Tata Motors bets big on school bus market in Karnataka

Tata Motors is targeting higher sales of school buses in Karnataka with a host of new offerings. On June 13, the commercial vehicle major held a School Bus Expo in Bangalore where it showcased over 15 products ranging from 30-seaters to 60-seater buses for the sector.

Company officials said the event saw a very good response from educational institutions. Speaking to Autocar Professional, Snehasish Dutta, regional manager (South), Tata Motors, said: “The demand for Tata Motors’ commercial vehicles has been increasing in the school bus segment as we offer a number of products in this category.”

Dutta said the Union government has mandated a new Bus Body Code for OEMs, which will come into effect from August 2015. This norm enables safer bus travel experience by mandating several features including active safety, passive safety and personal security solutions in the form of driver and passenger awareness. He added that Tata Motors is already manufacturing its buses as per this Bus Body Code.

With parents and schools concerned about the safety of children when travelling in school buses, Tata Motors has implemented telematics-based features in its vehicles. In January this year, the company had launched Skoolman, whose many features include the convenience it offers for parents to track the arrival and departure of their children in real time (through SMS alerts) and live tracking on a map or via a mobile phone application. The product, according to the company, also provides an effective fleet management tool for school bus fleets.

According to Dutta, Tata Motors has been selling around 2,000 buses per annum in the school vehicle segment in South India, with sales in this segment growing at around 20 percent year on year.

According to Sandeep Kumar, Business Head (Commercial Vehicles – Passenger), Tata Motors, “At Tata Motors we are focused on introducing products which are comfortable and safe for children. We also understand that safety of school children is largely dependent on the people involved in school bus transit – drivers, school bus staff, parents and most importantly school children themselves. In order to create awareness about all aspects of child safety, Tata Motors has launched several initiatives such as ‘Hamare Bus Ki Baat Hai’ and ‘Dream It to Win It’.

Under the Hamare Bus Ki Baat Hai school bus safety programme, Tata Motors has trained over 15,000 school bus staff across 41 cities, 295 schools, through 302 sessions.