Demand for buses up to 16 meters is likely to grow with increased mobility and road infrastructure in the country. Jan Vandooren, head & vice president – Volvo Buses, South Asia said this in an informal interaction with the media at Volvo India’s facility in Bangalore recently.
Volvo India currently sells buses around 12 meters in length and has not introduced the larger buses in India. This may, however, change depending on the future demand in the Indian market, Vandooren said.
The company recently delivered its latest range of city buses — B7RLE — to the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) for passenger transport within the city. The Rs 78 lakh, fully air-conditioned buses with automatic transmission were delivered by Vandooren, who took charge of Volvo India’s bus division in April, after spending three years in the bus division at Volvo’s China operations.
The Volvo B7RLE is the latest addition to Volvo’s range in India and has been built on the ‘8700 chassis’. The bus comes with a slew of features including low-kneeling mechanism, which enables the bus floor to be lowered by 10 cms, tubeless tyres and disc brakes with EBS. The integrated retarder contributes to enhanced safety and drive comfort. The bus can accommodate 100 passengers inclusive ofsitting and standing, and has a small lobby in the middle while the engine is at the rear-end.
Better road network
‘The development of the Indian market is similar to that ofChina but is still way behind given the better road network and infrastructure in China,’ said Vandooren. China, in fact, is among the few countries in Asia where Volvo has a full-fledged manufacturing facility and a number of joint ventures for carrying out activities like bus manufacturing, truck manufacturing as well as components supply and sourcing for its global operations.
Volvo India, which launched its India operations in 1997 assembles the B7R bus series used in inter-city transportation and also has a major presence in trucks, tippers and construction equipment segments in India. The company’ Hoskote facility near Bangalore can assemble around 1,200 trucks and buses on a single shift basis per year. Volvo India sold around 600 buses last year. It also exports buses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. As part of their sales package, the company runs a driver training school in its plant to train drivers on its vehicles.
Like many other international vehicle makers, Volvo India too has started sourcing components for its parent’s global requirements, procuring components worth 50 million Euros last year. The company has also established a technology centre in Bangalore and operates a nationwide network of 50 sales and support points.
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