[dkamath]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Yes. Most. CPC (manipal group) however uses Tata vehicles.

Correction. Canara Public Conveyance(CPC) is not owned by the Manipal group. It's owned by the Kudva family and not the Pai's . And i don't think they operate their own buses now, with them having given up the Tata dealership. As far as i know, they operate mostly cargo services now (though the oval heritage symbol of "CPC-bus-lorry" still remains), with Eicher MUV's dominating the fleet, followed by Tata and a few AL's. They used to ply buses on lease basis and not sure if it's doing well. Those were the glory ACGL bus days.
The only current contract carriage operator i can remember, who always renews his fleet with Tata buses is KKB (Sri Annapoorneshwari)-connected with Sugama Tourist, along the B'lore-Sringeri-Horanadu route, and his fleet of local buses around that region (all Tata's). The rest are all AL devouts, hehe.

[deepclutch]

It is difficult to know from some coaches whether they are TATA or Not as the TATA logo is missing(Especially in Tamilnadu).Sri Durgamba Buses - I believe ,Some of Them are TATA.but no tata written anywhere .

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by dkamath

Correction. Canara Public Conveyance(CPC) is not owned by the Manipal group. It's owned by the Kudva family and not the Pai's . And i don't think they operate their own buses now, with them having given up the Tata dealership. As far as i know, they operate mostly cargo services now (though the oval heritage symbol of "CPC-bus-lorry" still remains), with Eicher MUV's dominating the fleet, followed by Tata and a few AL's. They used to ply buses on lease basis and not sure if it's doing well. Those were the glory ACGL bus days.
The only current contract carriage operator i can remember, who always renews his fleet with Tata buses is KKB (Sri Annapoorneshwari)-connected with Sugama Tourist, along the B'lore-Sringeri-Horanadu route, and his fleet of local buses around that region (all Tata's). The rest are all AL devouts, hehe.

CPC had AGCL built buses way back in 99 and thats what used to ply from Manipal to B'lore. They were the best in terms of punctuality and service, even though Sugama, Durgamba and Blue Lines had better buses.

Sad to know that they don't run services anymore.

[fx45]

nice scoop there again Tuskhy.. but looking at the front wheels. it looks more like a new model from AL.. btw. any signs that this is indeed navistar truck?

[tushky]

Originally Posted by fx45

nice scoop there again Tuskhy.. but looking at the front wheels. it looks more like a new model from AL.. btw. any signs that this is indeed navistar truck?

this is the logo of Navistar. and it can easily fit here

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by dkamath

Correction. Canara Public Conveyance(CPC) is not owned by the Manipal group. It's owned by the Kudva family and not the Pai's

My bad. I had come across some paper, which originated from one of the trusts dependant on the Pai family, showing a significant investment in CPC. I thought that CPC is / was Pai owned.

Originally Posted by deepclutch

It is difficult to know from some coaches whether they are TATA or Not.

1. Look at the wheel hubs. AL has round hub caps at front; Tatas have a hexagonal / nut shaped hub cap. AL rear axle has a 2 inch wide "notch" along the diameter. Tatas have a sheet metal cap with the tata logo. Of course, things may vary with model.
2. Steering wheel.
3. Engine roar. (not very reliable).

the red reae engined bus looks too simple compare to Volvo, Hispano Globus and even Cerita. wheels are small, rims are black, lights are simple.

Tushky - +1 to that. The head lamps seem to be a lucas' headlamp assembly. And the front grilles are lousy. But that is the price AL has to pay for not selling fully built front "cowl". Tatas have very consistently sold chassis' only with the "cowl".

The body looks like aluminium sheet on MS angles. That is what the "beading" on the middle tells me. But then, that is what most heavy vehicles are made of.

But wheels??? Are the wheels of volvos any different from those on other heavy vehicles?

Anybody please?

[hvkumar]

1. Look at the wheel hubs. AL has round hub caps at front; Tatas have a hexagonal / nut shaped hub cap. AL rear axle has a 2 inch wide "notch" along the diameter. Tatas have a sheet metal cap with the tata logo. Of course, things may vary with model.
2. Steering wheel.
3. Engine roar. (not very reliable).

You can add one more differentiator - Tatas have a distinctive V-shaped shock absorber strut in the rear axle.

The almost-defunct Al Cargo series have plain hub caps without the logo.

Does anyone know what happened to the Czech company AVia which AL took over in 2006?

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

3. Engine roar. (not very reliable).

The old AL engines are very noisy. Hino engines are better.
The Cummins engines in Tatas are better engines.

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

The body looks like aluminium sheet on MS angles. That is what the "beading" on the middle tells me. But then, that is what most heavy vehicles are made of.

[IMG]In Tata Starbus, The front panels are made of fiber-glass it looks like as in the following picture posted earlier in this thread[/IMG]

[tushky]

Mahindra's Answer to Tata Ace. the profile is very similar to Ace. Even the interior is similar to the Ace

[safari_lover]

Nice catch there, (as always) tushky.

This truck looks almost similar to the Ace. Wil be interesting to see how will it fare against the Ace. The existing competition to the Ace from Force and Piaggio don't seem to be doing that well, as they can hardly be seen on the road!

[fx45]

Tata will probably be gearing up in launching an updated version of Ace.. this Mahindra vehicle looks promising.. but i heard in news that this is going to be based on its three wheeler.. which sounds a bit disappointing .. because Minifour is based on the 3 wheel variant and it looks ugly and isnt even that popular.

Nice catch again Tuskhy.. u are the spyman of teambhp..

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Does anyone know what happened to the Czech company AVia which AL took over in 2006?

Made me google, and here is what I find -

Avia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <>they make air planes!!!

AVIA Ashok Leyland Motors, s.r.o.

Now this has me Even Indian companies are nowadays treating customers like


I am now out of my smiley quota. Too bad we do not have a separate quota for frownies, like the headbang.

BTW, any clue about the original British company, "Leyland"? Did they not have some relationship with now Tata owned Rover?

[prmd_cochin]

TATA Truck with lift axle.

[amtak]

Originally Posted by safari_lover

The existing competition to the Ace from Force and Piaggio don't seem to be doing that well, as they can hardly be seen on the road!

There's a hardly any difference in prices between the Ace and others. However, where Ace wins is brand recognition over others. Ape Truk is expensive to maintain is what a Truk owner told me once as compared to Ace and wanted to buy the Ace.

Originally Posted by fx45

This Mahindra vehicle looks promising..

Not agin, that ugly grill!

[safari_lover]

^^ What can be the use of that Lift Axle?