[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

..All Scania Metrolink buses get an 8 speed automatic gearbox, measure 2.6 meters in width and 4.7 meters in height. .

Dude..they are 8 speed Opticruse AMT rather than full AT.
Also the overall height cannot be more than 3.75m for a single deck bus, as mandated by CMVR. Double deck can go upto 4.75m

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

Apart from market leader Volvo, Mercedes Benz and Tata Motors are the other major players .

Poor Isuzu and Ashokleyland are missed.

Originally Posted by julupani

I think the idea will bomb, and SVLL will cancel half the orders, and sell most of the buses to other operators at huge loss to be refitted just like the other Volvos or ...

My major worry is about their partnership with DC. They are the primary reason for failure of Olivea. Their quality fades very fast and their after market support is pathetic. Not to mention about their very very long and delayed unfriendly manufacturing process for bulk orders.

[TheARUN]

The SVLL Bus foray has thrown up many a surprise. First, Mercedes and Volvo would have fretted seeing the 120 Bus order going to Scania, then all the major luxury bus operators would have ran around worried seeing SVLL walk into the scene with deep pockets and infrastructure in place, now with SVLL taking a niche piece of the market, the luxury operators would be heaving a sigh of relief, Mercedes and Volvo are also safe for now, the real winner here is Scania, the mango people are going to start associating Scania busses with everything premium since the SVLL Scania is what most of them are going to see first up

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by NMS

3.) Driving down is always an option, but not many people are equally as enthusiastic about inter-state driving. People still prefer the older methods. Nowadays you can also see a lot of well to do people preferring the Volvos and Mercedes buses.

These buses will stop at exclusive SVLL bus-stops to provide standardized customer service

Another main consideration, what facilities will be provided in these places? Can we park our cars here and take the bus? Do they have door to door pick up/drop? Just the buses itself do not make it a success, but the entire service is what can make this a success.
If SVLL are serious, they could go with a Connect Lite, with less features at a later time, using AL/TML. This will give them time to study the market. SVLL probably got a good deal from Scania to kickstart their India operations.
By chance, are they dealers for Scania also?

[NMS]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Another main consideration, what facilities will be provided in these places? Can we park our cars here and take the bus? Do they have door to door pick up/drop? Just the buses itself do not make it a success, but the entire service is what can make this a success.
If SVLL are serious, they could go with a Connect Lite, with less features at a later time, using AL/TML. This will give them time to study the market. SVLL probably got a good deal from Scania to kickstart their India operations.
By chance, are they dealers for Scania also?

I dont know much about buses but not sure if AL/TML can provide buses as confortable as volvos or mercs .... I am not doubting the capabilities of TML or AL but at present I dont think they have these kind of buses in their regular line up ....

Like you mentioned there a host of add on services they can provide like pick up and drop to enhance the experience and justify the costs ...

Adding on to what Ashley2 mentioned.... the quality would be a main concern ... hope it doesnt fade out before the buses reach breakeven ..

Just a thought ... I am guessing the breakeven time might be around 1 year for a cost of 2~3 Cr.. I might be wrong ... but a rough calculation ...

Slightly OT .... how much is the life (in kms) of Volvos and Mercs buses ??

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by treadmark

Why this vehicle is costing 2.3 crore when mutliaxle Merc and Volvo cost between 1.2 ~ 1.5 crore?

As per the news article, it's a CBU and hence the higher price. Once the local production starts in 2014 prices should be on par with competion.

[MaxTorque]

Maintaining those buses in good condition is important in long term. I have seen many Volvo buses owned by private operators (in Pune area) are in very bad shape. Either the seats/berths are too dirty or air conditioner louvers are not working etc etc. Many Govt owned buses are in better shape compared to privately owned buses.

Hope Siddivinayak will take care of this aspect.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

..., the real winner here is Scania, the mango people are going to start associating Scania busses with everything premium since the SVLL Scania is what most of them are going to see first up

IMO, the real winner is DC. With such an infrastructure and poor aftermarket support, they have now got the gold mine in hand. Scania, by any chance is already a winner, with enquiries flowing in and out from other operators as well. They are almost sold out for the first six months atleast.

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Another main consideration, what facilities will be provided in these places? Can we park our cars here and take the bus? Do they have door to door pick up/drop? Just the buses itself do not make it a success, but the entire service is what can make this a success.

