[Ashley2]

Indian Luxury bus market has received huge attraction from various multinational companies. Scania recently joined Volvo and Mercedes and now its the Zhong Tong, a Chinese Government-holding company, which is planning to enter market through Hyderabad based Deccan Auto.

Recently they showcased the entire product portfolio in the bus world held at Mumbai. Products showcased are in various lengths from 8m to 13.7m. This includes high end Navigator,which if launched will be India's first 1.5 deck multi axle coach.

Deccan Auto buses made their debut at the recently held Busworld India show. On display were 8m, 10.5m, 12m and 13.7 buses, all of which are expected to be commercially available by the end of 2013. The buses come with a host of facilities including chemical toilet, luxury seats in 2+1 and 2+2 configurations, individual video screens for each seat with six channel controls, coffee machine, refrigerator compartment, water cooler and covered luggage compartments.
Deccan has established a technical collaboration with Zhong Tong, a Chinese Government-holding company, for the 8m, 12m and 13.7m buses. The five decade old Zhong Tong rolled out 12,000 buses last year and has an annual production capacity of 20,000 buses. Deccan has developed the 10.5m bus by partnering with Yaxing Coach, a 61-year-old Chinese company, also government-held. Yaxing is part of the same group that manufacturers engines under the Wechai brand, which also has gearboxes and axles in its portfolio. While Zhong Tong caters to the luxury segment, Yaxing’s role will be in the mass market volume segment in India. Deccan Auto plans a foray into the city bus segment next year and is also eyeing a potential electric solution later, for which it is working with a subsidiary of SAIC (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) of China.

http://www.motorindiaonline.in/buses/deccan-auto/

Interestingly Navigator is a close copy cat of Neoplan Starliner.

[D33-PAC]

Even if it costs more can't it murder the B9R ? More passenger capacity, less fuel expense per kg, more or less same fuel expense for trip as a B9R means it's a B9R killer , no ?

My only concerns would be about its safety and quality. But then again it's not like operators actually care for their passengers so I would assume it doesn't matter !

[TheARUN]

We need more players coming in and this is a good move by DECCAN AUTO. VOLVO has been ruling the roost for too long and its almost become a monopoly, their pricing has gone through the roof. TATA and ASHOK LEYLAND had an opportunity but they chose to let it go.

I think the bus is not going to offer any more advantage than a B9R, its just that the Driver seat has been lowered to suit the European regulations and they chose to do away with the unnecessary head room that Drivers have :-)

[Nanometer]

I had done lot of travelling in these buses (Neoplan and Yaxing) in China and they are good , most of these are rear engine and are not low floor . The funny part is that the driver of these buses use to have a card displayed next to his seat when getting inside, on how many miles he has covered without accidents and that talks about safety you can get in China.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Nanometer

...the driver of these buses use to have a card displayed next to his seat when getting inside, on how many miles he has covered without accidents and that talks about safety you can get in China.

The card is to keep track of the number of hours a driver has been driving. There are stringent laws in the EU and US (assuming the bus is a clone of the Neoplan Starliner, I expect the same punching system in this bus also) that mandate an upper limit on the number of hours a driver can remain on the road on a day, and also the number of continuous working hours before he must take a break of some minimum duration. I think it's about 10 hours per day max or so in the US.

Don't expect such safety features in our Indian buses, even if they do implement something of that sort, our operators will find ways to override it, say, by giving the driver two cards, so he can drive twice the set number of hours all by himself.

[Leymama]

Any images from the Mumbai Bus Expo..

[turbospooler]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Attachment 1071052
Attachment 1071053

I guess the height will be a detriment on many roads where height barricades exist.
BTW in the Starliner, there seems to be a wiper on the top glass. Why?

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by turbospooler

BTW in the Starliner, there seems to be a wiper on the top glass. Why?

To give a clear view of the front to the upper deck passengers.

In Taiwan, I have traveled on such buses with a front view from the upper deck. Its pretty good. (they used to be Hino, Mitsubishi Fuso, Hyundai and Daewoo buses there).

[Nanometer]

Originally Posted by silversteed

The card is to keep track of the number of hours a driver has been driving. There are stringent laws in the EU and US (assuming the bus is a clone of the Neoplan Starliner, I expect the same punching system in this bus also) that mandate an upper limit on the number of hours a driver can remain on the road on a day, and also the number of continuous working hours before he must take a break of some minimum duration. I think it's about 10 hours per day max or so in the US.

Don't expect such safety features in our Indian buses, even if they do implement something of that sort, our operators will find ways to override it, say, by giving the driver two cards, so he can drive twice the set number of hours all by himself.

That quiet right in US and EU they do not allow more then 10 hrs or so, but in China what i meant was , that there is card displaying that this driver has covered 1 million or 1.5 million KM without accidents , they are the express drivers with good experience, that is what it means .

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Nanometer

...but in China what i meant was , that there is card displaying that this driver has covered 1 million or 1.5 million KM without accidents , they are the express drivers with good experience

Thanks for clarifying. I should've read your post more carefully.

***

I recollect seeing a fake picture of this Chinese-made bus with BMTC/KaSRTC stickering. Any idea if that's at least shot somewhere in India? You know, some demo bus, somewhere

[sa_kiran]

Originally Posted by silversteed

Don't expect such safety features in our Indian buses, even if they do implement something of that sort, our operators will find ways to override it, say, by giving the driver two cards, so he can drive twice the set number of hours all by himself.

The operators, particularly private, will not buy the buses if the feature is enabled. This will force the manufacturer to disable the feature in India.

[premjit]

Good move. The Volvo product has revolutionized the long distance bus market and its no longer a pain to take up inter city travel with one of the Volvos. I've myself used the Sunlong Series in Thailand, even though its not a 1.5 deck model, but found it to be comfy and well equipped. On the flip side, I felt that the noise emanating from the rear mounted engine was quite higher than the Volvos and the others.

Any idea whether these Chinese manufacturers manufacture their own engines and transmissions?

[sridhar24]

Buses sure look promising looking at the luxury features and specifications, the real world performance on the indian roads is what is to be proved still. I still think they cannot match the refinement levels of the Volvo's. For India sure the buses will be stripped down of many safety features mentioned to keep the input costs down.

[arul_nambi2000]

can we get some pictures of interiors features etc.,? For sure in india all the good safety features getting bypassed......& for genuine reasons too....

[salilpawar1]

I got a chance to sit in this bus during BusWorld in Mumbai. I am not sure if these buses will work in India reasons being:

1. Don't get fooled by the height. It's not a double deck but a 1.5 deck bus so seating capacity is almost the same. There is no seating on the lower deck. Luggage capacity seemed to be bigger though.

2. Ingress and egress is a nightmare. You have to climb 5-6 stairs which are almost vertical. Aged/handicapped people won't like it at all.

3. Driver cabin although cosy is quite claustrophobic which might make navigating through narrow roads a problem.