[Limpid]

Looks like in India Volvo is becoming synonymous to high end, rear engine AC buses, just like XEROX for any photocopy machine

[Technocrat]

A year or two ago my father showed me a Bus in Bhopal & said we now have Volvo here as well. I saw the bus & realized that it was a normal Ashok Leyland Bus (not even A/c) but with slightly better interiors. It had a bIg decal all around which read "Volvo"

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

A year or two ago my father showed me a Bus in Bhopal & said we now have Volvo here as well. I saw the bus & realized that it was a normal Ashok Leyland Bus (not even A/c) but with slightly better interiors. It had a bIg decal all around which read "Volvo"

Like Xerox is synonymous with photocopying. Volvo in India is synonymous with luxe buses! First mover advantage.

[sadsack]

I think too much is being made out of a very small thing. STUs that are organized brand their services as Garuda, Airavath, Shivneri and include all sorts of buses ranging from the Tata Hispano (now Divo) through Isuzu and Mercedes Benz to Volvo. APSRTC also runs a rear engined Ashok Leyland fully A/C bus as Garuda just as it runs a Volvo, Mercedes Benz, Isuzu and Tata Divo. If this discussion is all about ethics then please remember that in almost all parts of the country with the exception of a few, private buses run as "daily sight seeing trips". The lack of ethics and twisting of laws starts at that stage itself. And if you are so worried about ethics and morality then you should be travelling only by the buses operated by the STUs.

I find it difficult to accept arguments about torque and horsepower as being determinants for the price of a ticket. The universal way of doing things is that a starting time and reaching time are mentioned and the nature of comfort such as reclining seats, air-conditioning are also mentioned. No operator need tell the customer the make of the bus as long as the expectations of the customer are met. The most significant thing is that as long as the operator is maintaining the claimed comfort levels and also keeping to the mentioned time schedule there should be no problem with the make.

Private operators cannot do all that because they are only operating in a gray area. You cannot drag them to court since they are not supposed to be there in the first place. It is just that everybody including the informed traveller doesn't know this. If we have to complain about ethics then let us start where we should and ask the government why they are allowing these private operators to ply as stage coaches something that they cannot do. In my opinion which bus has more power, torque and is better at overtaking and all that is redundant.

[tushky]

Does that bus ticket says the bus Company is Volvo? or a its a ticket of a Volvo bus? i think it is a ticket of a AC comfortable bus. i will not mind if they give me Merc, Hispano, hino or volvo,as long as i am getting AC bus with air suspension

[Skyline GT-R]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

I have noticed that their ageing fleet is often put on short routes like Bombay-Pune whereas their top of the line brand new buses are used for long distance hauls. Not an uncommon practice but the last time I travelled in a Neeta Volvo from Bombay to Pune I swore to never return back. The glass was stuck loosely using silicon. Their bus was rattling worse than a Maruti, the tyres were completely bald, the bus was stinking from inside, the AC wasn't working effectively, the wipers were missing. All in all an experience that made me run in the other direction of Neeta Volvo.

My Maruti 800 which is 76000 kms old does not rattle at all.
I guess Neeta does not service their vehicle at specified intervals. 1 advantage of Volvo is that it never really breaks down if properly serviced. I have travelled in VRL Volvo from Pune to M'lore many times & the bus, crew, stops & timings were perfect. (The Kannada movies are so...so... mainly because of the language barrier)

[TKMCE]

What theOP is talking about is practiced by Karnataka SRTC.

Found the following when I am trying to book a PREMIUM service from Chennai to Bangalore

AIRAVAT (VOLVO AC) and Mercedes Benz (AC) -Fare 590
AIRAVAT CLUB CLASS (BENZ AC) MULTI AXLE & AIRAVAT CLUB CLASS (VOLVO AC) MULTI AXLE- Fare 690

There is also AIRAVAT CLUB CLASS (VOLVO AC) MULTI AXLE with "Entertainment-TV"- prriced at 740 for those night owls who has to watch a movie when travelling even if it is at midnight - Dep is at 2310

[sandeepmohan]

Volvo did act on this by taking legal action on many transport operators. I am unsure on what the out come was. One thing I do know is that many stopped writing Volvo on the buses which had become very common at one point. Not that it does not exist anymore but it is a lot less.

The best con job was this bus I saw 5 years ago which had Volvo printed on the rear windscreen and "Type", written in very small letters just under the last letter "O".

I have to say, Volvo is the bare minimum requirement down south for anyone doing a inter city/town bus run. It is affordable, comfortable, a lot safer and faster than a train. All you need to do is spend a day at some highway joint and see the number of Volvo buses on the Bangalore - Krishnagiri stretch. They easily out number Ashok Leyland, Tata and whatever else there is on the road.

Folk have stopped using the word "bus", it is now, I am taking a "Volvo".

[scopriobharath]

From 6 pages of this thread and even title changed, I infer that "ANY" AC Luxury bus is termed "Volvo", eventhough in reality it may not be a B7R/B9R at all.

So Next time, When i book, I need to check with the Bus-ticket agency on whether it would be a B7 / B9 / Merc or any Generic AC Airbus. .

I Sometimes feel its better to be Naive in this case and it really does not pay to be a part of the "informed" segment.

[TaurusAl]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

From 6 pages of this thread and even title changed, I infer that "ANY" AC Luxury bus is termed "Volvo", eventhough in reality it may not be a B7R/B9R at all.

So Next time, When i book, I need to check with the Bus-ticket agency on whether it would be a B7 / B9 / Merc or any Generic AC Airbus. .

I Sometimes feel its better to be Naive in this case and it really does not pay to be a part of the "informed" segment.

Sure, no harm in being well informed scorpiobharath. Because you are well informed, you can ask the questions to the operators that you have stated above and have a absolute right doing that. After all we well informed lot have to open the eyes of the operators and point out to them loud and clear that they cannot take everyone for a ride who they come across.

If you go on tour operator sites, there are less chances of getting fleeced. I remember when i booked my ticket from redbus.in, it gave me a comprehensive view of the bus and its make. Maybe you can try booking it on-line and in which case you will also have a record of the bus make on the ticket which you can refuse to board and ask for a refund if it does not meet your expectations.

Happy Volvoing

[AkMar]

Jumping in late into this thread, would like to share a funny incident which demonstrates the tendency to call any luxury bus a Volvo.

BEST had a Mercedes city bus on trial for a month. I clicked a photo of it and uploaded on Facebook. One of my friends commented "Good to see a Mercedes Volvo running on Mumbai's streets" (meaning to say Mercedes luxury bus). I was