Company is working with all major bus manufacturers
By N. Balasubramanian
Eberspaecher Suetrak Bus Climate Control Systems India Pvt. Ltd. has continued its strong growth when it comes to bus air-conditioning systems in the country. Since acquiring the Indian bus AC business from Carrier Corp. (USA) in June 2010, the Indian wing of the Eberspaecher Group, Eberspaecher Suetrak India, has been steadily expanding its presence in the Indian market. The company opened its Bangalore facility in 2011 and has done extremely well ever since, doubling its turnover from 2010 to 2012.
The company is working with major bus manufacturers in the country, including Volvo, Mercedes, Tata, Ashok Leyland and Eicher. Some of the recently launched vehicles, including the Volvo 7400 XL and Mercedes City Bus, come with the air-conditioning system from Eberspaecher Suetrak India. Eicher’s midi buses also come with Eberspaecher ACs, while the AC units are also fitted on Tata Marcopolo and Ashok Leyland buses for tarmac applications.
The luxury coaches of AMW and MAN which were showcased at this year’s Auto Expo come with the company’s AC units, while it has also supplied the units to Mahindra Navistar. It is currently in discussion with Scania which is setting up its first Indian facility in Bangalore.
With an installed annual capacity of 2,500 bus ACs, the company currently uses 60 per cent of the available capacity at its 2,800 sq. metre plant and is confident of reaching full capacity by next year. Says Mr. Kanwal Preet Singh, Director, Eberspaecher Suetrak Bus Climate Control Systems India Pvt. Ltd.: “We have grown over the last two years since taking over from Carrier in 2010, and have doubled our turnover from 2010 to 2012, growing at a rate of 30 per cent annually. We will run at full capacity by the middle of next year.”
The year 2011 was very good for the company with sales of 1,500 units, a growth of 30 per cent over 2010. Though the commercial vehicle industry as a whole is going through a slowdown, the bus air-conditioning market continues to grow steadily owing to the rise in demand for AC buses. With passengers looking for better comfort and also willing to pay a premium for it, the bus market is gradually maturing into better comfort standards, which is an encouraging sign for bus AC makers. The multi-national players in the country are working on leveraging on this change in demand while Indian OEMs are also keen on delivering world-class products to customers.
In the next couple of years, the company predicts the midi bus market to grow by over 20 per cent. With the entry of new players into the bus segment, the market for large buses is also expected to grow steadily, while the demand for luxury coaches will continue for the next five to seven years, says Mr. Singh.
The JnNURM scheme is likely to fuel growth once it is implemented at the start of next year. Apart from OEMs Eberspaecher has already supplied its units to MTC (Chennai), BMTC (Bangalore), KSRTC (Karnataka), HREC (Haryana), MSRTC (Maharashtra) and APSRTC (Andhra Pradesh) and is bullish on further expanding its presence.
Eberspaecher is the market leader in the coach air-conditioning segment in the country and also has a good share in the entire bus market, taking all the segments into account. The company is adding new models to its range and is quite optimistic of increasing its share in other segments as well.
Eberspaecher currently offers a wide range of products starting from the six kW unit which is a split system, followed by the eight kW and 10 kW units. The AC systems for midi-buses start with the 20 kW unit, while units greater than 32 kW cater to longer buses. The company also has a 37 kW unit for high ambient conditions while the most powerful one is the 42 kW unit which is best suited for high capacity multi-axle buses operating in extreme conditions.
The bus air-conditioning expert has introduced a couple of new technologies in India. The condenser technology called the Micro-Channel Heat Exchanger (MCHX) offers lighter and more efficient coils than the traditionally used ones, while the brushless blower technology guarantees a life span of five years for the bus AC system and also reduces the maintenance cost. The company strongly focuses on the total cost of ownership (TCO) with top priority for quality and product lifetime. Over the last three to four years, it has also seen customers gradually focus more on TCO and quality rather than the initial investment cost.
The current level of localisation of Eberspaecher’s products is around 50 per cent with critical components such as blowers, compressors and some coils still being imported. With the bus industry moving to higher volumes, the company is looking to increase the localised content to 60 per cent by next year.
“We can see the bus market maturing in the next three to four years, and with the ambitious targets of bus manufacturers, the bus AC market will grow multifold. We are looking at potential suppliers in India and are working closely with our German vendor development team. We have even qualified some of our local vendors for supply to our European facilities. We focus on controlled localisation which will happen only as per our global quality standard”, adds Mr. Singh.
Eberspaecher’s Indian network is well spread out with regional officers in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkatta, in addition to satellite offices in Chandigarh and Hyderabad. The company has a service team in the offices to assist the 55 dealers located in major highways across the country.
The company has exported a few units to the Middle East, Dubai and Sri Lanka and will be exploring new market opportunities.
It has started operations in Singapore this year with a view to catering to the South-East Asian market. It also supplies to Optare, the UK-based company which was recently taken over by Ashok Leyland. The company has a good network in the Middle East and African countries and is keen on expanding its presence in other potential markets too.