Mahindra Trucks & Buses (MTB) has always been known for its foresight and ability to adopt technology and raise the bar when it comes to quality, safety and comfort. While its COSMO range has received excellent response, its more recently launched platform, the EXCELO, is providing further thrust to sales in the segment. MTB has traditionally been a preferred brand in this space, and Mr. Nalin Mehta, CEO, MTB, explains why.
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MTB’s strengths in the segment
MTB has always been a respectable school bus player. Our presence in the school application has been growing steadily over the years. This segment is definitely important to us and hence we offer an entire range starting from 16-seater to 55-seater in school buses. We provide best-in-class safety features to ensure safety of children on board. We have our COSMO brand in mid premium segment, and recently we have launched the EXCELO platform to address the entry-level segment. We have launched EXCELO on the T15 / T25 / T32 & T36 platform. We aim at strengthening our footprints in the school segment.
Fully-built buses relieve the operator / school of all the post-purchase problems. Therefore it is important to cater to a variety of fully-built bus options to the customer. We are also focusing on our future products so as to strengthen our legacy. We have a 20 per cent market share in the school bus segment.
Product range
We have our school bus range from 16+D to 55+D. We also offer 2×2 & 3×2 seating option on our school bus range to meet various customer needs. Our school buses are meeting all the regulations and safety requirements as per “Bus Body Code-AIS052” and “School Bus Code-AIS063” guidelines. We also provide additional safety features like full length footstep, metal fascia, etc., to ensure safety of the little ones in the bus. Our buses come with best-in-class performance CRDE engine with three power options – 70 hp, 80 hp and 115 hp – broad tech specs as under.
FY14-15 sales numbers
We have sold about 2,000 school buses in FY15. We build our buses at Zaheerabad where we have our manufacturing facility for the entire LCV range. We are gearing up our capacity to make about 10,000 buses per annum. We have strong our presence in the South, especially Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. We also have presence in the north, particularly in Rajasthan, Haryana, the National Capital Region which is expanding now with the launch of the EXCELO range of school buses.
Addressing growing market demands
Safety should be one of the primary attributes of a school bus, and we have made appropriate efforts to make our buses safer. Apart from the bus safety requirements, we have redesigned seats, bus entry steps, grab handles, etc. In terms of technology we have common rail engine that provides power with economy. We are also planning to provide GPS and saloon cameras for the bus. This will empower the parents as well as schools to monitor the kids.
Market outlook and way forward
With the Government policy thrust on growth and the proposal for small cities, the school bus segment is bound to expand, leading to higher demand for fully-built buses. At the same time, the focus would be more on child safety, journey comfort and ofcourse competitive pricing.
