[binaiks]

Originally Posted by v1kram

I did see that Marcopolo built bus on LPO 1512 platform elsewhere in the forum (i think it was in a body building factory for some modification), but no idea about the further developments/issues.
May be experts from Kerala can comment / provide further information.

The same bus was mentioned by "teamveevee" too. That bus was denied registration by the Kerala MVD on some vague pretexts. I heard that TATA offered a Chassis in exchange of the bus - not sure of that.

[nikhilj]

To add to the list of factory built buses:
Swaraj Mazda!

And I guess we just cant compare Fully Built v/s Third Party.

I dont know much about buses, but I guess a Sutlej on a Tata Chasis would easily be better than a fully built Swaraj Mazda!


Also got questions of my own!

1. What is the cheapest 25 seater available ?

2. How much does a luxury 25 seater cost (Or lesser number of seats), good enough to get 5* contracts!

3. If we were to compare the following chasis as well as followingfully built buses : Isuzu vs Swaraj Mazda vs Tata vs Ashok Leyland vs Eicher vs Mahindra (Not even sure if they even make buses)
What would be the pros and cons of each ?

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

Sgiitk sir, its not that all local workshops are bad, personally, I know that AE coach builders(belongs to ABT/Gounder and Co. Coimbatore) and some body shops based in Karur, TN are quite good and if able to spend some money, can even build better, safer bodies than mainstream guys.

Bodies from AE, LGB were really good. LGB is no more now. I'm not sure what happened to LGB body builders. There are few buses in my native which is still running with LGB built buses.

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Volvo is making fully built in their own setup? Or they're getting from Azad? That was the case if I'm not wrong few years ago.

Earlier Volvo built their buses with Azad and now it is totally owned by Volvo buses.

Originally Posted by v1kram

As for the quality, many of the local builders are well known for the quality of work. Especially for stage carriage operations, erstwhile LGB & Bros (L.G. Balakrishnan & Bros) were pioneers in building quality buses and they do command a better resale value. At present few of the companies like AE Coach (Anamalais Engineering), PEE TEE Coach (they also export to Middle East), Shillibear, etc. are known for the quality and to some extent SRT coach is also good and have a good resale value (though the initial investment is more)

Vikram,
Do you have any info about LGB? what happened to them? Also SRT still building new buses? I'm not seeing SRT coaches regularly.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Buses like the Volvo are built by Azad and I can say they are better in build when compared to the Merc's. I have never seen a badly built Volvo's be it B7R's or 9400.

In the local builders I guess Prakash holds the high respect for its bodies.

Merc buses are still built by Sutlej and whereas Volvo is building their buses on their own.

Prakash and Veera holds high respect from third party body builders now. KMS also doing good. Red BS-4 buses of BMTC built by KMS are really good. At the same time they have also built the Corona Skypak for BMTC. Even 12M KMS built buses with SETC are good compared to other body builders.

Any good private body builders from AP? I have seen MG coaches and some more from there. Not able to remember those names.

[LPT2625]

Originally Posted by dhandapanik

Any good private body builders from AP?

Here is an excerpt from the January 2011 edition of Motorindiaonline.

JCBL-Mithra JV

"To further strengthen its position in the Southern bus market, JCBL has entered into a joint venture with the Mithra Group of Andhra Pradesh for building buses. The 50:50 joint venture between JCBL and Mithra is setting up a manufacturing facility in Vijayawada on a 20 acre plot of land at an investment of Rs. 25 crores to manufacture 2000 buses per annum. Initially buses will be sent as SKDs from the JCBL plant in the North and will be assembled in Vijayawada. Over a period of time, the new plant will start full-fledged manufacturing on its own.

The JCBL Mithra JV will cater to the requirements of transport corporations in the South, School, College and institutional bus segment."

(Edit: Fellow BHP-ians in the know can definitely give the latest updates on the same.)

[v1kram]

Originally Posted by dhandapanik

Vikram,
Do you have any info about LGB? what happened to them? Also SRT still building new buses? I'm not seeing SRT coaches regularly.

LGB closed their factory during 2001/2002 period and i remember seeing their final design in an auto expo held in CODISSIA, Coimbatore. They had a stall inside to display their latest model. Few other companies like Indiaan Coach displayed their models outside the CODISSIA building. Not sure of the reason why they closed but most of the Karur based body building company proprietors are Ex-LGB employees. After that, AE Coach then became the favorite among the operators who prefer quality than design. (AE was not fully involved until then apart from building for their own buses).

SRT is very much present, you have even posted the picture of RVS SVS 12M TATA which is built by them. Also, the new SPS 12M AL was also built by them though their numbers are quite low when compared with others.

[greenhorn]

I recall a couple of 'allwyn' bodied buses that the KeSRTC used to own a long time ago. Dad said that these buses were all steel, and KeSRTC preferred to have steel sheets over a wooden frame for maintenence, so they didnt buy any more bodies from them.
Wikipedia says Allwyn became defunct long ago. Those buses looked very futuristic compared to the KeSRTC bus bodies of the time.

[girishglg]

Originally Posted by nikhilj

3. If we were to compare the following chasis as well as followingfully built buses : Isuzu vs Swaraj Mazda vs Tata vs Ashok Leyland vs Eicher vs Mahindra (Not even sure if they even make buses)

Mahindras do manufacture Tourister range of buses with a seating capacity of 16 - 40 passengers. More from their website-

http://www.mytouristeri.com/

[DWind]

Does Irizar TVS come under Company/ Manufacturer built buses? I recall AL having a bus body building unit at Alwar. Do they manufacture Inter city buses as well?

