After the long distance and luxury coach segments, Mercedes-Benz India has forayed into the fully built city bus segment as it targets mass urban transport in various cities. The Indian market for high-end city buses is at around 500 units per annum and grows 20% each year, Wilfried Aulbur, managing director and chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz India, said.
The city bus market is pegged at around 200 to 250 units. Mercedes already offers the two-axle and three-axle luxury coaches in the Indian market, and is now widening its commercial vehicle portfolio.
Mercedes is bringing to India its body builder partner, MCV of Egypt. Mercedes and MCV work together in Egypt, Africa, Cuba and the UK. MCV India will build bodies of buses at a new factory that is coming up at the Mercedes? plant site next to the bus assembly line, Aulbur said.
The bus chassis and body will be built at the Chakan facility and is part of the Rs 300-crore investment package for India.
The trial run of the city bus prototype will begin in Pune in next few days and will go to five more cities before the commercial roll out in the third quarter of 2011, Aulbur said in Pune on Thursday. For now, it will be diesel buses, but Aulbur said the company has capability to bring in CNG, hybrid and fuel cell buses.
For city buses, Mercedes will set up an integrated body-building facility at the Chakan plant as such a unit would cut transportation costs of around Rs 1lakh and also increase scope for localization of parts. Mercedes and MCV will be making investments in the plant but they will not be operating through a JV. MCV India will be running its business independently. MCV India?s plant for making bus body will be ready in nine months. Apart from city buses, the Chakan plant will also make 2-axle and 3-axle inter-city luxury coaches.
Mercedes-Benz will offer low-floor AC bus prototype to the transport body, PMPL in Pune. The company will take it to five more cities across the country for feedback from customers and users before freezing exact vehicle specifications for the Indian market. The prototype will have a Euro 3 engine, automatic transmission, full air suspension, disk brakes with ABS, 300-litre fuel tank. Seating arrangements will be there for 38 passengers while 39 persons will be able to stand.