Volvo ups the Ante

Volvo Buses India has upgraded its intercity bus range; the engines are now BSIV emission compliant.

- Ashish Bhatia

Volvo Buses commands 65 per cent of the premium luxury inter-city bus market in India. The market is claimed to be a meagre 3 to 4 per cent of the overall bus market in India. Claimed to have kick-started this market in 2001 with its 12 m long B7R two-axle rear-engine bus with body built locally by Azad Coach Builders, the Swedish bus major has come to entrench itself firmly into the Indian market. It has grown with the market over time, retaining its first mover advantage, reaching out to both, the State Transport Undertakings (STUs) and private operators like Neeta, Sharma, VRL, SRS Travels and many more. Taking upon the task of building its own bus bodies by investing in a bus body building facility at Hosakote, Bangalore, in 2008, Volvo Buses India also expanded its product line-up. It added a multi-axle 13.8 m luxury inter-city bus in 2008, a 14.5 intercity luxury coach in 2012, and a low floor city bus in 2011. Having initiated the trials of its value brand, UD Buses, in 2014, Volvo Buses India has stuck to building premium rear-engine buses. According to VRV Sriprasad, Managing Director, Volvo Buses – South Asia, “The company has always taken the lead in introducing new technologies and concepts, and is working to help ‘create value’.” Despite the advent of competition from global majors like Mercedes-Benz and Scania, Volvo has held on to its own. It has sold over 6000 buses, including 4,500 coaches that are claimed to connect 100-plus locations across India. Over 1,500 Volvo city buses are said to operate in 34 cities in the country. Launching a hybrid city bus in Navi Mumbai last year, Volvo has taken yet another step to further consolidate its place in the burgeoning Indian bus market.