Coaches delivered to Rathimeena and TAT Travels
Prakash Bus Corporation (PBC), a subsidiary unit of S.M. Kanappa Automobiles, Bengaluru, stepped into the OEM premium bus building in a venture with Volvo Buses India with the launch of its ‘Celeste’ premium multiaxle sleeper coach in September 2017. The brand is getting good response from bus fleet operators with a good sales record.
Keeping track of the developments during the last quarter of 2017 and present client sales and deliveries, we spoke to Mr. T. Kesavan, Plant Head, Prakash Bus Corporation Pvt. Ltd., and Mr. T.M. Poovaiah, Director, S.M. Kannappa Automobiles (P) Ltd., regarding the recent trail of sales and client enquiries for Celeste.
Speaking to MOTORINDIA, Mr. Kesavan observed: “As you know, Prakash Bus Corporation stepped into the OEM premium multiaxle bus building with its refined product – Volvo Multiaxle Sleeper Coach built on Euro-IV Volvo B11R I-Shift Chassis – branded as ‘Celeste’ in the last quarter of 2017. We defined the advent of ‘Celeste’ as ‘redefining luxury in mobility’. Our two inaugural coaches were delivered to Sharma Transports, Bengaluru, which were built on 13.8 mtr Volvo B11R chassis accommodating 36 sleeper berths and a rear driver berth capsule. Our coach built quality got a good response from bus fleet operators. The interior of the coach bears a luxury and comfort factor added to it, supported by the use of larger window panes for visibility to the passenger and use of berth guard rails provided for passenger safety. The coach has been built with quality FR grade materials and ARAI-certified products which are totally in compliance with the Bus Code – AIS : 119. On the positive side of our sales, we soon delivered another two coaches to Kanade Travels of Mumbai. The Celeste coaches delivered to Kanade Travels were first of the kind OEM multiaxle sleeper coaches built on Volvo B11R 14.5 mtr chassis having 42 sleeper berths capacity.”
New footprints in South India
Referring to the recent developments, Mr. Poovaiah said: “We have recently delivered our ‘Celeste’ premium coaches to ‘Raathimeena Travels’ and ‘TAT Travels’. This marks our first delivery to Tamil Nadu which makes our foothold strong in South India, after the inaugural Sharma Celeste delivery at Bengaluru. Two Celeste Volvo B11R I-Shift multiaxle sleeper built on 13.8 mtr chassis with 36 berths and a driver berth capsule at the rear have been delivered to Rathimeena Travels, while another two coaches built on 14.5 mtr Volvo B11R Chassis accommodating 42 berths (without the rear driver berth capsule) have been delivered to TAT Travels. We have got a good feedback on our coach built quality on the positive end from our clients. We always welcome their valuable suggestions that help us make our product better in terms of body building and performance parameters. The Celeste has shown good NVH levels, and we are doing our best to improve its performance in the days to come.”
The Celeste Volvo multiaxle provides the best luxury and comfort levels to the passengers with safety levels on the priority. The sleeper berths are spacious with more head room and a provision of a curtain between two passengers, on the double berths, ensuring better privacy. A complete AIS 119-compliant coach, the ‘Celeste’ has better NVH levels. With ABS interiors, the coach is now undergoing a further interior facelift for improvement of the interior look and comfort level.
Explaining the co-operation of Volvo Buses India with Prakash Bus Corporation with respect to technical support and product development, Mr. Kesavan disclosed: “We are building ‘Celeste’ firmly on the bus body guidelines laid down by Volvo Buses India. The coaches are sent to Volvo for PDI and PDA formalities wherein a firm check is done on the chassis body interface, wiring connections, wheel alignment and steering column. After a post-body analysis and detailed check report with the required suggestions from Volvo, we deliver the final product to our client. B11R is an user-friendly chassis in comparison to the erstwhile B9R chassis, on which Prakash Bus Corporation have built and delivered around 30 coaches to clients.”
He added: “We do have challenges as an upcoming OEM bus body builder. It’s a competitive market and we need to be adaptable to change. We have to comply to customization from our client fleet operators keeping in brace of the bus body codes. We are trying to stand firm and drive up to our client’s expectations in structural and luxury aspects of the coach. Our team is dedicatedly working 24×7 on improving the performance standards.”
Future strategy
Briefing on the current and future ventures, Mr. Poovaiah observed: “We have around six coaches at plant under production pipeline at various stages and we are expecting 10-20 coach deliveries within a very short period of time. With respect to our current delivery to Rathimeena and TAT Travels – we are expecting a better footprint of our coaches soon in the region, in days to come with this strategic delivery. We have got a good response from fleet operators from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. We hope we will have a good client portfolio soon.”
Concluding on an optimistic note, Mr. Kesavan said: “Celeste has emerged a successful OEM product in a very short period of time. We want to thank our clients and customers for their trust and faith in our bus body building technology. We are also targeting a mass production of around 150 Celeste coaches at our plant by the end of 2018. We have started getting enquiries from North India too, and we expect to hit the roads there very soon. We have a dedicated design and production team working behind the Celeste success.”