Aftermarket - March 2012 by Infomedia18

INDIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET

Vol. 1 No. 9 March 2012

68 Pages `50

Ga-raging

growth of equipment

NEWS

BharatBenz stresses on driver training

SPECIAL FOCUS

Car makers drive on internet

Brought to you by

INTERVIEW

K Srinivas, Bajaj Auto

Auto Monitor

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EDITORIAL Training For Progress THE increasing sales of diesel passenger cars, though a cause for worry for the government due to misuse of subsidised fuel, benefits the OEMs as it helps clock a good number for those who are strong in this segment. The consumers are also benefited on two countsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; one the fuel is cheaper, say by about `25 and second, the diesel is far more efficient in terms of fuel economy and emissions. Modern diesel engines give anywhere between five to 10 km more mileage than petrol engines in a similar vehicle. Moreover, the emissions are also manageable and comparatively safer. While the government is looking at imposing additional taxes and duties for diesel passenger vehicles to offset the losses made by the oil marketing companies, some sections of the vehicle manufacturers are seeking to enhance the price of diesel marginally. Things will be clear once the Union Budget is presented in less than two weeks from now. While the uncertainty continues, the OEMs are still struggling to get diesel engines to cater to the demand, due to supply constraints. A similar situation can be faced by the service centres also, due to increasing diesel passenger cars. The surge will have to be considered by the aftersales service arm of the vehicle manufacturers, as the service centres need to be geared up to cater to the demand. It also applies to the third-party multi-brand service centres as the flow of diesel vehicles will be more in the future. The service centres have to augment themselves in terms of equipment and skilled manpower. While it is easier to invest on equipment and machines, the challenge is in training people in safer environments for effective handling of equipment, as well as servicing the vehicles. With many OEMs focussing on Tier II and Tier III cities to create additional sales and service outlets to cover the geography of the country, training is becoming a huge challenge. This is due to lower educational levels of people in rural areas therefore the training has to be customised to the specific requirements of these people as their understanding levels may not match that of their urban peers. In order to support these specific requirements, the OEMs and the component manufacturers have to conduct training programmes and refresher courses more often to keep them abreast of their urban peers. Unless these initiatives are taken up, the customer satisfaction levels cannot be improved. Wishing you much pleasure reading. Do send us your feedback.

T. Murrali t.murrali@infomedia18.in

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

NEWS

CONTENTS NEWS

10 Ford India shifts gears to boost ownership experience 14 Dealer expansion to re-enForce Motor confidence 16 Steelbird circles new segments 18 Kohler Engine-ers national dealership network 20 Self-drive service by Avis India now cheaper 34

COVER STORY 26 Ga-raging growth of equipment Aftermarket has scrapped the surface paint and diagnosed that the segment is essential to the health of the industry and is insulated from the global changes

Ga-raging growth of equipment IN CONVERSATION a Navalkar

34 President-Motorcycle Business, Bajaj Auto, K Srinivas speaks on challenges facing the dealership business strategy of Bajaj Auto

INDIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET

22 Vol. 1 No. 9 March 2012

68 Pages `50

Ga-raging

growth of equipment

NEWS

BharatBenz stresses on driver training

SPECIAL FOCUS

Car makers drive on internet

Brought to you by

SPECIAL REPORT 39 Digital marketing seem to be the preferred choice for vehicle makers

INSIGHT & OUTLOOK

INTERVIEW

K Srinivas, Bajaj Auto

Auto Monitor

Cover Design Mahesh Talkar

22 Best practices for the industry to manage supply chain complexities

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

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MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

NEWS

Ford India shifts gears to boost ownership experience Our Bureau

New Locations

FORD INDIA cuﬆomers can get their cars serviced in 35 new locations in the country as the vehicle manufact urer opened 45 sales and service outlets in a single day—on 16 February, 2012. Th is means about 700 to 1,000 additional vehicles can be serviced in a day considering that each outlet can service about 20 cars a day. Already the company’s dealers have capacity to service around 3,000-3,700 cars a day. By adding 45 new sales and service outlets, the company has raised the pan-India sales and service network to 230 across 123 cities in the country. All the newly inaugurated sales and service outlets will support the company’s commitment to bring eight new vehicles to India by mid-decade. Ford India currently sells Figo, Fieﬆa and Endeavour.

Ford India has opened new facilities in New Delhi, Noida, Rohtak, Sonepat, Panipat, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Alwar, Bikaner in northern part of India; Rourkela, Agartala, Kolkata in the eaﬆern region; and Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Coimbatore, Gulbarga, Hyderabad, Belgaum, Thanjavur and Tirupur in South India; Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Goa, Jabalpur, Indore, Sagar, Solapur, Bhillai, Jamnagar in the weﬆ. Of the new sales and service outlets inaugurated across India, 20 will oﬀer full 3S facilities, while 14 will be service workshops, providing a full line of aftersales services and 11 ﬆandalone sales showrooms. According to the company, over 40 percent of the sales and service network are in Tier II and Tier III cities, and the pan-India expansion will enable cuﬆomers to avail services from the vehicle

manufact urer along with better coﬆ-ofownership experience. The newly inaugurated showrooms are Brand@Retail dealerships built according to the vehicle manufacturer’s global ﬆandards to improve the ownership experience and ensure long-term association with the brand. Brand@ Retail concept is a transformational and innovative corporate identity programme developed with an objective to increase cuﬆomer satisfaction to ensure a superior brand and purchase experience. It provides consiﬆent representation of the brand’s identity and reflects the company in the retail environment. With roadside assiﬆance reaching 80 percent of its cuﬆomer-base and effective scheduled service plans, the new sales and service outlets offer the genuine spares, accessories, insurance and extended warranty.

