[Tushar]

Busworld India was hosted in Mumbai and held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon. This was the 6th edition of the show, which is an international exhibition exclusively for the bus and coach sector.

India's bus industry reportedly makes over 50,000 buses and coaches annually. Busworld 2015 had only a few manufacturers / coach makers present and was primarily an event to reach out to prospective customers. However, it had a few noteworthy showcases that would impress even a non-bus lover.

The Crowd Pullers

ACGL 'G-Duck' Amphibious Bus:

This amphibious bus was presented by the Automobile Corporation of Goa (ACGL). This vehicle has been labelled marine compliant i.e. it's targeted at road / river usage, but has been built to handle ocean waters as well:


The vehicle's hull is said to have been designed to withstand an impact of 28,300 kg per cm2 - "practically bulletproof" as the designer puts it:


The bus only has one entry / exit point & it's located at the back. That step ladder folds up. Also note the propeller fan and rudder at the bottom! (under-body shots weren't permitted):


32 plastic moulded all weather seats:


Life jackets for water emergencies:


Low-rent fitment quality. This will be proposed to many state governments. The bus will be built locally in Goa and will have a restricted amount of imported content (exact percentages could not be disclosed):


A closer look at the control toggles and warning lights. Not your run-of-the-mill dashboard!:


Subtle additions like the compass remind you that this isn't your everyday bus:


The G-Duck gets a rear camera integrated into the body:


A snap from a video that shows the amphi-bus in action. The bus targets both tourism and civil duties i.e. governments can use the same tourist bus for rescue ops if the scenario arises:


'Mammoth' - by MG Group and MAN:

This luxury coach uses a MAN chassis with the body built by Alma Motors - an MG Group subsidiary:


Swanky design highlighted by day-time running LEDs:


Power comes from a 6.9L, inline, 6-cylinder engine that makes 217 BHP @ 2,400 rpm & 800 Nm of torque @ 1,200-2,400 rpm:


Seems like a regular bus rear end right?:


Well here's how the emergency exit looks! No need to risk injury by jumping out of the bus. Tried it out myself and it's quite easy to use:


Illuminated steps for improved visibility:


Put together, the side and rear baggage boxes of this 44-seater coach, provide 7,500 litres of storage space:


Something to experience. The noise insulation, interior lighting and finish quality make the bus feel like an airliner on the inside:


Properly contoured seats for lateral support. Also, note the presence of a reasonably wide gap between the seats:


Individual AC vents and reading lamps add to the airline feel:


Not just the passengers, the driver gets a premium quality ambiance too:


Scania Ethanol City Bus:

"Greener" buses are gaining popularity at such exhibitions:


CO2 emissions are said to drop by a whopping 90% in comparison to a conventional diesel engine! Euro V emission norms hit easily. This also makes it better for local usage as well as exports:


Executives at the stall say that since this is a city bus, the ethanol fuel station can be installed at the depot directly - overcoming the concern of infrastructural support:


Wheelchair ramp:


Cabin accommodates 35 seated passengers and one wheelchair position:


In-bus CCTV:


The 8.9L, inline, 5-cylinder engine that powers the bus. Output figures = 271 BHP @ 1,900 rpm and 1,200 Nm of torque @ 1,100-1,400 rpm:

[Tushar]

The Quirky and Interesting

ACGL Pleazur:

This bus is a testament to the LED trend:


Closer look at the day-time running LEDs. They look like an afterthought IMO:


Entrance-way is rather claustrophobic:


Driver's rest area:


This bus seats 46. Larger passengers won't find the seating arrangement very comfortable:


LED interior lights brighten the cabin:


Living room like arrangement for the TV. Note the plug points and phone docks to the right:


Scania Metrolink:

The Metrolink uses an inline, 6-cylinder, 13L engine that produces 359 BHP @ 1,900 rpm and 1,750 Nm of torque @ 1,000-1,350 rpm:


The Metrolink comes equipped with Scania fleet management. The system uses GPS to track the buses and monitors factors like location, speed, fuel economy, and can be linked to an individual driver to assess his overall performance too:


Reversing camera:


Scania's dashboard quality is impressive:


Seats get calf support:


Individual AC vents and reading lamps:


Large gap near the emergency exit. Fleet owners will most likely ask for another set of seats to be added here (overheard an interested buyer asking for this to be done):


SML Executive Bus:

Smallest bus at the event. Seats 14 in total and is powered by an engine that makes just around 100 BHP:


Compact sedan equivalent of buses :


Wheelbase = 2,815 mm. Just 5 mm more than the Renault Lodgy!

[Tushar]

Regular Offerings

ACGL Elanza School:

Like the other vehicles at the ACGL stall, this school bus is based on a Tata chassis:




LHD steering wheel appears to have been lifted off the Safari:




ACGL Jupiter:

The model is essentially the Tata luxury bus:




Low-rent dashboard again. Note how the button functions look like they've faded away:


The bus seats 37:


SML Isuzu S7:

Just your regular corporate bus design:




Isuzu FR1318:

Stereotypical Japanese styling:




Classic styling for the wheels:

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Commercial Vehicle Section. Thanks for sharing!

[sourabhzen]

Thank you Tushar for an informative photo report.

Somehow I feel the bus industry is progressing at a slower pace as compared to Car industry in terms of quality and technology. Most of the products are neither exciting nor attractive except MAN and Ethanol fuel based Scania city bus. I mean, look at the door handle on ACGL Pleazur and switches on most of the buses, the same were used in the buses 3 decades ago!

