Mercedes-Benz has entered the bus business in the country with the launch of its first ever bus, a luxury intercity coach that will initially operate on a few designated routes in Maharashtra and southern India. We have no clue which bus this is as there is no news about the model name. However we suspect it is the Citaro. The company plans to introduce more products in this segment.
The new 305 horse-power, Euro III complaint coach that is priced at Rs 80 lakh, comes with an O 500 R/RF chassis from the MB stable, and a body built by Jalandhar-based Sutlej Motors with whom the company signed an agreement earlier this year.
The chassis is being assembled at the Mercedes Benz India facility at Chikhli near Pune, but by January its production will move to the new facility at Chakan where the installed capacity for commercial vehicles (both buses and Actors truck) is 1200 units per annum per shift. Currently, with components imported from Brazil, the localization is in the region of 20-25%.
