How Volvo changed the way we look at buses and bus travel

[maddy42]

Kudos to Volvo for coming to our country as it changed the way we travel. No one else targetted this industry as much. It would be difficult for Merc to gain market share as people just have a created a new benchmark.

We ask Volvo gaadi hai kya?? I travelled in the conductors seat which is next to the driver on a mumbai pune trip and well i was thrilled. Only bus where i really felt i should wear my seat belt.

Anyways questions are being thrown on the parent company but i really feel this company should survive

[aargee]

Well I'd the same question of how Volvo convinced the bus owners & asked the SRM driver casually about it. The reasons were to believe, but not convincing
1. The warranty (on what??) is 10 years; I probably assume its for the engine & chassis
2. Periodic maintenance is expensive than AL/Tata but works out cheaper in long term. Each Volvo busses are made for long term ownership like for 15 years; so comparing the cost of 15 years ownership between Tata/AL versus Volvo, the latter works out cheaper
3. He also mentioned a few hidden cost like the drivers training will cost about 15K (not sure if its per driver or for 2 drivers) & will be provided by Volvo India at their premises during purchase because a Tata/AL driver will not be able to drive this easily

[MCR]

As far as I know, one Volvo B7R bus costs around 67 lacs. Where as AL or Tata chassis + ordinary build comes to around 13 lacs. Volvo is defenitely expensive. But what can a Volvo offer for that price? the answers are;
1. Comfortable seats, designed for optimum support.
2. Air conditioner.
3. Faster travel times.
4. Superior ride quality which can put many cars to shame.
5. Absolutely noise free ride.
6. Superior legroom.
7. Reliability.

Where as AL and Tata have still a long way to go. Especially AL which always is the forerunner in primitive technology. AL inspite of showcasing a luxury bus(sorry I forgot the name) in 2008 Autoexpo is yet to put it in the market.

Also a link to KSRTC webpage which gives various details of its fleet.
http://www.ksrtc.in/BusServices.html

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by Mpower

KSRTC gave Volvo the break they wanted but thereafter its the Indian customer that was instrumental in fuelling the growth of the company.

They fell in love with this smooth. luxurious and powerful machine and demanded only Volvo buses from operators and were willing to pay more.

Totally agree. The point i was trying to make was, Volvo wont be here, with out the initial support from the Karnataka Government. Now it sells on its own. The new entrants like Izuzu or MB for that matter, are not getting such support from any state governments. [I am of the opinion that the RTCs should always go for proven models, rather than investing on new comers though.....]

[the VTEC guy]

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[aargee]

I really doubt if the payback period for Volvo to be in 18-24 months and the cost of standard Tata bus for 40L. IMO, Volvo India has a greater advantage of being the early entrant into India & hope they continue their innovations here.

[Ashley2]

+ First of all I don't understand why the home grown players are termed as cheaper counterparts. "Rs.40 lks upwards against cheaper 18 - 20 lks for conventional vehicles"- I am quite sure these figures are not true. A comparable product from ALL and TML would cost more than 50 lks.
+ I strongly disagree that there is no comparison of products from ALL and only with TML. TML has never dominated the Luxury Intercity buses leaving the game to ALL with 12M.
+ A figure saying total number of buses as 70000 in 2009 is not true and its around 35000 only.(ALL-15K+TML-15K+others 5K).
+ Engine Overhauling at 40000 kms for Competition as against 80000 kms for Volvo's - Can any fleet operator agree this point. This is something Obscured truth only to highlight the positives of Volvo.
A typical Intercity bus is bound to clock an average of 80000 kms an year. Does it means other products are overhauled once in 6 months. I don't understand the logic here.
+ Higher ticket cost is only due to higher initial investment and this cannot bring a faster ROI that too within 18 to 24 months.

With lot more contradictions I think this article does not reflect the true industry picture leaving some ambiguity.

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by GTO

The bigger deal to me is, how on earth did Volvo convince bus operators, during the early days, to pay multiple times the price of competitors?

This would have been the easiest part, especially for govt operators.

The approving authority/committee must be getting a commission from the company whose product is selected.

This commission is generally some percentage of the deal amount. Hence, bigger the deal, higher the commission for the approving authority.

Plus there is the incentive of foreign travel for the officials of the govt operators, for the sake of training etc, if a foreign brand like Volvo is chosen as compared to a local brand.

Govt deals are not always governed by the quality of the products alone, before sales services matter a lot to the approving authority.

Rohan

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

This would have been the easiest part, especially for govt operators.

The approving authority/committee must be getting a commission from the company whose product is selected.

This commission is generally some percentage of the deal amount. Hence, bigger the deal, higher the commission for the approving authority.

Plus there is the incentive of foreign travel for the officials of the govt operators, for the sake of training etc, if a foreign brand like Volvo is chosen as compared to a local brand.

Govt deals are not always governed by the quality of the products alone, before sales services matter a lot to the approving authority.

Rohan

I think GTO was referring to the Private Operators (Sharma/KPN/Kallada etc), You are right, Most of the time Government procurement is not based on merit or need. My guess is initially Volvo might have provided free service and other incentives to the early adopters to try the product. Whatever it was, i think the strategy worked.

[aargee]

Ok, here's another point when it comes to convincing the private operators. If I see a bus running on the travel's name (Kallada or KPN), the bus may or may not really belong to them. The bus might've been bought under joint ownership of 8-10 people, who could be just friends of the travel's owner with each of them investing 10L or so. In that way its less risky for the people who've invested as their investment is not very high & less risky for the owners because they only need to operate the vehicle & keep the business running & they haven't invested anything.

[bornin70s]

Been travelling on the KSRTC Volvo for over 2 yrs. Ultra silent, uber cool to be seen in one (atleast in the earlier days) and mostly helps to reduce congestion.

The new TATA Marcopolos sound like a jet engine compared to the volvos. Wonder why?

Also, I have never understood the hydraulics in the back. Anyone knows about it?

[Ashley2]

There is one operator from Trichy MJT travels. They have around 15 buses all of which are running between Chennai - Trichy. These buses are operated in the same way as said by aargee.

[TKMCE]

Sme of the best leg room is in the 2 + 1 non a/c buses. KPN used to run one such on the Chennai Ernakulam route (when they operated it many years back) and also on the BLR -TRV route - it had between 25 to 29 seats/ Sharma still operates a 2+1 on Bangalore - Cochin. The single seats are also great for privacy if you are travelling alone - and I never could understand why neither KPN or Sharma used to charge a premium for the same (many would gladly pay for it). Poor revenue management!!!


The KeSRTC Airbuses (the non a/c 2 x 2) is bettter than the a/c buses both Tata or Volvo in terms of leg room. Only problem with non a/c buses I have found is that it can get incredibly stuffy during the night - most pax insist on closing the windows air tight during the night - but have no problem fgetting frozen to death in a Volvo!!!!

[Car-e-ok]

Originally Posted by conjon

Did you mean 12 or 2 years?

I meant 2 actually. Sorry about that i wanted to put up an exclamation sign ended up with 1..

[thedreamcatcher]

Even I traveled in a public transport bus out of my own accord, the first time by a volvo in Bangalore. ANd i have to admit it was amazing

Very comfy, not too crowded and surprisingly it reaches the destination faster than I would take going by car