Leyland Unveils Low-Floor Bus

Ashok Leyland, the Chennai-based commercial vehicles major, has introduced a new low-floor bus developed on a new platform. The Hinduja group flagship, which handed over the first low-floor tarmac bus to Air India today, is planning to take the platform further to other buses for urban transport in future.

The new product range, which will be priced in around Rs 30-37 lakh, will for the first time come with the option of a front-wheel drive, a feature thus far seen only in passenger cars in India.

The new bus range, which will come with AC and non-AC options, will come fitted with Hino engines, and will have a ground clearance of 600-700 mm against a clearance of 1,200-1,400 mm in ordinary buses.

Amol Sandil, executive director (marketing) of Ashok Leyland said, "Air India is the first customer for Avion, the low-floor tarmac bus. We are, however, planning to take this platform further to buses meant for urban transportation as well. In two years' time, the market for these buses should grow to 700-1,000 buses per annum."

The company is hopeful of delivering 10-15 Avion buses to different airlines, including purchases by Air India, over the next six months, Sandil said.

Meanwhile, Irizar-TVS, the equal joint venture of Ashok Leyland with Sundaram Industries and Irizar, the Spanish bus-coach manufacturers, for manufacturing super luxury buses, is expected to roll out its first luxury bus for inter-city travel by October, Sandil said.

The joint venture will manufacture the buses at a Sundaram Industries' facility near Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. Sandil, however, said there will be no clash of interests or cannibalisation of sales with the joint venture company, as the product lines of the two companies are different. Irizar-TVS is hopeful of manufacturing about 500 buses per annum for the domestic and export markets.