bus with 10 m, 11.3 m and 12 m variants, which can accommodate approximately 82, 86 and 95 passengers, respectively.
• N UB 2-2-1: Identical to the N UB 2–2 with the addition of an extra door at the rear of the vehicle.
• N UA 2-2-2-2: A low-floor, 18 m four-door articulated bus, which has a capacity of around 150 passengers.
• Hess lighTram : A family of electrified buses with sizes ranging from the 82 passenger lighTram 10 to the 150-220+ passenger bi-articulated lighTram 25 with a duraluminium body.^[7]

Trolleybuses

Hess Swisstrolley 3 of an old design in Lucerne

• Eurotrolley 3: A 9.7m long half-low-floor trolleybus with a capacity of approximately 80 passengers. Built for Lyon with Kiepe electrical equipment and a Skoda traction motor.
• Swisstrolley 3: An 18m long articulated trolleybus which can accommodate not less than 140 passengers. It and lighTram have a duraluminium body.
• LighTram 3: A 24.7m long double-articulated trolleybus with a capacity of around 192 passengers.
• Trolleyzug: A 23.3m long trolleybus and trailer with a capacity of around 180 passengers.

Bus kits

As well as building complete vehicles, Hess also manufactures bus kits for its worldwide customers. These kits are imported and then assembled on reaching their destination.

Minibuses

Hess also builds smaller buses, mainly for the transportation of school children and persons with disabilities.

Commercial vehicles

Hess builds vehicles designed for commercial purposes, such as vans, some of which are fitted with tipper equipment, loading ramps and trailers.