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MOTORINDIA
l
May 2012
13
the coming years, grow multi-fold,
expand our industrial activity and
enter new segments. However, be-
yond the mere growth in size and
volumes the final mission is to be
an integral part of the progress in
the way India moves, ensuring with
every solution we improve the level
of safety, comfort, quality and care
for the environment for passengers
while providing economical trans-
port solutions for our customers.
MI:
You have become a trend-
setter in developing advanced tech-
nology in the Indian bus transpor-
tation system. Do you see the trend
extending to other Asian countries
as well?
AP:
I am proud to be part of an
innovative company which has been
driving quality of life across the mar-
kets it operates in. Globally, Volvo
has led the change by introducing
advanced technology to improve
the performance and comfort in all
its products, always in consonance
with its core values of safety, quality
and care for the environment.
We have developed products spe-
cific to the unique market require-
ments across major global markets.
Volvo is synonymous with the BRT
system in Bogota (Colombia) and
Curitiba (Brazil) among many other
cities, including Singapore, Hong
Kong, and Shanghai. Our buses are
the preferred vehicles by operators
in these cities. In the last few years,
Volvo has also successfully intro-
duced the hybrid technology and has
witnessed excellent response. These
are the world’s first commercially
viable hybrid buses. Today, we have
the hybrid buses running in 20 cities
across the world, and the trend will
pick up in the coming years.
Shanghai in China is running
battery-operated city buses built by
Volvo along with its JV partner Sun-
win. This has been quite successful,
and we are looking at deploying this
technology on a large scale in other
markets as well. The above instanc-
es highlight Volvo Buses’ approach
in all markets in the world, including
those in Asia. India and China will
play an important role in new prod-
uct development for Asian markets,
and this trend will gain momentum
in the coming years.
The benefits of the new develop-
ments we will see in these two mar-
kets will percolate to all other parts
of Asia, besides the rest of the world
too!
MI:
Although India has the larg-
est rail network in the world, it car-
ries six billion passengers per year
compared to 51 billion by buses.
Where do you see this trend head-
ing?
AP:
Bus transport will always be
more flexible compared to trains and
easier to implement at a far lower
cost. Of course, both must grow,
though I would expect buses to
grow faster. India has just 1.3 buses
per 1,000 people, which is among
the lowest even when compared to
developed countries, while being
far lower than the over 10 buses per
1,000 for Brazil. So, frankly, the
question in India is not about the
train or the bus, but instead how can
we offer sustainable transport to the
country’s large population.
In my opinion, the growth of the
nation will create a demand from all
categories of markets for buses for
public transport.
MI:
Road transportation pro-
vides a lot of opportunities for
PPPs. What are Volvo’s initiatives
in this regard?
AP:
There is a clear movement
in adopting the PPP model and we
see it being practised well in many
States. It’s still in its early stages,
but we expect to see faster growth in
this category.
The Union Budget for 2012-13 re-
fers to the Government proposal to
encourage the PPP model. This is a
welcome step and hopefully could
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