[Tushar]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

Somehow I feel the bus industry is progressing at a slower pace as compared to Car industry in terms of quality and technology. Most of the products are neither exciting nor attractive except MAN and Ethanol fuel based Scania city bus. I mean, look at the door handle on ACGL Pleazur and switches on most of the buses, the same were used in the buses 3 decades ago!

I think the main issue is the cost factor. The vast majority that uses buses in India wants cheap tickets and fleet owners want to get their return on investment as quickly as possible (look at the state of many state transport buses). So manufacturers make products that are largely utility focused because that's where the demand lies. The main difference between the passenger vehicle sector and bus sector is that in the case of the latter - the buyer is not the user.

[Dieseltuned]

Hi Tushar,

Great review,

If we are talking of modern buses in India, than where are the Volvos, did they not participate in this event ?
And second where is Mercedes, They also do have a good number of buses rolling out in India ?

2 major players missing from the expo ?

[SmartCat]

Finally, we are seeing buses equipped with passenger seat belts!

The ACGL boat bus thing looks weird. Did they have to shape the bus like a boat to show that it floats? If the engine is powerful & the propeller is big enough, you don't need to have a boat like front end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Hx5RLf3mA

[prashanthyr]

The ACGL boat bus looks like its a copy paste job of the London Duck tours bus -

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lo..._AUoAQ&dpr=0.9

Overall, I am not at all impressed with ACGL's offerings - they used to have some very well built buses (I fondly remember the initial lot of Pushpak buses from BMTC which were exclusively ACGL), but now all the buses seem to be products of Jugaad.

There probably is a solid business opportunity for a manufacturer who can come up with a good quality bus product which is priced midway between the low end jugaad stuff and the high end Volvo/Scania/Merc ones. I used to think Sutlej, Ruby etc could fill that gap, but I dont see any mention of them these days.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Tushar

Busworld India

Thank you for the pics

The MAN bus appears to be squarely aimed at the AL 12M/12M-RE CRS based coaches. Do you have any more info, probably a brochure or tech-spec leaflet for the Mammoth?

I wonder why there are no stalls from Ashok Leyland, TML, Eicher, Bharat Benz or Volvo! Also conspicuous by their absence are our homegrown body workshops such as SMK Automobiles (Prakash), Global TVS (erstwhile Irizar-TVS), etc.

[gschandra]

Originally Posted by Tushar

LHD steering wheel appears to have been lifted off the Safari

This is the same steering wheel which goes into prima range of trucks and RE Marcopolo buses.

[Tushar]

Originally Posted by silversteed

The MAN bus appears to be squarely aimed at the AL 12M/12M-RE CRS based coaches. Do you have any more info, probably a brochure or tech-spec leaflet for the Mammoth?

A brochure wasn't available, but here's snap of a standee with the tech specs. You should be able to zoom in and see all the details .

[JP_800]

Hi Tushar

Great Report.

Wasn't Ashok Leyland present at the event? They used to showcase innovative concepts at events like this

[GTO]

Originally Posted by JP_800

Wasn't Ashok Leyland present at the event? They used to showcase innovative concepts at events like this

Unfortunately not. The only reason I can think of is the poor price:footfalls ratio of the Busworld expo. Tushar did mention that it wasn't much crowded on day one (when he was covering it).

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by Tushar

...
The vehicle's hull is said to have been designed to withstand an impact of 28,300 kg per cm2 - "practically bulletproof" as the designer puts it:
...
Subtle additions like the compass remind you that this isn't your everyday bus:
....Something to experience. The noise insulation, interior lighting and finish quality make the bus feel like an airliner on the inside:

Properly contoured seats for lateral support. Also, note the presence of a reasonably wide gap between the seats:
...

Scania Ethanol City Bus:
"Greener" buses are gaining popularity at such exhibitions:
....

The aggregates were picked off the shelf from existing on road vehicles. Not sure there were any changes / additions to withstand the water entry. Especially critical components like sump, brake drums. One such example was headlamps. Not sure it can prevent regular rain water entry.

Originally Posted by GTO

Unfortunately not. The only reason I can think of is the poor price:footfalls ratio of the Busworld expo. Tushar did mention that it wasn't much crowded on one (when he was covering it).

The reason for many OEM's missing are there are too much of such shows and recently started Bus and UV show is again aimed only on Buses. So many OEM's being a members of SIAM, they give priority to those shows unlike Bus world.

Also this was more of B2B show unlike the one in Belgium. But otherwise footfalls were extremely good in context to the right people from industry - not your regular Auto Expo Crowd. Was here for the whole 3 days and many of the suppliers were extremely pleased by the quality of crowd they received.
Infact there were lot of new launches and showcases by many of them.

Thermoking has launched new range of AC units with brush less motors. Now there are more options to choose from for ICV range of buses.

Harita has developed a new seats which can be used as sleeper when required. This was placed inside their stall in closed walls and was open only to intended people.

Lamilux showcased some new range of composites which eventually will be used in Bus bodies instead of sheetmetals.

Sika, a Swiss company specialised in sealants, was there with new Hybrid sealants and they are almost monopoly in the segment with OEM's.

Pacoline was extremely positive with the response for the products which they showcased in last Bus world and they did have some new range of Saloon Air filter which operates without power.

Many European suppliers have got their Indian partners in Bus World. The seminars conducted by Bus World were good and have presence from many top people in Industry including from Agencies like ARAI.

Originally Posted by silversteed

Thank you for the pics

The MAN bus appears to be squarely aimed at the AL 12M/12M-RE CRS based coaches. Do you have any more info, probably a brochure or tech-spec leaflet for the Mammoth?...

Man is likely to comeout with more powerful 280hp 12m variants in near future and also with Multi axle rear engine coaches as well. Mammoth body is modular enough to accommodate all these.