Volvo India has received order for 260 buses in India. Among these the city of Bangalore purchased an additional 140 Volvo 8400 city buses. The customer in Bangalore, BMTC, already operates more than 300 Volvo buses in Bangalore and these buses have radically changed the view of what it is like to travel with city buses in India. For example, the buses are air-conditioned and feature low floors for fast and easy boarding and exiting.
Surveys show that 60% of the passengers in these buses previously traveled in their own car or by motorcycle. For many Indian cities, the goal is to have more people use mass transit and, consequently, this requires new, modern buses. Volvo buses are also used in Bangalore for transportation to and from the airport. Each new Volvo bus placed in traffic increases the exposure of buses. As a result, increasingly more of the population views buses as a better alternative than traveling in their own vehicle.
Volvo Buses has also received orders for 120 Volvo 9400 inter-city coaches to the State of Karnataka, in which Bangalore in the capital and to the State of Maharashtra, in which Mumbai is the capital. The orders are from customers already operating Volvo coaches and who have favorable experiences of them. Volvo’s customers have seen that passengers prefer these coaches, are prepared to pay extra to travel in them and that, as a result, the coaches generate highly favorable productivity, says Akash Passey.The buses will be assembled at Volvo Buses’ plant in India and deliveries will be made in 2009.
