In 2001, Volvo Buses, the premium coach manufacturer from Sweden, came with its first intercity vehicle in India. And since then, it has been unstoppable in the way it has helped transform the bus industry in the country, leading new players into the market, along with rewriting the meaning of road travel.
“When we came to India 14 years ago, the state of affairs was worse. Yet we introduced our products here, which were tested, adopted and validated,” says VRV Sriprasad, MD of Volvo Buses India. “We ushered in a paradigm shift in the realm of public transportation: Before Volvo and After Volvo. When it comes to personal vehicles, people splurge money. But with commercial vehicles, it is not considered a personal product. That perception changed with Volvo buses, and bus travel became a much sought-after option,” Sriprasad says.
A visit to the company’s bus facility
It is a busy day as usual at the sprawling Volvo bus manufacturing facility. A number of buses, including a few models for export markets such as Sri Lanka, need to be assembled and tested, before dispatch. The facility, which was established in 2008, is the only plant from the company in India, building complete Volvo Buses — the chassis and the body under one roof.
The facility is spread over 1,00,000 sq metres, and employs about 1,000 skilled employees, who work at achieving a manufacturing capacity of 1,200 buses a year. The first part of the facility is the Component line, where the steel components/body goes through fabrication, among other processes. On the other end of the same channel (stations 1-5) is the Integrated Chassis section, from where the bus chassis is moved towards the body of the bus.
We proceed to the second aspect of the manufacturing process, which is known as the Chassis body assembly. Then the models move towards the Structure painting area, and the section for anti-corrosion testing, following which the buses are taken to the Panelling and furnishing section, where the furniture fittings, like seats, are placed in the bus. Then the Interior and exterior assembly section receive the bus, where various additional parts of the bus’s body and construction are fitted, following which the buses go through the final assembly.
At the paint shop, the buses’ external colour schemes are made. Then an Under-Chassis Anti-Corrosion checks the buses to perfection, before they head to the Finishing line. Towards the end of the production line, the buses go through the Wheel alignment, PDI, Audit bay, Shower testing, and Quality testing.
A class-leading product mix
Five of Volvo’s buses are assembled in the plant. For the intercity coach market, the 11.5-metre 7-litre 41-seater Volvo 9100, the 43-seater 9400, the double-axle 9-litre 51-seater Volvo 9400XL, the double-axle 11-litre 55-seater double-axle Volvo 9400PX, and the city coach, Volvo 8400. Besides, during the time of visiting the factory, Volvo was planning new models, such as the UD. The buses are priced between Rs 80 lakh and Rs 1.2 crore.
“Volvo buses typically operate 200 km a day, carrying 50 passengers. This translates to around 10,000 people in total, in km per day. Besides, our buses have a life of 1 million km,” Sriprasad claims. Today, there are over 5,000 Volvo buses connecting over 75 cities and towns across India, which include more than 1,400 city buses driving the change in over 20 cities across the country.
Safety is a natural
The company has maintained that there is no compromise when it comes to Volvo Buses. “When we arrived in India, we brought in safety parameters that were not required for a competitor at that time in India, in order to get the edge. Yet, as policy we brought in many safety specs such as ABS, tubeless radials, disc brakes, etc,” Sriprasad says.
Besides, the epitome of luxury, Volvo buses have become a brand and USP in themselves, with fleet operators (who have 1 to 700 buses) differentiating their services based on their Volvo fleet. Meanwhile, the industry has been going through an uncertain patch. In 2011-12, the luxury bus market was over 1,000 buses, which has substantially grown.Even today, competition in the market is between few ‘real’ luxury players, with a lot a scope still in store.
“We welcome competition, on an equal footing, with similar technology. We were the lone warrior in fighting the mindset of modernisation. With more players, our hands are strengthened,” he says, adding that the company holds onto 75-80 per cent of the market.