Family - Setra

14 | Setra Cover Story
Setra Cover Story | 15
Senden Managing Directors Tobias Rulle and Ingo Windeln were pleased to accept a model of the Special Edition
come to say farewell. However, he remained
true to Setra coaches and to the Setra
family, as he moved on to support the Knies
General Distributor. As Knies retired in
2000, Peter Halder took over leadership of
the business and has, since then, sold
well over 300 new Setra coaches and
buses. Peter Halder will always be a part of
the Setra family: “When I look at the
opportunities I was offered during my time
with Setra, I am very grateful. I started as a
mechanic, and now I am a distributor. I
can’t even begin to imagine doing anything
other than selling Setra coaches!” We wish
you continued success and a lot of fun.
Congratulations Peter Halder!
The Senden General Distributor
celebrates its 30 th anniversary
The Senden General Distributor also celebrated
a notable anniversary in March, in
the context of the SetraShow in Kerpen.
On the occasion of its 30 th anniversary,
Heinz Friedrich, Setra Sales Director Germany,
gave a model of the Special Edition
S 416 HDH to Tobias Rulle and Ingo Windeln,
the distributor's managing directors. The
history of the Senden company goes back
even further than 30 years. In 1928, Leo
von den Driesch founded a blacksmith shop
and, in 1948, Heinrich Senden joined the
company – taking it over four years later.
Ten years after that, he had transformed
the company into one of the largest agricultural
machinery traders in Rhineland.
And soon, a number of large public bus
operations were among the business’ customers.
The partnership with Setra began
in 1981, as the managing director at the
time, Hans-Willi Windeln, established
contacts with Ulm, which soon led to a
general distributor contract. Today, the
Autohaus Senden GmbH is led by managing
partners Tobias Rulle, the company
founder’s grandson, and Ingo Windeln, Willi
Windeln’s son. Rulle manages the coach
business, while Windeln heads up the car
business. 110 employees, half of whom are
responsible for Setra, work at the Geilenkirchen
headquarters and the Kerpen subsidiary.
To the great satisfaction of their
customers, as Ulrich Zeimers, coach operator
in Eupen, explains: “The long service life,
cost-effectiveness and above-average resale
value, in combination with the excellent and
very friendly service I enjoy at Senden,
make buying Setra coaches an investment
that simply can’t be beat.” We wish the
Autohaus Senden continued success and
all the best on your 30 th anniversary!
General Distributor for Norway
celebrates 75 th anniversary and 35 years
of partnership with Setra
In March this year, the Setra General Distributor
in Norway, RSA (Rutebileiernes Standardiserings
Aksjeselskap), took advantage
of its double anniversary – 75 years RSA
and 35 years of collaboration with Setra –
to celebrate with its employees and partners.
380 guests made the celebration a
resounding success. A journalist hired by
RSA wrote and presented a 15-page book
on the history of the company. The historic
context of the celebration was beautifully
underscored with two vehicles exhibited –
the first ever and the most recently sold
Setra coaches: an S 140 from 1976
purchased by the Team Tour AS company in
1976, and an S 411 HD belonging to the
Furuly Turbuss company. In 1936, RSA was
founded by Norwegian bus entrepreneurs.
Today, the Helling family owns 91 percent
of the business, and managing director
Frank Dunvold the remaining 9 percent.
RSA is the largest Norwegian automotive
importer, with close to 95 associated
dealers. In total, over the 35-years partnership
with Setra, RSA has sold close to 500
The Team Tour AS company’s 1967 Setra S 140
Setra coaches. Following the beginning of
sales in 1976, there were no sales between
1977 and 1982 due to an import embargo,
since adhesive-sealed window screens –
which are standard in all coaches today –
were not allowed in Norway. The general
distributor achieved its greatest sales
success in 2008, when RSA became “Setra
2008 General Distributor of the Year” after
winning a bid for 21 coaches.
60 years for the Société Régionale de
Transports (SRT)
The French transport company, la Société
Régionale de Transport or SRT, is also celebrating
its 60 th anniversary – just like
Setra. The story behind the company
founded by the Collomb family from Saint-
Étienne in the South of France is that of a
classical family business in the coach
sector. At the end of the 19 th century, the
great-grandfather of today’s managing
directors Mick and Denis Collomb used a
coach and buggy to transport visitors to the
horse races in Villars, seven kilometres
away – laying the cornerstone for the transport
business. In the 1920s, his son, Jean-
Baptiste Collomb, sold coal transporting it
by horse and coach. On Sundays however,
he carried visitors from La Talaudière to
Saint-Étienne. In 1936, he gave up the coal
business and founded the Cars Collomb
company. During the Second World War, he
was forced to hand over his coaches to the
Managing director Mick Collomb welcomes his guests
Conseil Général de la Loire. He got them
back however in 1951, as the authorities
transferred their public transport routes to
various bus operators – including Cars
Collomb. In the same year, Jean-Baptiste’s
son Louis founded the SRT company. In
1974, the company’s first expansion took
place with the acquisition of Société des
Transports Héandais. Two years later, son
Mick joined the firm, and then in 1988, the
second son Denis. Since 1991, both sons
have been managing the company which
today has 67 coaches, most of which from
EvoBus. Mick Collomb explains why he more
and more often opts for Setra buses as follows:
“First of all, we choose Setra because
of its unmatched cost-effectiveness and outstanding
value retention. The company’s
history – in terms of heritage and visionary
personalities – suits our family business very
well. The fact that we are both now celebrating
our 60 th anniversary is the icing on the
cake.” The SetraFamily says congratulations!
The Baumeister-Knese company celebrated its 100 th anniversary by taking delivery of the 100,000 th Setra
Baumeister-Knese coach travel
turns 100
The Baumeister-Knese family business in
Ulm is in its prime! The veteran company in
the coach business, founded by Benedikt
Baumeister in 1911, celebrated its 100 th
anniversary in July with over 400 guests at
the Setra CustomerCenter. The decadelong
association between the two companies
began as the grandfather of today’s
owner shared a school bench with Otto
Kässbohrer. Over the last 60 years, the
company from Unterweiler has bought 51
Setra coaches. “We are a fully fledged
Setra operation”, says Klaus Knese who
manages the company in its fourth generation
with his wife Angelika. This year, Baumeister-Knese
has already invested in four
new Setra coaches, one of which was the
100,000 th Setra to come off the line in Neu-
Ulm – fitting to the company’s 100 th anniversary.
Lothar Holder, Head of Sales Setra
Buses and Coaches EvoBus GmbH, praised
the family-owned firm for its highly professional
management – and for its big heart.
For decades, the nuns from the Laupheim
Abbey have travelled from Ulm to Laupheim
at no cost. Klaus Knese says this was
initiated once upon a time by the company
founders. No one really knows why. But the
offer remains.