The MG Group has been in the bus body building business in India for over 20 years now and recently achieved the milestone of having completed its 100,000 bus body. Over the past 20 years, the MG Group has made giant strides and has become one of the largest independent bus body builders in the country.

In a brief talk with Team CVF, Mr. Anil Kamat – MD, MG group shares his views and expertise on the key trends and challenges in the ever-growing commercial vehicle industry.

Excerpts:

Q: MG Group is celebrating its 20 years of bus building business in India, how would you define the journey?

A: MG Group ventured into Bus Building in 1996 under the dynamic leadership of our Founder & Chairman, Mr. Mohan V. Kamat. Last year we crossed a major milestone of having manufactured 100,000 buses in our 20th year since our foray into the Bus Building business. Today MG Group’s Design & Engineering strength further boosted with speed of execution and mass manufacturing capability is a key factor which allows for the shortest concept to market product cycle. The same is enabled further as MG is fully backward-integrated into Design & Engineering Services (West & Deccan), Bus Seating Systems (Alcom Products), Bus Automotive Electronics (MG Grey Engine) & Composite Parts Manufacturing (MG Composites). MG’s focus on the shortest ‘Concept to Market’ lead time has been the key to our success. Quick decision making and planning to adapt with the constantly changing market requirements has helped us progress in the Bus Building Industry. We have, time and again, invested at the right time in people, infrastructure and expansions for being a total solutions provider to the market with respect to the Bus Building Industry. With all the above efforts, our growth in the Industry is dedicated to the faith our esteemed customers and partners such as Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, VECV, MAN and Tata Motors, have entrusted in us.

The Journey over the past 20 years has not been easy. The Bus Building Industry faces critical challenges such as the cyclical nature of the business. With constant changes in strategy as demanded by the market and belief in better business growth in near future, coupled with new innovative products to tap customer interest at all the times, MG has sustained in the lean years and grown in the peak years to emerge as one of the largest privately owned Bus Building Companies in India with a combined annual production capacity of 16,500 buses.

Our strategy for product offering from MG Group has been to adapt to current market expectations and to be first movers on innovative and fresh ideas and concepts to appeal to our target customers.

Q: MG recently had two big launches – Columbus & Mammoth. How has the response and feedback been for both – Both from an export and a domestic market perspective?

A: The ‘Mammoth’ seater coach was first unveiled in 2015. Post the unveiling ‘Mammoth’ sales started with exports to SAARC Countries and Africa. In November 2016, the ‘Mammoth’ Sleeper Coach was unveiled and both seater and sleeper variants were launched in the Indian market and we have received a few confirmed orders and a lot of enquiries from domestic customers, especially for our sleeper coach. We have now started serial production and vehicles will be delivered April 2017 onwards. The ‘Mammoth’ product has created a new segment for itself in the premium luxury coach segment and we are very positive on its prospects for both the domestic and export markets.

The ‘Columbus’ was unveiled recently in Nov 2016 as a special application Tarmac Coach. The ‘Columbus’ is fully designed, engineered and developed by the MG Group to commemorate its 20 years of Bus Building and to showcase our passion for the industry. It is currently envisaged to be sold for export markets and we are looking forward to launching the product for the Indian market in the short term.

Q: Your company has had a lot of firsts with these two launches. Are there more firsts lined up in the near future from the MG stable?

A: MG is probably the only Bus Builder to all leading OEMs. MG is also fully backward – integrated into the industry as stated earlier. MG has now produced over 100,000 buses in 20 years of Bus Building. With our installed capacity, geographical spread and passion for the industry it is our continued effort to design and manufacture buses for our OEM customers that bring comfort, safety and operating value to the end customer in return. It is our continued endeavor to bring new and innovative products to the market with contemporary styling in line with customer aspirations.

Q: Both your launches are in markets which have well established incumbents? Is MG Group’s strategy to disrupt these markets or carve a unique niche for itself?

A: At MG Group, we are very positive about the future of the Bus and Coach industry and see great potential in the next 3-5 years to come. Currently at close to 90,000 buses produced annually, India is one of the biggest markets for Coach and Bus Sales, worldwide. With modernization, development and urbanization, mass transportation systems are the need of the hour. Coaches and Buses account for 45% of total passenger movement in India and hence is by far the biggest segment for mass transportation requirements of the Indian population. With changes in technology & the government’s impetus on new age Electric / Hybrid vehicles, Indian companies are rolling out products faster to be acceptable in the International markets and proving to be more and more acceptable while being very competitive on a global scale.

Our strategy at MG group is to carve a niche space in the market as being a mid-size privately held Bus Building company. We do not have the bandwidth or the intention to compete with OEMs. Thus, we are more focused on building innovative products for our OEM partners which in turn allows us to focus on our core strengths of Bus Building. The Tarmac Coach has been specifically designed and developed as it is a niche special application which allows MG to showcase its Design & Engineering strengths while catering to a high value and low volume market which can be serviced affordably with its localized movement i.e., at the airports.

Q: Your/MG Groups views on the key trends shaping the bus market for the next 5 years:

Stricter Emission Norms: Pan India leap to BS IV by April 2017 and BS VI by April, 2020. India to be the first major country to do so without embracing BS V

Stricter Safety Norms: Bus body code will lead to better products with higher safety for passengers.

Emergence of Alternate Fuel: FAME (Faster Adoption of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles), incentives offered by the central government to vehicle manufacturers, such as electric bus manufacturers, likely to increase

Customer Comfort Demands: Increasing demand for luxury buses for inter-city transportation as road infrastructure improves and spending power rises in tune with India’s economic growth, the customer aspirations will also increase OEMs and Suppliers Adopting Advanced Technologies: Will help building a more sustainable and eco-friendly mass transportation system with higher safety and comfort, lower weight for the passengers and better serviceability, handling and operating economics for the operator.

Make in India and Export: India is emerging as a major value bus market with major OEMs, both Indian and European brands, looking to expand their APAC, Africa, and Middle-East market presence while leveraging India’s low cost manufacturing base for driving up profitability