New Delhi: New Delhi: After a protracted lull in gross sales of 18 months, the bus section is seeing a powerful comeback within the automotive sector on the again of robust substitute demand, Vinod Aggarwal, MD and CEO of VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), mentioned.
He additional mentioned that the substitute gross sales have been very low within the final two years resulting from wipeout of the seasonal demand from faculties and company sector throughout the pandemic interval. The disaster has affected all types of intercity and intracity bus transport.
Underlining the optimistic sentiments available in the market, Aggarwal mentioned the trade has surpassed the general gross sales of buses offered within the monetary yr (FY) 2021-2022 in April-July months of FY23. ” The replacement demand already started coming in with the resumption of school, offices and intercity bus travel and tourism. Resultantly, the 5 tonne and above bus market has already sold 19,000 units in the first four months of this fiscal as bus operators are entering their replacement phase after a gap of almost two years,” Aggarwal mentioned on the sidelines of the launch of Volvo 9600 intercity luxurious bus. Notably, the trade offered a complete of 18,000 buses within the full FY22.
He additional mentioned that on a mean the bus section is witnessing a sale of 5,000 models per thirty days this yr and with easing out of COVID worry this section will bounce to 60,000 models by the tip of FY23. “With the COVID wave abating in most parts of the country and states, we see a very positive outlook for the entire bus industry going forward. The industry is going to get back to normal in the coming months and will enter the growth cycle in a couple of years,” Aggarwal added.
The general dimension of the bus market was once 70,000-80,000 models throughout the peak yr of FY19. This crumbled to 11,000 models in FY21 throughout the first wave of the pandemic, Aggarwal mentioned. VECV’s Eicher model vans and buses noticed gross sales rising to 23,451 models throughout April-July this yr, in comparison with 10,077 in corresponding interval in 2021, up 132%.
With the latest launch of Volvo 9600 coach platform, Volvo Buses India, a division of VECV, is betting large on the intercity section which constitutes 15-20% of the general bus market. Manufactured on the firm’s Hosakote plant in Karnataka, this bus vary is out there on the 15m and 13.5m configurations in sleeper and seater variants. The firm is investing near INR 500 crore yearly on this plant the place it manufactures premium buses and building tools.
When requested concerning the firm’s plans for the electrical buses, Aggarwal mentioned that within the absence of optimum infrastructure they aren’t planning to give you electrical drive-train choices for this mannequin. Though the corporate is contemplating the potential for launching this mannequin on CNG and LNG, he added.
Source: auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com