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

I recall a couple of 'allwyn' bodied buses that the KeSRTC used to own a long time ago. D...... Those buses looked very futuristic compared to the KeSRTC bus bodies of the time.

UPSRTC also used Allwyn coaches in mid 90's, I guess. They were twice as rigid as other UPSRTC buses that time and lasted more too. I think those coaches were built in Andhra.

[girishglg]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

UPSRTC also used Allwyn coaches in mid 90's, I guess. I think those coaches were built in Andhra.

Yes the earlier factory was owned by Allwyn (which was a PSU i guess) of the refridgerator fame with a tieup with Nissan and built LCVs. Later it was bought over by Mahindras who now manufacture their range of CVs

Was not sure till now if they built HCVs (bus bodies) as well.

[sgiitk]

One point reamins. How many OE buses are actually made by the vendor themselves. They will be better than 'other' units due to stricter and higher QC specs. Referring back to my earlier post re Sutlej, I was surprised to learn a few years ago that they were interested in Wind Tunnel testing of their designs. I do not know what came of it.

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by v1kram

LGB closed their factory during 2001/2002 period and i remember seeing their final design in an auto expo held in CODISSIA, Coimbatore. They had a stall inside to display their latest model. Few other companies like Indiaan Coach displayed their models outside the CODISSIA building. Not sure of the reason why they closed but most of the Karur based body building company proprietors are Ex-LGB employees. After that, AE Coach then became the favorite among the operators who prefer quality than design. (AE was not fully involved until then apart from building for their own buses).

SRT is very much present, you have even posted the picture of RVS SVS 12M TATA which is built by them. Also, the new SPS 12M AL was also built by them though their numbers are quite low when compared with others.

LGB bodies became very rare and i always admire them for the quality of their work. Now many of the private buses in West TN and Madurai/Theni districts started preferring AE built buses. i have also seen few of them running in Karaikudi areas.

Forgot about the SPS 12M city bus. Thanks for mentioning it. I'm able to recollect the SRT coach sticker in it.

Do we have any other body builders in Coimbatore(apart from AE)? Karur has so many of them.

Some of them i remember are
1. PeeTee coach
2. Atal Coach
3. Indiaan Coach
4. Maaruti
5. Royal
4. REC(Rayal Engineering Company)
5. Hari body builders
6. Sakthi
7. TVR
8. Gemini
9. Best

Any more from karur?

Irizar TVS which is a joint venture from TVS, Ashok Leyland and Irizar have units in Viralimalai(Trichy) and Pudhukottai.

Originally Posted by DWind

Does Irizar TVS come under Company/ Manufacturer built buses? I recall AL having a bus body building unit at Alwar. Do they manufacture Inter city buses as well?

Valid question. I have seen Irizar TVS built buses on Eicher platform. Two such buses are running as school buses in Madurai.

[v1kram]

Originally Posted by dhandapanik

LGB bodies became very rare and i always admire them for the quality of their work. Now many of the private buses in West TN and Madurai/Theni districts started preferring AE built buses. i have also seen few of them running in Karaikudi areas.

Do we have any other body builders in Coimbatore(apart from AE)? Karur has so many of them.

Any more from karur?

You can take it as AE took over the spot which LGB left, i.e. Quality work.
It has a huge waiting period too when compared with Karur based builders (though AE doesn't build for TNSTC's or SETC).
There are some small level workshops based in Coimbatore for body building, but operators prefer them mostly for re-building or FC works (couple of months before one of such workshop got destroyed in fire in which Jai's spare bus was also a victim).
I have seen SwathiLakshmi building their own bus (almost 14 years before) in their depot at Central Studio.

Karur also has Tiger, DVN (one of the oldest), Star, etc and there are plenty of small level workshops specializing in Mini buses.

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by v1kram

You can take it as AE took over the spot which LGB left, i.e. Quality work.
It has a huge waiting period too when compared with Karur based builders (though AE doesn't build for TNSTC's or SETC).
There are some small level workshops based in Coimbatore for body building, but operators prefer them mostly for re-building or FC works (couple of months before one of such workshop got destroyed in fire in which Jai's spare bus was also a victim).
I have seen SwathiLakshmi building their own bus (almost 14 years before) in their depot at Central Studio.

Karur also has Tiger, DVN (one of the oldest), Star, etc and there are plenty of small level workshops specializing in Mini buses.

Thanks. I think AE didnt bid for body building tender from IRT for building buses for TNSTUs. I have seen many buses form Gemini, TVR.

Looks like DVN got a split and I have seen DVN Periavar(elder brother?) badging in buses.

Vinayaka is one famous body builder for mini buses and they are located in Madurai. AE has also built some mini buses and one such mini bus is running in Madurai.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by v1kram

...I have seen SwathiLakshmi building their own bus (almost 14 years before) in their depot at Central Studio..

Here in Chennai Jeppiar college buses are built in house (earlier)

Originally Posted by dhandapanik

Vinayaka is one famous body builder for mini buses and they are located in Madurai. AE has also built some mini buses and one such mini bus is running in Madurai.

Vinayaka is famous for its Van bodies - they have put up a shop in Chennai too.