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MOTORINDIA
l
August 2012
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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 cur-
rently uses 60 per cent of the avail-
able capacity at its 2,800 sq. metre
plant and is confident of reaching
full capacity by next year. Says Mr.
Kanwal Preet Singh, Director, Eber-
spaecher Suetrak Bus Climate Con-
trol Systems India Pvt. Ltd.: “We
have grown over the last two years
since taking over from Carrier in
2010, and have doubled our turno-
ver 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 ve-
hicle 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 passen-
gers 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 lev-
eraging 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 mar-
ket 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 luxu-
ry coaches will continue for the next
five to seven years, says Mr. Singh.
Eberspaecher is the market leader
in the coach air-conditioning seg-
ment 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
A panoramic view of the Bangalore facility
component zone
The JnNURM scheme is likely to fuel
growth in the city bus segment, once
it is implemented at the start of next
year. Apart from OEMs Eberspaecher
has also supplied its units to MTC
(Chennai), BMTC (Bangalore), KSRTC
(Karnataka), HREC (Haryana), MSRTC
(Maharashtra) and APSRTC (Andhra
Pradesh) and is bullish on further ex-
panding its presence.