[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by Mpower

It it the same model sold in Europe? Mercedes seems to have a different model for EU and one for developing countries like Brazil, India with reduced features.

No. There is no "metrolink" in eu. See the link in my other post. On the other hand merc and Volvo have more or less same model with a detuned engine though. Merc tourismo (EU) model and the one sold in India are similar in their tail lamps, interiors and the ORVM's. Volvo actually sells the same bus in India, sans the bells and whistles and safety features that is available in eu.(B9R's and the B13R/B11R_PX)

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by amtak

While I welcome this move, i am failing to understand, why is it that everyone is eyeing the long distance commuter segment? Apart from TAMO, AL and Volvo; no one else is keen on entering the citi bus services?

Main reasons, 1) City buses are at the lower end and makes less profit per unit. They need to sell in Volumes to make decent profit for the company.
2) Service Centers: To service city buses, they need more service centers pan India.
Because of the above reasons, it is easy for a new entrant to concentrate on luxury segment during the initial days while capacity and service centers are being setup. Also these are "foreign" brands and thinks they could command a premium over "indian" makes, in the city buses, no such thing as premium, but lowest initial investment is the main selling point for priviate operators as well as gov owned RTCs. It is hard to beat Tata or AL in this segment at least initially while the capacity is limited.

I like the competition, but at the same time, All the new entrants can not be successfull because of the limited market conditions and parent companys wont be able to recover the large initial investment. Children of Parents with fat wallet have better chance of surviving this dog fight. The fight will become more intense, once AL and Tata introduce their premium offerings. Volvo is already established and will be here for the long haul. It is just a matter of time, one of these entrants will shut shop.

Who will introduce the first double decker intercity bus?

[swiftdiesel]

It takes one Swede to beat another and I reckon Scania will kick Volvo where it hurts most! I love Volvos, not a fan of the i-shift transmission though and Scania seems a worthy competitor! They've got the design and specs right for now. Time will tell how they fare in the reliability front. If I was a transport operator, I would pick this over a Volvo or the Merc, mainly for exclusivity and to play the underdog in the competition.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Simple reason - too low sales to invest in the segment. City bus operators still prefer buying normal FE buses, which our TML and ALL specialise in!

The condition is exactly opposite. Its less than 2% of the total bus volume in India are catered by these crowded players - Volvo, Mercedes and Scania. AL and TM is catering to rest of market.

One reason for Global OEM's to target Intercity segment is, they have product's only in that segment. With out much of investment they can enter India. If you need to serve the FE bus market they need to invest in R&D, develop products, for which they are not currently ready, for the simple reason they cant be price competitive.

Man tried to enter this segment with Airobus, but due to high price its not able to crack the market.

Originally Posted by silversteed

Isn't the B11R also rated at 410hp? Looks like this one is squarely aimed at the B11R - Scania is starting from where Volvo has reached (for now)



Binai, I get what you're hinting at You think 150kmph would be enough?

B11R is with 370hp. Now for those school boys, Volvo B11R will look puny

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

It seems that the driver is sitting in a simulator? Isn't it? Sir, When was their "Touring" even came to India? or are they going to be released in the Bus expo along with the "Metrolink"?
....

Yes, I guess the same. or is it an illussion?

Originally Posted by Mpower

Fantastic News.

Mercedes buses have been a bit of a disappointment and hopefully Scania will be the one to challenge the Volvos and up the game.

Key will be pricing vis a vis the Volvo. Any indication on that?

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

The bus looks too similar to the Merc. Lets see how it performs on the road. Merc is finding it difficult to put up a fight to Volvo.

Yes. Mercedes is almost swiped away by Volvo. If at all Scania grows its only Volvo to feel the heat.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

The good part is 8 speed Opticruise automatic gearbox will ensure the KaSRTC folks cant lug the engine. Any idea about the price range? If they have to get a good order book, they definitely need to under cut the Volvo pricing by atleast 15% and reasonable maintenance as well....

Pricing will definitely be equivalent to Volvo and 15% less than Volvo will be too low. Pricing can still depend upon market response.

[sacank]

Hey I just checked out Scania's India website and was going through its City/Suburban offerings ... and guess what I found...

They have a picture of Marcopolo bus in the F-series chassis section. Shocking oversight by a reupted bus manufacturer indeed. You can check the link out here .

I have written to them regarding this by filling up the contact info form, but if I will reach the right authorities by doing this.

[v1kram]

Originally Posted by sacank

Hey I just checked out Scania's India website and was going through its City/Suburban offerings ... and guess what I found...

They have a picture of Marcopolo bus in the F-series chassis section. Shocking oversight by a reupted bus manufacturer indeed. You can check the link out here .

I have written to them regarding this by filling up the contact info form, but if I will reach the right authorities by doing this.

Marcopolo being a coach builder, Scania might have given the picture for reference.
Looking at the front grill, it indeed looks like a front engined chassis with the coach built by Marcopolo. There is a SCANIA logo too in the front.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by sacank

Hey I just checked out Scania's India website and was going through its City/Suburban offerings ... and guess what I found...

