[tushky]

I caught this new mahindra navister bus testing near pimpri area. I was in the rush hence could not able to see bus from close. But quality seems not even close to tata buses. So forget about volvo. Any idea about this new bus?


Mod's note: Removing duplicate photos.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by tushky

I caught this new mahindra navister bus testing near pimpri area. I was in the rush hence could not able to see bus from close. But quality seems not even close to tata buses. So forget about volvo. Any idea about this new bus?

The quality actually seems good in the pics - may be an illusion. Did you notice how the bus was? There is a quarter glass at the back - so could be shorter than 12M. Since the badging is all open, I believe its quite close to launch. The bus is coming in at the wrong time - the travels industry is stagnant - hardly any operators are buying new buses. All the purchases are replacements now.

Whatever, I hope they come out with a good product, and succeed in the market. Its time a desi company makes some moolah.

[condor]

Thanks, Tushky !

Originally Posted by tushky

I was in the rush hence could not able to see bus from close. But quality seems not even close to tata buses.

hopefully it is better than it appeared. But then, Mahindra has a history of making ugly, yet successful models. Would this be another one ?

[julupani]

Well on the design front, overall it doesnt look bad. Quality too seems to be okay, though the dark colors and the low quality pictures may be hiding the real story.

But design wise, the dark colour does seem to be hiding the hideous grill that is used by MTBL. It would stand out and destroy the frontal looks in case of a lighter colour.

But, what I am thinking about it how well the 7.2L Navistar engine will suit the needs of a bus. I believe they had a a 210hp and a 260hp version.

If they keep it cheap and use the 210hp variant, basically pit it against the AL Luxura, they may sell a few of these. But if they get greedy and try to go the way Tata went with the Divo and try to lure away customers from Volvo, I dont think they have much of a chance.

[Achyuth Vaibhav]

I presume it must be the revamp for the cosmo range of tourist and school buses, might be launched during early 2014 or so. I presume so as Mahindra has upgraded the school and tourist range (Navistar) regularly and recently my son's school had bought Cosmo vans, they had also bought the regular Navistar last year. Or must be a Volvo competing high end government owned bus, might have A/C.

Cheers,

Achyuth

[MaxTorque]

The quality of the bus looks OK. Anyways we can not judge the actual product quality by looking at the prototype. The bus might have undergone all type of abuses by the drivers.

By the way this petrol pump is the one in Chinchwad junction right..?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by tushky

So forget about volvo.

Quite difficult to forget Volvo since the overall design looks too close to the B7R in many areas!

Nice scoop.

Originally Posted by condor

hopefully it is better than it appeared. But then, Mahindra has a history of making ugly, yet successful models. Would this be another one ?

True. And they have been successful with the Navistar range. Judging from the pics - I guess the quality should be fine as long as they target a VFM pricing. More suited for luxury bus operators rather than the intercity players.

Expect to see a lot of them badged VOIWO, VOLWO and the likes.

[tushky]

I compared the quality with tata globus, which was launched few years back. And i found globus quality is better than this.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by julupani

If they keep it cheap and use the 210hp variant, basically pit it against the AL Luxura, they may sell a few of these.

Few operators burned their fingers by acquiring IZUZU. I will be surprised, if people will opt for a Navistar bus, unless Mahindara comes up with a tempting finance scheme ( 0 % loan ). But there will be always some people who are willing to take chances. In my opinion, main competition will be from Eicher (VECL).

[TheARUN]

Excellent catch. Guess this one has been built by Alma Motors, they are OEM suppliers to Mahindra. As far as the Bus goes, this is just what the Doctor ordered, a rear engine, air suspension, air-conditioning, 40 seats semi-sleeper, now for the pricing. If they price it at 25 lakhs, then they will be doing an Ecosport on the other manufacturers. Hope they have a 4 cylinder engine at work inside this on

[julupani]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

...If they price it at 25 lakhs, then they will be doing an Ecosport on the other manufacturers. Hope they have a 4 cylinder engine at work inside this on

25L price is impossible. About 35L would also make it a pretty good bargain, but even that will be tough.

As for a 4-cylinder engine, I doubt it. Most bus owners will run this on intercity routes, and with improving roads, ability to maintain at least 90kmph comfortably is a necessity. You need a 6-cylinder or at least a big size 4-cylinder like 5L engine. But from the NVH point of view, a 6-cylinder engine will be preferred over a 4-cylinder one.

Anyway, the largest 4-cylinder engine Mahidra has I think is something like 3.2L which will just not be adequate.

[yogibear007]

Good photos. Nice to see Mahindras trying to make further inroads into the big vehicle market. Some of their current offerings are a tad underpowered. If this is a serious intra city contender, needs to be a powerful machine considering the beating that the regular city traffic give the buses. a 5L six hole box would be nice indeed.

[Wagon R Rocks!]

Originally Posted by binaiks

The quality actually seems good in the pics - may be an illusion. Did you notice how the bus was? There is a quarter glass at the back - so could be shorter than 12M. Since the badging is all open, I believe its quite close to launch. The bus is coming in at the wrong time - the travels industry is stagnant - hardly any operators are buying new buses. All the purchases are replacements now.

Whatever, I hope they come out with a good product, and succeed in the market. Its time a desi company makes some moolah.

I had a chance to see this bus when I had been to Mahindra Navistar office near Khadki. The bus was in parked for testing and was open only to a select few (and I am pleased to be in this list). The interiors and exteriors are a photo copy of the Volvo B7R (but with inferior quality material). The main reason for such a similarity is because Volvo B7R was taken as a benchmark project to build inital prototypes. However, the front has been spoilt because of the "typical" Mahindra grille. NVH levels were more than B7R specially during idling. I was not allowed to take photos since this is confidential and I was on an official visit.

[Oranger]

Originally Posted by tushky

I caught this new mahindra navister bus testing near pimpri area. I was in the rush hence could not able to see bus from close. But quality seems not even close to tata buses. So forget about volvo. Any idea about this new bus?

It seems parked at the Chinchwad station petrol pump if am not wrong. AFA quality is concerned, the side panelling, gaps & paint quality look far better than the Tata's at least from the pictures. The only thing that stands out like a sore thumb is the higher stance of the vehicle, which hugely contributes towards it not looking as good as the Volvo B9R. Even the rear end seems to be overdone.

[hemanth.das]

i was under the assumption that, rear engine automatically helps the constructor to build a low floor bus. Please correct me if I am wrong.

This one looks like a normal TATA & AL bus.