[sajo]

Folks, attaching the pics of Man's upcoming front engined AC bus. The front of this bus looks pretty ordinary, like that of a body built by a builder somewhere.
Apologies for the pics as it was raining quite badly when I took them. With this coming in , and Tata's new rear engined bus which is upcoming, luxury bus travel is only set to become more competitive.





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[torquecurve]

Originally Posted by sajo

Folks, attaching the pics of Man's upcoming front engined AC bus. The front of this bus looks pretty ordinary, like that of a body built by a builder somewhere.
Apologies for the pics as it was raining quite badly when I took them. With this coming in , and Tata's new rear engined bus which is upcoming, luxury bus travel is only set to become more competitive.

Attachment 558876

Attachment 558877

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nice catch. Probably the body is just like you said locally built. they must be checking the chassis and loads. Final product might be 'externally' different.

[julupani]

I really dont understand why MAN are looking to go in for an FE bus instead of an RE bus. Will they be able to undercut prices of Volvo considerably?? Also Tata and Leyland will definitely be able to match these prices. Will MAN be able to pull some kind of rabbit out of the hat and make a much better FE bus compared to Tata and Leyland.

Originally Posted by sajo

Apologies for the pics as it was raining quite badly when I took them. With this coming in , and Tata's new rear engined bus which is upcoming, luxury bus travel is only set to become more competitive.

Which new bus from Tata are you talking about??

The new Tata Hispano Divo Intercity coach is already available. Check out buses.tatatmotors.com for details. Is there another RE intercity bus being launched???

[TheARUN]

Neat catch, the MAN bus. I think if they keep air-suspension, and air-conditioning as standard then they have hit the bulls eye. A lot of passengers I have spoken to are apprehensive about the heat that comes out from a rear engined bus, maybe the heat story is just a figment of the imagination, but it still is something that manufacturers have to contend with

[Ashley2]

Based on my sources the body is built by Jaico Automobiles.

Originally Posted by julupani

I really dont understand why MAN are looking to go in for an FE bus instead of an RE bus. ...

The reason is simple.
The entire RE intercity coaches put together sells not more than 400 numbers/year and the rest 30000+ buses are FE ones. So Man is targetting the volume segment. But yes they will have a tough fight with Leyland/Tata's,

[pypkmsrikanth]

Despite the long wait to get any Volvo Merc has not been able to make any headway. Certainly FE bus is the right choice for MAN. ALL 12M has certainly proved that life indeed exists beyond Volvos.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by julupani

Will they be able to undercut prices of Volvo considerably?? Also Tata and Leyland will definitely be able to match these prices. Will MAN be able to pull some kind of rabbit out of the hat and make a much better FE bus compared to Tata and Leyland.

If MAN has been able to replace AL/TATA from the Rigid Trucks/Tippers segment in a large way, I am sure they would be able to replicate the same in the bus segment as well. MAN has offered high quality at low prices in the Truck segment, and they might be looking at replicating the same in the bus segment as well.

If MAN is looking at bringing out chassis with a 160/180hp engine, they are surely looking at winning STU orders. And FE buses sell more in the the bulk segment, and MAN is in the right track.

From a few sources, I came to know that MAN is planning an RE bus very soon, which is likely to be based on the award winning "Lion Coach".

[AlphaKilo]

How did you find out its a MAN in the first place? Did you manage some pics of the front? What about the front end? Drivers seat in particular. Since I live in the homeland of MAN's I can assure that they make beautiful looking buses but on any given day, I would have loved to see Scania buses in India. They are more comfortable and more driver friendly as all swedish vehicles are. Back to topic, where was this pic taken exactly?

I was searching for MAN front engine buses and ended up with this pdf from MAN. Pg. 7 shows a rear engine bus concept and the signing cermony. Also the info states this JV includes FE, RE and Intercity buses. Does that mean they are going to step into JNNURM with their non-intercity buses?

http://www.manforcetrucks.com/upload...20Vehicle5.pdf

[Transsenger]

That's an intresting move by MAN. I believe its time AL packs the bag! MAN FE bus will surely eat into the AL Viking/12M sales (intercity/tourist segment). Most private intercity bus operators are waiting for something like this to come their way. MAN has good brand image and surely operators can cash on that...just the same way Volvo taught them! Similarly a FE bus from Mahindra Navistar can be expected by the end of this year. As TML is more aggressive about its buses unlike the olden days, its AL that will pay the heavy price here.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Transsenger

I believe its time AL packs the bag! MAN FE bus will surely eat into the AL Viking/12M sales (intercity/tourist segment). ...As TML is more aggressive about its buses unlike the olden days, its AL that will pay the heavy price here.