They have a picture of Marcopolo bus in the F-series chassis section. Shocking oversight by a reupted bus manufacturer indeed. You can check the link out here .

I have written to them regarding this by filling up the contact info form, but if I will reach the right authorities by doing this.

Are you worried about F-series or Fseries with Marcopolo body?
Both are not available in India any case and are taken reference from African website. F-series is a front engine platform in Scania and has multiple engine and length options from F-310 to F-330 etc.

Now it will be interesting if Scania launches its F-series in India. THere was a detailed debate on what is exactly a bus chassis - engine at front or at rear. And normally Ashok Leyland and Tata are criticized for selling truck chassis (FE chassis) as bus chassis, and any other global manufacturers are selling only true bus chassis (RE chassis). Scania will join which list?

[Ashley2]

Scania India bags its biggest Intercity bus order from Siddhi Vinayak Logistics, Surat, Gujarat.

With this, SVL will be diverging into ever growing Intercity Bus segment. They are predominantly into goods transportation and has a fleet strength of close to 4000 trucks.

SVL will likely to connect the western hub – Surat, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Mumbai with south, Central and northern hubs like Bangalore, Nagpur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur etc. The coach will be Metro link multi axle and most likely to be 14.5m coach, but still no confirmation.

With all this Scania is starting Indian innings in a big manner. Its to be noted that southern operators like KPN (10), Kallada (4), Parveen (2) have already placed their order and delivery is likely to start in 2 to 3 months from now.

Swedish commercial vehicles maker Scania today said it has bagged an order to supply 120 premium buses to Siddhi Vinayak Logistics over the next one year....
"Scania Commercial Vehicles India has won a large order of multi-axle intercity buses from Siddhi Vinayak Logistics Ltd (SVLL)," the auto maker said in a statement.

http://www.business-standard.com/art...0100851_1.html

[D33-PAC]

Why has Scania taken so long to come to India ( a JV with L&T to export from Sweden to India does not mean an arrival!) ? I mean even a relatively India-ignorant company like PACCAR has stepped in before with Force Motors to offer their localized products by pitting DAF.

And if you look at their offerings, such as the trucks, they are not even mass market products. So far I can only think of Scania off-road mining trucks 6x4 that can actually be spotted within the nation... but this is too much of a niche market.

The team that thought of pitting Volvo CV in India needs a standing ovation -- these guys clearly saw how they could redefine transport in India much before any other Western CV manufacturer.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Scania India bags its biggest Intercity bus order from Siddhi Vinayak Logistics, Surat, Gujarat.

http://www.business-standard.com/art...0100851_1.html

Scania off to a good start. We can probably hope to see some of these buses on the road by the end of the year. SVL order should be a good confidence booster.

Also, I have to say SVL seems to be a company ready to take a risk. A 120 bus order, that too within one year, is quite large, especially considering they have no brand image among the public, have no experience in bus services of any kind and they have chosen a brand new bus provider. I remember a few years back they were also one of the earliest to place a big order of Tata Prima trucks.

[ambivalent_98]

No orders from down South like perhaps fleet operating giants like VRL who are already operating Volvos of all types. One thing though have seen Merc or Isuzu luxury buses in their fleet as yet. Do they have a tie-up with Volvo that they would only buy Volvo buses or something of the sort ?

[DWind]

VRL probably are comfortable maintaining 2 brands (they also have AL CRS) as they can offer backup and maintain spares / service personnel better if fleet is uniform. This is unlike Parveen which are supposed to have every bus model under the sun.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by D33-PAC

..
The team that thought of pitting Volvo CV in India needs a standing ovation -- these guys clearly saw how they could redefine transport in India much before any other Western CV manufacturer.

What did Volvo do specific to India apart from 9100. They also imported their products else where available and sold / selling in India.
Scania is also doing the same thing.

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

No orders from down South like perhaps fleet operating giants like VRL 7who are already operating Volvos of all types. One thing though have seen Merc or Isuzu luxury buses in their fleet as yet. Do they have a tie-up with Volvo that they would only buy Volvo buses or something of the sort ?

Originally Posted by DWind

VRL probably are comfortable maintaining 2 brands (they also have AL CRS) as they can offer backup and maintain spares / service personnel better if fleet is uniform. This is unlike Parveen which are supposed to have every bus model under the sun.

VRL does'nt have all types of Volvo. They are running only B7R and B9R. They dont have any tie up with Volvo nor Volvo has with any one.
Predominantly VRL has around 340 AL 12M and 150 numbers of Volvo.
They are not running Isuzu in all routes. Currently they are running in short routes like Hubli - Blore and to some routes as special. Its to be noted that there are already few Isuzu buses already running with AL power train is their fleet.

[DWind]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Its to be noted that there are already few Isuzu buses already running with AL power train is their fleet.

You mean the chassis is Isuzu and the engine is AL? Why would they do that?

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by DWind

You mean the chassis is Isuzu and the engine is AL? Why would they do that?

Yes. Due to repeated failures they have moved this way. This bus was running the Blore - Hubli route.