Tata Motors has done wonders to its bus portfolio. Till 5 years back, bus business was practically a non-existent business for Tata Motors, particularly in the fully-built segment. Today, more than 80 per cent of the LCV buses sold are fully-built, and eventually the plan is to have 75 to 80 per cent of all buses sold as fully-built across all products, says Mr. Sandeep Kumar, Head -Sales & Marketing (Buses), Tata Motors.
At the Bus & Special Vehicles Expo (BSVE) 2009 held in Bangalore the company showcased its expertise by providing a wide range of passenger carriers across all segments, including the high-end luxury buses built as per the Hispano designs, the low-floor city buses from Tata Marcopolo, the 909 school bus and the 712 staff bus, also of the Tata Marcoplo range.
Tata Motors currently has three manufacturing facilities for buses. The first is the unit in Lucknow where Tata Marcopolo low-floor buses are being built. The second which is the new facility is in Dharwad, which is going to be the world’s largest bus manufacturing facility with a capacity to manufacture 15,000 buses. The Dharwad plant has started commercial production and is currently building the lighter range of buses like the school and staff transportation buses.
The third one is the ACGL unit in Goa where the company builds buses primarily for export. Incidentally, the high-end luxury bus, the Tata Hispano, is built at this plant as per designs provided by Hispano, the prominent Spanish bus company in which Tata Motors acquired a stake a few years back.
The Tata Hispano luxury coach is an integral rear engine and has a huge 10 cubic metre space for baggage storage requirements of passengers. The bus is equipped with 45 fully reclining two tonne fabric seats. Each seat has an adjustable head flap, retractable arm rest along with a bottle holder and magazine pouch. The high deck coach is ideal for tourist / inter-city transport.
Tata Motors has so far sold 50 units of the Tata Hispano buses and targets sale of 250 units in the next financial year. The bus is priced at Rs. 55-60 lakhs based on the features. It comes with the 240 hp Cummins engine and the chassis is 12m long. The company has supplied these buses to MSRTC, APSRTC, UPSRTC and private operators like Neeta travels.
Low-floor Marcopolo buses
This is one segment where Tata Motors has grown leaps and bounds in terms of technology and products. The Tata Marcopolo low-floor city buses, 650 of these buses have already been supplied to DTC in Delhi and the company has bagged another order from DTC for 1,625 buses of the low-floor concept (1000 non-AC and 625 AC).
The Marcopolo bus with its low-floor height of ![]()
The company is expecting a big order for these buses under the JNNURM plan. Other than these low-floor city bus which is less than 400mm in height, the company also has a semi low-floor bus which is chassis on which body is built as per customer requirement. Currently the ultra low-floor city buses are running in Delhi and a couple of buses in Bangalore.
By the end of this year, the company hopes to see these buses running in other States like Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, West Bengal and Jharkhand. New Starbus range On the LCV platform, Tata Motors has introduced a few new models, the 909 school bus and the 712 AC staff bus. Both the buses are from the Marcopolo range which also belongs to the Starbus range. The buses come with new body and chassis and are available as 24, 32 and 40-seaters. The buses have significantly more length and wheelbase which add to the seating capacity and extra legroom for passengers.
The new Starbus range of buses are BSII and BSIII-compliant. These vehicles are manufactured at the fully automated manufacturing and assembly plant of Tata Marcopolo, Dharwad plant. The 909 is also available in a CNG fuel option. Ideally suited for transportation of company staff, for schools and transport to tourist destinations and in normal route bus. Apart from fully-built buses, Tata Motors has also launched a true bus chassis called Super Milo. The Super Milo is primarily for private contract market and offers 10 to 15 per cent better fuel average. “We have managed to convert the conventional chassis market to 100 per cent radialised market. In the future we would like to make even the rear air suspension mandatory”.
Between the two categories of the large and the lighter buses, the company has sold 14,000 units in the 12 tonne+ category and 11,500 of the lighter buses. The company is expecting a growth of 10 to 15 per cent in the next financial year.
