MG Group to foray into tarmac coach biz, unveils 'Columbus'

Homegrown bus-building major MG Group has announced its foray into the niche segment of airport tarmac coaches, having unveiled its own product — Columbus.

Sharing the company’s strategy with DH, MG Group Managing Director Anil Kamat said, “Having completed 20 years in the bus-building industry, and producing 100,000 buses since inception, we felt the need to develop our own coach the ground up, instead of utilising an already available chassis.”

In India, air passenger traffic has been increasing at approximately 20% year-on-year, resulting in increased demand for tarmac coaches as well. The total park volume for the same is 800 coaches, with the annual demand at 50 coaches a year, and expected to go up by a CAGR of 15%. “Leading airlines have placed record order sizes for aircraft, which in turn, will increase the demand for tarmac coaches. Tier II city airports will also boost demand, owing to many of them lacking skybridges. With Smart Cities also being promoted, there is always the requirement for spacious, high-technology coaches for the airline industry,” Kamat said.

The premium Columbus is a first-of-its-kind, fully monocoque ultra-low flat-floor tarmac coach developed currently for international markets (predominant customers in Southeast Asia — Thailand and Malaysia — have evinced interest). With reliable drive-line aggregates like ZF and Cummins, Columbus boasts of passenger entry floor height of as low as 290 mm (after kneeling). The 12 metre-long coaches can accommodate 70 passengers (eight seated and 62 standing).

“With the Indian market, we are currently seeking feedback on the product from ‘potential’ customers here (from the airline industry), considering that the coach is in right-hand-drive.The coach has been built at global standards, and for a global market, for which, we’re testing the market and want to generate interest. We are in the phase of testing, validation, and homologation, and would be ready to supply in the next four months. If we can be able to build at least 50 such coaches a year, it will be good start,” Kamat said, adding that the coach, currently diesel-powered, is envisioned to be offered with CNG as well as electric drive-lines in the short term.