Volvo Buses India is planning to become a $1-billion company by 2015. Having a market share of about 80% in the inter-city luxury AC coaches market with city buses, Volvo Buses is widening its product portfolio, and in the process, it is expanding its R&D capabilities in India to bring in more of localisation to its entire range of buses sold in the country.
Currently, the localisation during manufacturing is about 50% and aims the company wants it to touch 70% to 80% over a period of time. Akash Passey, Managing Director of Volvo Buses India said, “Even as we have changed the bus industry over the past 10 years, the next five years will see Volvo Buses in India moving manifold faster than it has ever did before. This growth will be marked by our investments into expanding our industrial base, much higher export levels, new customer experiences across India.”
TATA MOTORS TO LAUNCH DIVO LUXURY COACH
Courtesy Busworld.org
Tata Motors , the country's largest automotive maker in terms of sales will be launching its Divo, a luxury AC coach meant for intercity long-distance operations in the first quarter of the next fiscal, a top official said today. Ashish Tandon, head marketing buses of Tata Motors, said the variant will compete with Volvo and Mercedes.
"As of now, five Divos are under trial on the Indian roads. With Divo, we will directly compete with Volvo and Mercedes on the basis of an international product at an Indian price. So, you can make out that we will be 10 per cent less expensive than our competitors," he said.
The Divo has been styled by the company's fully owned subsidiary Hispano Carrocera, a Spanish bodybuilding company, and is BS-III compliant powered with a 285-horse power Cummins engine, Tandon said on the sidelines of the Bus and Special Vehicles Expo (BSVE)-2011, a four-day event organised by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and the Confederation of India Industry (CII).
Tandon said Divo is positioned in a niche segment and the company is expecting to sell 300 units per year, from a total market size of 500 units. Tata says it is currently holding a 50 per cent share of the 70,000-unit per year Indian bus market and expected to increase the share with the new launches.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)