Agreeing 100% to the above statement. Not a single fully built bus from Leyland has clicked in the market - the Luxura came and went, the iT09 (though not a Leyland FBV) didn't sell well either, nor did the Leyland city buses. ALL still depends on their Chassis for survival. They do make really good buses, but aren't marketed that well.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by julupani

Which new bus from Tata are you talking about??

I am talking about the bus from this post.

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

How did you find out its a MAN in the first place? Did you manage some pics of the front? What about the front end? Drivers seat in particular. ....Back to topic, where was this pic taken exactly?

Well, I have seen this bus before, and also, I know it was MAN for sure, because, well.. it was written on the back of the bus. Weird PCB style graphics not withstanding, this fully built bus seemed to have good quality execution overall.
Front end and driver's seat were also pretty ordinary, nothing very special or exciting. The front infact, was all taped up in black so couldnt see the exact shape. But could guess from the visible outline. No pics of the front and rear because it was raining and I was driving on a heavy traffic road.
I hope it carries the engine over from the MAN CLA xx.280 series.

[AlphaKilo]

If I may, what is that kind of marking in brown below the rear windshield area? Any idea? Or it is simply a paint?

[sajo]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

If I may, what is that kind of marking in brown below the rear windshield area? Any idea? Or it is simply a paint?

The brown markings are decals. There was no rear "windshield" as such, it was pretty much solid, like the Volvo 9400.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by binaiks

If MAN has been able to replace AL/TATA from the Rigid Trucks/Tippers segment in a large way, I am sure they would be able to replicate the same in the bus segment as well. MAN has offered high quality at low prices in the Truck segment, and they might be looking at replicating the same in the bus segment as well.

If MAN is looking at bringing out chassis with a 160/180hp engine, they are surely looking at winning STU orders. And FE buses sell more in the the bulk segment, and MAN is in the right track.

Where has MAN been able to replace Tata and Leyland rigids or tippers?? MAN is sort of in a niche place right now and is thus racking up some sales. They offer slightly higher powered trucks in 220 and 280hp forms, while not going fully premium like the Prima or the Volvo. As of now the only true competitors or MAN trucks are MNAL. When Leyland bring in their Neptune engines on the U-truck platform they too shall enter the market. While Tata doesnt seem to be in the mood to compete in this segment, hoping the better quality of the Prima trucks wins them some numbers.

Also, even if (and this is a very big if) MAN can bring out a 160/180hp FE bus at the price point of Tata or Leyland, I doubt they will be able to make any significant headway into the numbers of either Tata or Leyland. Also the FE intercity market is still dominated by chassis, and not FBVs.

I would much rather see them bring in their international expertise into the much faster growing RE Intercity coaches. True, numbers are dismally low, but growth of this segment is going to be very high. The high growth would allow them to ease into the market a lot more easily.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by julupani

Where has MAN been able to replace Tata and Leyland rigids or tippers?? MAN is sort of in a niche place right now and is thus racking up some sales. They offer slightly higher powered trucks in 220 and 280hp forms, while not going fully premium like the Prima or the Volvo.

Sir, Please come down to South India. MAN has been selling in really good numbers, and there are lots of operators who switched over to MAN from ALL/TML. MAN has certainly been able to replace ALL/TML from a good portion of the Rigid/Tractor segment atleast down south.

MANs dominate the Rigid Container carrier market here, and near a container terminal atleast 50% of the trucks (Rigids) are MANs. Trailers are mainly U-Trucks here, with TATA coming in second. (AMW has a really small share here).

What I said was, if MAN is able to come out with a decent FE Chassis, (Note, "Chassis") they would do decent numbers. No body is talking of FBVs here. FBVs sell very poorly in the FE bus market - precisely the reason why iT09 has not been a runaway success.