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MOTORINDIA
l
August 2012
of increasing its share in other seg-
ments as well.
Eberspaecher currently offers a
wide range of products starting from
the six kW unit which is a split sys-
tem, 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 ambi-
ent conditions while the most pow-
erful one is the 42 kW unit which is
best suited for high capacity multi-
axle buses operating in extreme con-
ditions.
The bus air-conditioning expert
has introduced a couple of new tech-
nologies in India. The condenser
technology called the Micro-Chan-
nel Heat Exchanger (MCHX) offers
lighter and more efficient coils than
the traditionally used ones, while the
brushless blower technology guar-
antees 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 prior-
ity for quality and product lifetime.
Over the last three to four years,
it has also seen customers gradu-
ally focus more on TCO and qual-
ity 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 ma-
turing in the next three to four years,
and with the ambitious targets of bus
manufacturers, the bus AC market
will grow multifold. We are look-
ing 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 Eu-
ropean facilities. We focus on con-
trolled localisation which will hap-
pen only as per our global quality
standard”, adds Mr. Singh.
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 Sin-
gapore 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 po-
tential markets too.
w
component zone
Eberspaecher’s Indian network is well
spread out with regional officers in
Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkatta, in addi-
tion 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.