Delay in Hyundai luxury buses for India

Volvo was already here and so was Kinglong. Mercedes too stepped into the Indian luxury bus segment but it seems Hyundai buses will take time. Here is an article from Economic Times

The UK-based Caparo Group company, Caparo India, is believed to have applied brakes to its luxury bus venture announced with Hyundai Motor Company. Six months after signing a technical pact with the Korean auto giant, the Caparo-Hyundai luxury bus project is yet to take off.

Caparo India had signed a technical agreement with Hyundai Motor Company to mark the former’s foray into the luxury bus segment. Caparo’s assembling plant was to come up on a 20-acre site in South for manufacturing 1,500 buses a year.

Caparo was evaluating locations like Sriperambadur, Oragadam and Nellore, and was hoping to firm up its decision in three months. The venture was slated to start production in the last quarter of 2008-09.

At the time of announcing the venture last year, Caparo India officials said the technical tie-up would help the company make a quantum leap and bring world-class luxury bus to the Indian market. The officials had then said apart from putting both organisations on a common platform, the tie-up was to build an association in manufacturing to assist in entering new areas of common interests. They also said the investment on the project would be running into “several hundred crores”.

But, sources familiar with the development said the project has not much made headway since then. It is learnt Caparo is not pursuing the venture for various reasons. It is also said that other than the investment made on the auto component project at Sriperambadur near Chennai, it has decided to freeze fresh investments.

ET has also learnt that top Caparo India officials have left the company in the last six months. Caparo India country head Sunil Pahilajani has joined Mahindra Navistar as CEO and MD while CFO Dinesh Chabra has quit and joined Bajaj Motor. Another top official Atulya Gupta too has quit and gone abroad.

When contacted, Caparo Project head Yong Won Jang confirmed that Mr Pahilajani had moved out to join Mahindra, but was not willing to offer any comment on the project. When contacted, Mr Pahilajani cited professional reasons for his decision to join Mahindra Navistar six months ago.

He had been with Caparo for seven years. Caparo had recruited 15-plus engineers from Hyundai, VW, Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors. But with the project not kick-starting as originally scheduled, the employees are a worried lot. Attempts to obtain comments from officials of Hyundai Motor, Korea, through email did not receive any response.

ET also tried to reach to Caparo CEO (business growth) Deb Mukherjee (who is apparently in the US) through phone and mail, but he was unavailable.



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The new 9400 6x2 Volvo B9R for India

Volvo B9R 9400 6x2 picture and power / torque figures

Here is an official picture of the new Volvo 9400 6x2 or the Volvo B9R.

The bus, as told by us, comes with a 9-liter engine that puts out no less than 380 bhp with 1740Nm of torque! To say the least, with this kind of power, the bus will easily be able to cruise at 110-115km/h with a top end of 125-130km/h speedo-indicated. Easily!

Enjoy the picture in the meantime. To book a Volvo B9R ticket, click HERE

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Sharma transports picks up the new Volvo B9R / 9400 6x2 bus

Sharma Transports have picked up the new Volvo B9R or the new Volvo 9400 6x2 bus for its long distance route.

The new Volvo 9400 6x2 is longer than the current B7R and comes with a 9 Litre engine. Read more about this bus by clicking here

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Volvo 9400 6x2 : India's first multi-axle bus in the form of Volvo B9R

Just when I thought Volvo would reply back with something after Mercedes launched there bus in India, i got the news. Volvo today launched India's first multi-axle bus called the Volvo 9400 6x2. It is also called the Volvo B9R

This is 1.7 longer than the B7R or the Volvo 8400 4x2 bus. Moreover, it offers 53 reclining semi-sleeper type seats, as apposed to 45 for the previous bus.

Ofcourse, it comes at a slightly higher price of Rs 85 but Volvo believes that the new B9R is cheaper when it comes to per seat cost.

The new Volvo B9R comes powered by a 9-litre engine, as compared to a 7-litre for the normal B7R

Watch this space for more.

Here is the article from businessstandard
Volvo Buses India Pvt Ltd (VBIPL), a part of Swedish bus maker Volvo Bus Corporation, today launched India’s first luxury AC coach with a multi-axle configuration. With a 9-litre rear engine and a 6x2 configuration, the Volvo 9400 6x2 (B9R) will be fully-manufactured in its Bangalore plant and marketed in the domestic market.

According to Akash Passey, managing director, VBIPL, “With the launch of this model, Volvo now has three standard offerings — 4x2 inter-city bus, city bus and 6x2 inter-city bus — for the Indian market. With this new model’s launch Volvo is broadening its product offering and choices for the customer and the passengers.”

Volvo has already bagged orders for 40 multi-axle buses, of which three were delivered today and another 20 buses will be delivered in the next two weeks, he said. Volvo has priced this bus at Rs 85 lakh (ex-factory). The bus features Electronic Brake System, a technology that ensures the highest safety for passengers and driver along with various safety features like frontal impact safety, roll-over protection among others.

For the year-ending December 2008, Volvo is likely to register 120 per cent jump in sales to 450 units over 2007 and for 2009, it is expecting a growth of 25 per cent. It plans to ramp up its production capacity to touch 1,000 buses by 2010, he said.

