Home-grown bus maker Deccan Auto’s vision is to manufacture world-class buses in India for the masses and be a front-runner in the introduction of appropriate technology as required. The luxury bus manufacturer with its integrated facility at Hyderabad in Telangana, plans to make it big in the domestic market in the coming years. Deccan’s recent acquisition of a majority stake in Pune-based Corona Bus has come as a shot in the arm for the company.
Mr. M. Balaji Rao, Director, Corona Bus and Principal Advisor, Deccan Auto Ltd., is proud to discuss about his company’s performance and the initiatives it has taken to produce innovative products aimed at satisfying the end-customer. Says Mr. Balaji Rao: “We are planning to introduce a ‘Made in India’ 14.5m bus which will be designed with our in-house expertise. These buses will have the best in class interiors to match the best comfort offered by the independent front suspension, monocoque design and light weight structure. These buses will be put into testing by the second half of 2017-18. With good leg room, pantry and toilet facility, the buses will be able to run non-stop for 800 to 1,000 kms. Based on the Government regulations, we will provide a sleeper option on these buses which will also be available in RHD and LHD for the African market.”
New technologies
Deccan Auto has started design and prototype manufacturing of four new models which it plans to put into commercial production after extensive testing by the year 2020. The new segments the company is planning to enter would be the 18m vestibule bus, with a rear engine, automatic transmission, air suspension, front independent suspension configured on a monocoque design. This is the only rear engine monocoque vestibule bus as of now planned in India. Deccan is planning to bring this model with the smart cities in mind.
The bus manufacturer also plans to introduce these buses on the tarmac of the district level airports that are being planned by the government. Each of these buses will be able to ferry more than a 100 passengers from the airplane. This will reduce the operation cost of small airports. Deccan is also planning to bring in 9 and 10m low cost monocoque buses to cater to the school and company transport segment.
Deccan Auto is also actively looking at bringing out its indigenously built electric buses. “We are working with super capacitor manufacturers to study how we can make sure that the charging time is drastically reduced and the running time per charge is enhanced. The success of the electric bus is going to be in the cost of the power storage system and the charging cycle. We have signed up with a group of innovative designers to give shape to this product. We find the Indian market to get ready by 2020 in a big way to absorb this technology”, adds Mr. Rao.
“We target to touch about 2,000 buses in 2020. We would like to be very calculative in approaching the numbers as any wrong step will drive us back on the service support that we need to give for the buses. We would like to be more in the Southern and Western part of the country as we can support the buses better from our present manufacturing base at Pune and Hyderabad. It may look attractive to expand rapidly across the country but will be detrimental when it comes to service and spare parts support”, he shares.
In the luxury bus segment to which Deccan belongs, the chassis is mostly imported; Deccan’s case is quite different. “Our chassis is 95% local. In spite of this we need to make sure that the cost of the maintenance of the buses is far below the average cost of maintenance that these buses have today. We will strive to make sure that the cost of maintenance is the lowest in the category. Our customer is most often not the user of the product and hence we need to strive to make sure that not only our customer but also the end user, the passenger is always benefited by the changes and inputs that we give. Innovation at product level and user level are the key for us”, he explains.
African market
Deccan is also planning to explore the African market with the support of its group companies present in 15 countries in the continent. This year the company is planning to send a few LHD buses to Africa for testing and reliability checks. These buses will be used by its own factories based in Africa for the employee transport. Once it is able to firm upon the product, Deccan will start exporting from India. “We have plans to put up a factory in Africa if the product picks up by 2020”, he signs off.