JBM Motors to roll out city buses in March

As the commercial vehicle segment gears up to return to growth after two years of a slowdown, JBM Motors, part of the US$ 1.2 billion JBM Group, is all set to roll out its city buses next month.

The company, which had showcased its city bus called ‘Citylife’ at the Delhi Auto Expo in February 2014, will start customer deliveries from March 2015.

The JBM Group has invested Rs 500 crore to manufacture these buses with its technological partnership with European bus maker BredaMenarininbus (BMB). JBM says it has managed to localise the bus up to 85 percent and designed completely for the Indian road and weather conditions. To offer strength and longevity these buses have monocoque structure, complying European standards for safety for front and side collision or rollover accident.

According to Nishant Arya, executive director, JBM Auto, “The bus project has received an overwhelming response from customers after the CityLife was unveiled last year. This is thanks to its unique features including a monocoque structure, disc brakes and safety system along with aggressive pricing.”

In the initial phase the company is targeting customers in North, West and Southern India including State Transport Undertakings (STUs), airport and school buses.

Without revealing details, Arya said that the company has received already orders from customers. He also mentioned that the company is looking to receive orders from various STUs under the JNNURM II funding as it has participated in a few tenders.

The company will manufacture the CityLife at two plants – one in  Kosi in Uttar Pradesh and Faridabad in Haryana – with an installed capacity of 2,000 buses. JBM is looking at a revenue of Rs 1,800-2,000 crore at its peak in the next 3-4 years.

“Our competition is not with the mass market players but we will compete with a few MNCs in India and will give them tough competition because we have better specifications and better application at 5-10 percent lower price than competition. This is also because we have developed a product completely for Indian road and weather conditions,” said Arya.

The CityLife is a 12-metre-long bus and comes with six variants in both in diesel and CNG options. The low floor bus with 340mm entry without step and has a 41-seating capacity.

The company is not willing to talk much about the product and wants the customer to experience what the CityLife offers and feel the difference and what it has promised. Arya says with this premium city bus, the company has brought a completely new product for customers in India at the right price point.

Talking about plans to make larger buses, Arya says, “In the next 5-10 years, we are targeting to have a complete line of buses in different segments including intercity buses. Work is underway in that direction,”   

The JBM Group has a diversified portfolio in automotive, engineering and design services and renewables with an infrastructure of 35 manufacturing plants, 4 engineering and design centres across 18 locations globally.

Chennai is a key location for the Group with two facilities catering to domestic and export customers. In the current fiscal, the JBM Auto has invested close to Rs 100 crore in the Chennai plant largely for capacity expansion. A similar amount has been invested in the NCR region.

“We have lot of expectations from the upcoming Union Budget and see that the sentiments are also improving for industry. We are addressing challenges as well as looking at more and more export opportunities too,” concludes Arya.   

Also read: Tata Marcopolo to take on Volvo, Scania with all-new Magna luxury bus