Volvo India Pvt Ltd will become a billion dollar company by creating an opportunity to sell 5,000 buses in India.
Disclosing this at a news conference as part of the Bus and Special Vehicles Expo (BSVE) 2011 here on Wednesday, Managing Director of Volvo India Akash Passey said: “Even as we have changed the bus industry over the past 10 years, the next 5 years will see Volvo Buses in India moving manifold time 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 and of course a range of product concepts. Together we aim to create an opportunity to sell 5000 buses and be a billion dollar company.”
With a view to achieving this, the company would invest Rs. 300 crore in a facility at Hosakote in Bangalore to scale up the production from 1,000 buses to 5,000 buses a year.
Volvo Buses exhibited its continous momentum in the backdrop of ambitious growth announcements. Exhibiting the new Volvo 9400 Multi-axle bus with the globally popular I-shift technology – Volvo Buses announced its plans to be a billion dollar company in the coming years.
Currently, with a dominant share of 80% within the inter-city luxury AC coaches market and presence in 13 cities with its city buses, Volvo Buses announced a range of plans to drive the bus industry into the future.
To cater to the growing future demand and growth plans, Volvo Buses will augment its factory and establishment with new facilities for refurbishment operations, Customer Experience Lounge, New Integral production principles, a Competence Development Centre and Expand the paint shop. The Hosakote facility will thus expand almost 100% and will also result in a 30% increase in manpower in the coming two years.
The company has doubled investments in the Hosakote plant in Bangalore by investing Rs. 200 crore over the next two to three years. This will help ramp up the production capacity to 5000 buses in the coming years, from its current 1000 buses per annum. These new investments are aimed at fuelling the growth of the company in years to come.
“Importantly, whatever we do and create we aim to drive better quality of life for all associated with us – drivers, customers, passengers etc. This has been the history with all our products. Our B7R 4x2 coach changed the way India moves between cities. Our Volvo 8400 City Bus is changing city landscape and decreasing congestion levels across 13 cities in Inda. The recently introduced Volvo 9400 multi-axle bus has swept the market in just one year to become the bestselling coach in the country” said Akash Passey.
“That is also the spirit exhibited today at Bus Expo with the Volvo I-Shift technology. In one shot it has the capability of making the driver’s life, the passenger comfort and the transport economy move one notch up. The Volvo I-shift is an automated gear changing mechanism which mimics the best driver. This means that with this new transmission, you are almost securing the best driving practises irrespective of the driver, which has a significant impact on vehicle fuel efficiency, performance, reliability and comfort of driver.” stated Mr. Passey.
Volvo I-Shift is a 12-speed manual gearbox with an automated gearchanging system.The starting gear is selected automatically according to the road's gradient and vehicle load which makes driving extremely easy for the driver. Moreover low wieght and small dimensions allows for compact installation.
The future of Volvo Buses in India is backed by a strong Indian footprint. Volvo Buses today has almost 80% market share in the luxury inter-city AC coach segment and over 50% market share in the AC Diesel Low Floor City buses - which are present across 12 cities in the country. Volvo Buses India will step up on its exports from 2011. Exports will account for 25-30% of total volumes of India over the next few years.
Currently, there are about 4000 Volvo Buses operating in India, both in the city and inter-city segments. The company is bullish on its growth in 2011 as the industry is buoyant about the future of the bus market in total and is stating a healthy growth level from 5-10% for the coming years.
The company's hybrid bus launch is, however, delayed. He sadi the company would launch the hybrid version, which was running successfully in Sweden and Europe, at an appropriate time in India. |
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