The low-floor, air-conditioned luxury buses from Volvo are again back in vogue after a gap of almost three years in the Indian market. However, the first boost is sales was provided by the state governments but this time, it is the private transport companies which are taking the lead.

Volvo Buses, a 70:30 joint venture between Sweden’s Volvo Bus Corp. and Jaico Automobile Engineering Co. Pvt. Ltd which sold a good 70% to state and city transport corporations in 2009  believes that the figure will move to 55-60% coming from private transport companies in 2010.

The state-owned companies used it for inter-state routes and charge a premium on them. In fact, out of the total 25,000-35,000 bus market in India, only 600-800 account for Volvo’s playfield (luxury buses).

The commercial vehicle major earlier had plans to touch 1,000 units a year in 2009 but owing to the slowdown, the company cut down its target to 500-550. Volvo clocked a sales figure of 540 units in 2009 sailing through a tough ride. However, Volvo has plans to touch the figure of 1,000 units in a year by the end of 2012.