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has remained intact and a CAGR of 12-15 per cent will be maintained,” he opined. He further explained that demand was closer to the 2019 peak which was a benchmark for the aftermarket. The demand is robust and continues to grow, he reiterated. Independent of the government interventions, Kher explained that the aftermarket segment was a reflection of the general sentiment instead. “People have to invest money in inventories, and they plot the inventories accordingly. Here, the fast-moving inventory has been much sought after over the laggards as a way to deal with uncertainties arising over the past two years,” he averred. Going by the past trends, products like filters, brake pads, and suspension will continue to bring in the repeat orders. Going forward, the company expects all kinds of parts to move swiftly where shortages could be a bottleneck in the supply demand equation, he cautioned. The company continues to maintain the apt inventory buffer, he claimed. The aftermarket exposure to OEMs is pegged at an estimated 10 per cent nationally in a ballpark estimate.

The big change

In a largely unorganised segment like the aftermarket, players like Uno Minda are striving to transform the conventional ways of doing business. Admitting to the aftermarket undergoing a sea change in the past decade, Kher mentioned, today the preference of branded products is higher than previously. “More and more customers in this low awareness industry are going for branded products,” he stated. Attributing this shift of preference to the pandemicinduced lock downs, Kher reasoned that the customer was forced to look up parts, online. This is said to have been a big draw for branded spares and benefitted the organised players. The trend of ‘Do It Yourself’ as a direct