The VECV team was once again here in Chennai, after a short period of six months, for yet another launch of its new-generation city buses. The much-awaited Eicher Skyline Pro Series of light duty buses for staff and school transportation was unveiled to the media recently. The buses will meet the demand of the emerging premium market segment providing enhanced passenger safety and comfort.
At the launch of the vehicles, Mr. Shyam Maller, Senior Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Aftermarket, VECV, said: “The Skyline Pro buses are a synergistic working between the JV partners, utilizing the global expertise of Volvo and the frugal engineering competence of Eicher. With the launch today the Eicher brand enters a new phase of growth and consolidation in the commercial vehicle market.”
The new generation buses are available in school, staff and tourist variants with best-in-class features, superior ergonomics and seating capacity ranging from 36-60 high head rest and school bus seats as per the segment requirement. These buses are equipped with trusted and proven Eicher E-483 engine known for its low maintenance and high fuel efficiency. They are provided with parabolic suspensions and radial tyres for higher passenger and driver comfort and longer tyre life.
Additional features
Eicher, credited with the launch of the first safe school bus in India in 1996, has added an entire new dimension to the safety feature offerings in the school bus segment with the new Skyline Pro school buses. The buses offer individual retractable seat belts on all the seats for the safety of children. The lowest first step and the floor height is also a unique offering for the front engine buses.
“With crowded cities, big buses no longer make much sense. Manoeuvring is quite a task for the drivers, and the travel time increases, as also the fuel costs. Our products are extremely fuel efficient. We have increased the oil drain cycles which make our vehicles remain more on the road with reduced downtime”, he said.
All the new products manufactured at VECV’s plants come out with completely new lightweight high tensile strength chassis. The Skyline Pro range is being manufactured at Eicher’s state-of-the-art bus body plant at Baggad near Pithampur.
TN-specific buses
In Tamil Nadu, particularly in Chennai, the company’s Skyline and Starline buses have been performing very well. “We now make TN-specific buses after the terrific accident last year. These buses already meet the Bus Body Code of the Government, which will be effective from April 2015. Almost 1,000 Eicher buses are running successfully for the Tamil Nadu Police Academy in the past 25 years. We are yet to get a major breakthrough with the STU here”, added Mr. Maller.
During January-November 2014, VECV’s marketshare in the 5-15-tonne bus segment grew to 15.3 per cent from 13.6 per cent a year ago. In Tamil Nadu, the share of the company buses in the same segment expanded by 17.2 per cent to 21.1 per cent.