Presently, Volvo has a capacity to produce 50 buses per month at its Hoskote plant, which was opened in January this year as a joint venture with the Azad Group of Bangalore.

Passey said the company expects a significant growth in its sales over the next five years from the Bus Rapid Transit System being implemented in over 60 cities in the country. Volvo’s plant in Bangalore will initially cater to the requirements of domestic customers and will start meeting export orders from customers in West Asia and Africa by end of 2009, he said.

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Ahmedabad to Shirdi seater and sleeper bus timing / fare

Here is a list of buses from Ahmebabad to Shirdi

I could not find any Volvo buses from Ahmedabad to Shirdi. Only A/C and non A/c seater and sleeper buses run on this route.

1. Gujarat Travels seater bus (Non/Ac 2x1 seating)
Departure:5:00pm (Paldi Char Rasta), 5:45pm (Jodhpur Char Rasta), 6:30pm (CTM Char Rasta)
Arrival: 6:00am (Near temple)
Ticket cost: Rs 450
To book, click HERE



2. Gujarat Travels sleeper bus (Non/Ac 2x1 sleeping)
Departure:5:00pm (Paldi Char Rasta), 5:45pm (Jodhpur Char Rasta), 6:30pm (CTM Char Rasta)
Arrival: 6:00am (Near temple)
Ticket cost: Rs 600
To book, click HERE

3. Maitreya Travels seater bus (Non/Ac 2x1 seating)
Departure:5:00pm (Jodhpur Char Rasta), 5:30pm (Opp. Navchetan High School), 6:00pm (CTM Char Rasta)
Arrival: 6:00am (Near temple)
Ticket cost: Rs 350
To book, click HERE

4. Maitreya Travels sleeper bus (Non/Ac 2x1 sleeping)
Departure:5:00pm (Jodhpur Char Rasta), 5:30pm (Opp. Navchetan High School), 6:00pm (CTM Char Rasta)
Arrival: 6:00am (Near temple)
Ticket cost: Rs 450
To book, click HERE

5. Rajkamal Travels seater bus (Non/Ac 2x2 seater)
Departure:5:30pm (Jodhpur Char Rasta), 6pm (Paldi Char Rasta), 6:30pm (Opp Janpath Restaurant)
Arrival: 6:30am (Near temple)
Ticket cost: Rs 400
To book, click HERE

6. Rajkamal Travels sleeping bus (Non/Ac 2x2 sleeping)
Departure:5:30pm (Jodhpur Char Rasta), 6pm (Paldi Char Rasta), 6:30pm (Opp Janpath Restaurant)
Arrival: 6:30am (Near temple)
Ticket cost: Rs 500
To book, click HERE

7. Shree Hari Travels A/C seater bus (A/c 2x1 seater)
Departure:6pm (Jodhpur Char Rasta), 6:30pm (Reliance Fresh), 7:00pm (CTM Char Rasta)
Arrival: 7:00am (Near temple)
Ticket cost: Rs 450
To book, click HERE

8. Shree Hari Travels A/C sleeping bus (A/c 2x1 sleeper)
Departure:6pm (Jodhpur Char Rasta), 6:30pm (Reliance Fresh), 7:00pm (CTM Char Rasta)
Arrival: 7:00am (Near temple)
Ticket cost: Rs 600
To book, click HERE

9. Indani Travels A/C seater bus (A/c 2x2 seater)
Departure:6:30pm (Paldi Char Rasta), 6:45pm (Janpath Restaurant)
Arrival: 7:30am (Near temple)
Ticket cost: Rs 400
To book, click HERE

10. Indani Travels A/C sleeper bus (A/c 2x2 sleeper)
Departure:6:30pm (Paldi Char Rasta), 6:45pm (Janpath Restaurant)
Arrival: 7:30am (Near temple)
Ticket cost: Rs 500
To book, click HERE

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Neeta Volvo

Neeta Volvo is a big name in West India. Based in Pune, this Volvo operator has one of the biggest fleet of Volvo B7R buses. Neeta Volvo came to fame with the running of Volvo B7R buses on the Mumbai to Pune and Pune to Mumbai route. Buses from the Mumbai side originate either from Boriveli or Dadar and end at Pune station and vice-versa. The frequency of buses from either end is the best.

However, the condition of buses is pathetic to say the least. Neeta Volvo has also gained a bad name when it comes to customer service including punctuality. For example, the Dadar bus (bound for Pune) doesnt start from Dadar main area (from where the Shivneri Volvo starts). Passengers are taken in a small bus to the main starting point. Then, Neeta Volvo usually has 12 or 13 rows of seats as opposed to say 11 for Shivneri Volvo. Plus, they tend to stop at every possible place to pick passengers. At an average, the time taken by Neeta Volvo from Dadar to Pune station is 4.5 hours, an hour more than Shivneri.




Neeta Volvo also runs on other routes like Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar, Pune to Nashik, Pune to Goa etc. Recently, Neeta became one of the first few Mercedes Benz bus customers in India.

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