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Pune, Sept. 1 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.

The company will in time introduce more products in this segment, Mr Harald Landmann, head, Daimler Buses, has said.

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.

“This is the beginning of the Mercedes Benz bus story in India. We will certainly bring more than just luxury buses, but step-by-step as for one or two years we will have to stay with this product,” Mr Landmann said.

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 localisation is in the region of 20-25%.

The first customers of the newest coach, a segment in which currently Volvo is the only player, are Sunil and Suresh Sharma of Bangalore-based Sharma Transports, Sunil Savla of Mumbai-based Neeta Tours and Mr Prabhakar Konduskar of Kolhapur based Konduskar Travels. The buses will initially ply on the Mumbai-Bangalore, Mumbai-Pune-Shirdi-Nashik sectors where support and after sales service network has been put in place, Dr Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Director, Mercedes Benz India, said.

Three dealers, one each in Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore, have been appointed to sell the buses, and the company will appoint a few more. “We are open to both existing as well as new parties,” he added.

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