Volvo India is planning to enter into the multi-axle bus segment and city solutions as part of its future expansion plans. Volvo, the second largest manufacturer of big buses in the world, has recently made a foray in the luxury AC-bus segment with the launch of its B7R bus in India.
The B7R — built on a true bus chassis and sold in Asia Pacific, Africa, Middle-East and parts of Europe — has been priced at Rs 40 lakh (ex-Bangalore).
According to Volvo Bus general manager Akash Passey: “Volvo is entering a promising market with a modern bus concept in bus transport solutions.”
The B7R bus is a 45-seater, while the buses in the luxury segment in India (where Ashok Leyland and Telco have an overwhelming presence) are normally 35-seaters.
Volvo officials add that the price premium as compared to the existing models in the segment — which are priced at around the Rs 27 lakh mark — was justified considering the operating cost distribution. While in B7R the fuel cost comes to 30 per cent of the total operating costs, in others it comes to around 40-45 per cent.
Volvo is looking at selling around 100 buses in the coming year which it plans to increase to 300-400 buses in course of the next three to four years, Mr Passey added.
The bus body has been built by JAE (Azad Group) under technology transfer agreement from Volvo. The Azad Group is now setting up an exclusive facility for building Volvo bus bodies at a cost of Rs 10 crore.
Mr Passey said that the luxury AC coach market was growing at 15 per cent per annum and currently generated volumes of around 400 buses. Volvo was not only looking at this segment, but also non-AC luxury buses which have a market of around 7,000 units.
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