That's really a good point. And with this, if we add the premium ticket fare it may be a slightly ok. But in a long run with passengers from various back ground and with hundreds of choices in hand already, closing yourself for one group of people will keep you away from mass.

Originally Posted by teamveevee

By chance, are they dealers for Scania also?

They are not dealers as of now, but may be. But they are the first to operate their P410 pullers.

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Another main consideration, what facilities will be provided in these places? Can we park our cars here and take the bus? Do they have door to door pick up/drop? Just the buses itself do not make it a success, but the entire service is what can make this a success.
If SVLL are serious, they could go with a Connect Lite, with less features at a later time, using AL/TML. This will give them time to study the market. SVLL probably got a good deal from Scania to kickstart their India operations.
By chance, are they dealers for Scania also?

Exactly my thoughts!!
Now a days if I have to go to the main bus stop from my house, it takes about Rs. 500 to 800 for a taxi. If someone gives me the option of parking my car and hopping into a bus - I would be fine paying a little more (in the order of 500 to 800).

[treadmark]

Got an email from Parveen Travels a while back and the contents reads as below. "Parveen launching Scania Dear Customer, Parveen is going to unveil new Scania Intercity buses within South India by the end of this November. We are very sure that it's going to be a completely new experience to all our travelers. Scania is designed to be the highly reliable multi-purpose coach for medium and long distance travel. It is developed and engineered especially to meet India's intercity travel needs and road conditions. Please take this as an opportunity to gain more insights on our new Scania bus and express your expectation by clicking the following link. http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Parve...m=4915669ybkvx Thanks for your participation! Please note: If you do not wish to receive further emails from us, please click the link below, and you will be automatically removed from our mailing list. http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Parve...ybkvx&optout=1 " Looks like Sidhi Vinayak can't claim the exclusivity for Scania at least post November. This is the screen shot from the website.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

Another main consideration, what facilities will be provided in these places? Can we park our cars here and take the bus? Do they have door to door pick up/drop? Just the buses itself do not make it a success, but the entire service is what can make this a success. If SVLL are serious, they could go with a Connect Lite, with less features at a later time, using AL/TML. This will give them time to study the market. SVLL probably got a good deal from Scania to kickstart their India operations. By chance, are they dealers for Scania also?

Without planning and with every square inch of space here in India seemingly selling at a high premium, unless the government takes the initiative, we will never get those lovely Park and Ride kind of facilities that they have abroad.
There at least the tax money gets given back in some form to the people even though there may be some corruption etc.
Here, it is the question of the poor squashed common mango people middle class having to support the lazy, the underprivileged, the poor and the filthy rich and the politicos and everyone else. This is a horrid state of affairs and I sincerely hope we have a revolution soon with the blood of the oppressors running in rivers down the steets.
Frankly, given our current condition, we actually just might have been better off under the Brit rule!

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by treadmark

...Looks like Sidhi Vinayak can't claim the exclusivity for Scania at least post November..

SVL was among the last who planned to buy Scania. Even before that many operators in south have placed orders. So instead of giving keys to retail customer they have chosen a bulk order customer like SVL to announce as first customer.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

SVL was among the last who planned to buy Scania. Even before that many operators in south have placed orders. So instead of giving keys to retail customer they have chosen a bulk order customer like SVL to announce as first customer.

As per news reports, SVL Scania buses are imported. What about Parveen, Kallada etc?

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

As per news reports, SVL Scania buses are imported. What about Parveen, Kallada etc?

Made in India. For them chassis induction has started already. KPN has ordered 10 buses followed by Kallada 4 and Parveen 2.

[TheARUN]

Not wanting to go off-topic, does anybody have any idea on whether the Scania costs more than the Merc, for I know that the Merc costs more than the Volvo. I'm looking at a significant cost because the cost difference between the Mercedes and Volvo is negligible.

Utilizing the bad time that Mercedes is going through, you might be able to squeeze huge discounts out of them so their cost is going to be all over the place, Scania too will be willing to bend backwards to capture market share, want to know how they stack up against Vovlo multi-axle as far as cost of purchase goes

[Ashley2]

Though Mercedes is costlier than Volvo by few lakhs, for many private fleet owners the price was matched. But still both Volvo and Mercedes played a differential pricing for other customers. Scania as of now have matched the price of Volvo. But in due course may increase the price.