Busworld South East Asia puts spotlight on region’s huge bus market potential
Busworld South East Asia (SEA) held in Jakarta, Indonesia featured a wide range of buses and coaches thanks to the presence of the four largest body builders in Indonesia, which together account for 90% of the Indonesian market. The event attracted over 4,000 guests from 42 countries thanks to an intriguing conference schedule. Rajesh Rajgor reports
The Busworld Southeast Asia 2022 exhibition was successfully hosted at JI Expo Kemayoran in Jakarta from October 5-7, 2022, by Busworld International and GEM Indonesia. Bus makers and suppliers introduced new products and developments at this exhibition. Numerous domestic and international bus body parts manufacturers attended the three-day event. Adiputro, Laksana, New Armada, Tentrem, Zhongtong and Golden Dragon were a few of them.
The display was made more attractive by supporting component companies in addition to the bus manufacturing industry. In addition to diesel buses, several electric buses were on display. This was in response to the Government of Indonesia’s initiatives, which included the creation of a net zero emission (NZE) programme with the objective of running 41,000 electric buses by 2024.
SE Asia: Huge Market for Buses
Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are the main markets for buses in Southeast Asia due to the large population size of these countries. Comparatively, buses are the main mode of transportation in Singapore. Indonesia plans to replace 90% of urban transit buses with e-buses by 2030. Malaysia plans to have 2,000 e-buses by 2030. The Philippines plans to have 21% electric vehicles (EVs) in total vehicle sales by 2030. Singapore plans to replace 3,000 of public buses to e-buses by 2030 and phase out ICE vehicles by 2040. Thailand plans to have 33,000 zero emission vehicle (ZEV) bus sales by 2030.
Vietnam plans to have all new urban transit buses in electric or green energy power-train solutions from 2025. Southeast Asian countries with domestic production capacities are offering various incentives to encourage investment in the production of EVs, including e-buses and key components. Vincent Dewaele, General Manager of Busworld International, confirmed the future potential of this business event: “After a second successful edition, we believe that Busworld Southeast Asia has a significant potential to grow. We will use all our channels to inform the international Busworld network of the qualitative Indonesian products and we will bring more international exhibitors and visitors in 2024.”
Major Show Highlights
The Velocity W5 electric bus from PT Tentrem was the highlight of their booth. The bus was an outcome of a partnership with PT INKA. The low floor electric bus’ body and frame are made by Tentrem from stainless steel and aluminium. PT INKA aided the 12-metre long bus’ chassis and battery components. It was made entirely of Indonesian components, including the chassis. In Indonesia, bus body makers typically construct on foreign chassis. Their sleeper coach, an Avante H9 Priority, was their second display vehicle.
Golden Dragon also showcased an electric bus. SAG displayed two electric buses at this event, each measuring 6 metres and 12 metres in length. Laksana displayed their electric bus body, the 12-metre long City Line 3 high floor model. Through its official distributor, PT Mobilindo Armada, Zhongtong also showcased the V6, a six-metre long electric bus. With a battery capacity of 105 kWh, this little bus can travel up to 200 kilometres. The Legacy SR3 XHD Ultimate double glass body was used for the Laksana body, which was the company’s newest luxury bus. New Armada presented the Skylander R22. Any driver behind the coach of Skylander R22 can foresee the traffic situation in front of the bus thanks to a screen at the back of the vehicle that displays the view of what is in front of it.
This safety function unquestionably increases road safety, particularly in traffic zones with lots of scooters. They also presented their electric bus City Liner and a medium coach Tourista. Aside from this, AdiPutro’s Jetbus Transit – Indonesia’s first monocoque low floor bus – was its most significant novelty. The management said that the organisation is developing an electric version and will exhibit it at the following Busworld fair in 2024. At least six of the coaches in their booth were of the highest quality, with various seating configurations of 2+2, 2+1 and even 1+1+1 in addition to sleeper seats on the lower deck.
Coaches and Components
A number of luxury buses were also there to spice up this event in addition to the electric buses. Adiputro exhibited four luxurious buses, including two double-deckers known as Jetbus 3+SDD in green and blue with a variety of specifications. A Jetbus 3+SHD was also available but it had certain differences as compared to the SDD. This SHD body, which utilised the Scania K410iB chassis, featured a more proportionate front look. The new Jetbus 3+MHD, which featured a slimmer headband design to give the passenger a wider view to the front, was also on show by Adiputro.
Automotive fabric specialist PT Sinar, under the brand name ‘Regency Seats’, showcased a wide variety of fabrics and materials that included its Luminous Boulevard Collection along with Majestic Premium Material for buses. Stonkam Co. from China showcased a range of AI MDVR system with ADAS, DMS and wireless units. The company boasted of occupying major market share in vehicle monitoring fields. They participated in the Busworld fair for the first time to expand their activities in the Southeast Asia region.
Innovation and Design Awards
The international press jury with representatives of MOTORINDIA, CV Magazine (India), Asian Buses (Malaysia), Latinobus (Colombia) and Truck and Bus Builder (UK) honoured seven companies with awards. Even though there was fierce competition since the overall quality levels were so high and comparable, the jury was able to make a decision.
The awards were as follows:
• Design Award: Category Electric Bus:
Zhongtong, LCK6606EV
• Design Award: Category Coach:
Laksana, Tourista
• Design Award: Category Last Mile Vehicle:
Golden Dragon, All Star
• Innovation Award: Category Bus:
AdiPutro, Jetbus Transit
• Innovation Award: Category Electric Bus:
Tentrem, Velocity W5
• Innovation Award: Category Coach:
New Armada, Skylander R22
Successful Conferences
Six workshops on topics including market analysis, post-pandemic health protocols and, of course, zero emission buses and their operations were available to Busworld attendees over the course of two days. To realise the energy transition, a number of public-private cooperation ideas were presented. More than 200 people attended the sessions. One of them was an ASRTU delegation from India, which represents the country’s public transportation system. They also went to the Mayasari EV charging station and Jakarta’s multi-modal transportation system.
Jan Deman, Managing Director of Busworld Foundation, concluded: “I am very satisfied with the outcome of this conference and I especially want to thank all of our partners who co-created this success story together with us, including ITDP, Frost and Sullivan, the Indonesian Ministries of Transport and of Finance, MTI, Instran, Askarindo and Ipomi. We had great speakers on stage and a lot of attendees in the room. For future editions it is our goal to have more speakers from the industry itself and create a balanced dialogue between policymakers and the industry. This will be beneficial for the whole sector. So, let’s meet again in 2024 for an even better edition!”