Volvo Buses India is gearing up to move on to the next phase of growth which will involve introducing locally made hybrid buses in the country and ramping up its export operations to include European markets.
Speaking to media in India, Akash Passey, senior vice president (in charge of international business) Volvo Buses, stated that a hybrid bus will return savings of 35-40% and the additional purchase cost can be recovered in 3-5 years. Since the Indian government is offering incentives under NEMMP 2020 (National Electric Mobility Mission Plan) for hybrid and electric vehicles, Volvo is looking forward to manufacture them locally.
As of now, the Swedish commercial vehicle major has around 2,000 hybrid buses plying across the globe and a pure electric bus has recently started trial runs in Sweden. Mr. Passey says that the company is already witnessing high demand for hybrid buses from its Indian customers.
Volvo hybrid buses will be made in India (image: Volvo 7900 PHEV).Volvo Buses India has an installed production capacity of 1,500 buses at its plant near Bangalore but only about half of it is being utilized owing to a sharp downturn in the luxury intercity coach segment. However, things have started looking brighter of late.
Sales of medium and heavy commercial passenger carriers in April-July saw a increase of 26% in India while exports rose by 17%. Volvo is looking to ride along this growth wave by encouraging Public Private Partnership (PPP)) in the Indian transportation sector and adding Europe to its list of export markets which already include neighboring countries and South Africa.
Mr. Passey also said that the company is currently studying the possibility of venturing into pre-owned bus business since it has nearly 80% market share in the premium intercity segment.
Via – Business-Standard.com
