How Volvo Changes The Way Of Travelling In India?
Until about
2001, bus industry in India lagged miles behind the world’s standards. The
buses – deluxe or regular – had major drawbacks compared to other nations. For
one, they were a by-product of trucks – built on truck chassis. Reclining seats
and stylish paint job used to be the difference between deluxe and regular
buses. The scenario changed when Volvo brought about its commercial bus for sale in India. While they were all priced
significantly higher than the buses in use, there’s a reason why Volvo still
owns over 70% of the market share in the bus industry.
Volvo began with
its revolution in the industry by approaching private operators running intercity
deluxe buses and asking them to charge a higher price per ticket. The company
also got the regulation restricting the length of a bus to 11 meters changed –
to 12 meters, at par with the rest of the world. Next, to persuade operators
that its costly buses were, in fact, more profitable, the company drew up a
lifecycle cost comparison.
The advantages
these buses offered were more number of seats and less maintenance. Volvo buses
could run 22 hours without maintenance – allowing operators to focus on longer
routes. The company also offered a maintenance centre every 400 km, as opposed
to the regular practice of one every 25 km. It also offered service support for
the entire vehicle instead of just individual parts. These advantages made a
Volvo commercial bus for sale more
profitable option for operators and also appealed as a transport medium to
people with higher per capita income. To reduce the cost, Volvo also entered
into a joint venture with Eicher in 2008. An Eicher Volvo bus provided all the advantages of Volvo with the
lower production cost of Eicher.
Volvo’s success
has been a result of 4 primary factors, which can be noted as:
- A change in strategy: Since the market wasn’t ready for a Volvo city bus, the company brought in its intercity bus.
- Selling the concept: Volvo engaged with everyone from passengers to operators to list the advantages of a deluxe bus for them.
- Using macro changes smartly: At a time of growing environmental concern and increasing congestion, public transport became attractive. It was then that Volvo brought back its city bus.
- Change the game: To outperform the increasing competition, the company produced products increased the number of passengers.
Thus Volvo and Eicher Joint Venture
changed the way of travelling in India by offering better and more deluxe
products. And the change was so badly needed that despite its increased costs,
the company till date has a strong foothold in the Indian bus industry.
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