One In Ten Days The company that began to expand

Michael Boneham, President & MD, Ford India, leading the record breaking 45 Sales and Service network expansion In India—seen here at a dealership Inauguratiion in Chennai

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

NEWS

network to create delightful experiences,” Boneham said.

Supporting Globally

Display area at Ford dealership in Noida

its network after the launch of its compact car Figo, has plans to continue to open one new dealership every ten days during the current year also. Th is implies that the company’s cuﬆomers will have about 35 more options for sales and service. According to the President and Managing Director of Ford India, Michael Boneham, the company will continue its dealerships expansion programme during the current calendar, despite reaching 230 outlets. Th e sales and service network expansion follows the global preview of its new model—EcoSport at the Auto Expo 2012, which catalyses the company’s intent to go for further expansion this year. Inaugurating the new showroom of MPL Ford in Chennai, Boneham said, “Two years ago, we opened 26 dealerships in a day and this time we have opened 45 in a day.” After the launch of Figo in March 2010, the company has been opening one sales and service outlets every ten days . “Ford has ﬆarted 2012 with a new promise; the pathbreaking event being celebrated across multiple dealerships in India signiﬁes that focus and is aimed to inspire those

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

willing and waiting to join the Ford family, ” he said.

Cost Of Ownership Ford India officials said that initiatives such as ‘quick service’—a special vehicle servicing process that allows routine service to be performed in less than 90 minutes is available across 90 dealership, will go further in enhancing the ownership experience and adding a fl eet of more than 10 mobile service vans across India. Th is will help reduce cuﬆomers’ travel time for routine services and minor repairs. Th ese initiatives will help the company to ﬆ rengthen its focus on containing the coﬆ of ownership for cuﬆomers. “From sales and service expansion to localisation to affordable spares and child parts ﬆ rategy, Ford has truly redefined what consumers want and desire—offering peace of mind and convenience. Today, Ford dealerships are located across the length and breadth of India and offer world class aftersales service plans at a competitive coﬆ. As we broaden our portfolio, we are committed to growing closer to cuﬆomers through our sales and service

The aggressive sales and service network expansion has been in line to support the OEMs global plan of increasing worldwide sales by nearly 50 percent by mid-decade to eight million vehicles a year. Of this ﬁgure, 60 to 70 percent is expected to come from the Asia Paciﬁc and Africa region. Commenting on Ford India’s expansion plans, Boneham said the company’s next launch—EcoSport, will come out of its plant in Maralaimalai Nagar, near Chennai. It may be noted that the company recently announced an inveﬆ ment of $142 million in Chennai to manufact ure EcoSport, in addition to the $one billion already inveﬆed here. It is also inveﬆ ing another $72 million to extend its diesel engine capacity at its Chennai plant, which according to him will add up to 400 jobs. However, talks are doing the rounds that the government is planning to levy an additional excise duty of up to `80,000 on diesel vehicles in the Union Budget to reduce the contain the burden of oil marketing companies.

Diesel Dampener Ford India said that the proposal to tax diesel vehicles is a “regressive” ﬆep and hopes the government does not make any changes in its diesel policy. There is a proposal to levy an additional excise duty of `80,000 on diesel vehicles in the Union Budget to contain loses of oil marketing companies due to subsidies. As the fuel economy of diesel engines are far better and have reduced emissions, additional tax on diesel vehicles to support subsidy in another induﬆ ry will be a regressive ﬆep. Inﬆead, he recommended increasing about 75 paise on the price to recover the same amount.

NEWS

Abhishek Parekh

BHARATBENZ is looking to focus on driver education and training even as it looks to eﬆablish and enhance its presence in the commercial vehicle segment in India. “The potential of our truck portfolio can be realised mainly by the better habits and education of the driver. Hence we are looking to have a short or advanced driver (with a valid commercial vehicle license) training programme at moﬆ or all our dealerships. Th is is the beﬆ way to ensure that we meet our object ive of delivering a double digit performance improvement, compared to exiﬆing products available in the market,” said Vice President, Marketing, Sales & Aftersales, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt Ltd, VRV Sriprasad. He emphasised that advanced features and frugal powertrain of the trucks may not be of much help if drivers continue with their exiﬆ ing driving habits. He added that company was also evaluating newer ways of ensuring that there is no shortage of spares or after sales services for the vehicles as this is one area where incumbent CV makers have an upper hand compared to a new player. The company is evaluating possibilities of eﬆablishing spares and service depots in addition to service centres in all major trucking hubs in the country over a period of time as the

Bharatbenz to stress on

driver training vehicle population grows. The company is yet to take a call on whether such depots need to be company owned or franchisee outlets. Daimler India Commercial Vehicles recently showcased its range of commercial vehicles in Hyderabad for leading vehicle dealers and truck operators in India. The company is looking to launch various chassis and fully built commercial vehicle solutions on its Fuso and Axor platforms in various configurations. The trucks would be available with 3.9 litre and 6.4 litre common rail diesel engines with four and six cylinder combination as per application specific torque and economy requirements. The vehicle range would be made available in 9.6, 12, 25, 31, 49 tonne capacities for cargo, tipping and conﬆ ruct ion applications in twelve different colours. It would offer unique capabilities including cabin rooftop cargo carriage, driver information on dashboard, optional air conditioning

VRV Sriprasad, Vice President, Marketing, Sales & After Sales, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles

across the range along with other comfort and safety related features. The company has already eﬆablished a network of around 400 suppliers including 300 Tier I across the country with around 41 percent of parts being sourced in a 50 km radius near the company facility in Chennai. Moﬆ of the elect ronics and elect rical syﬆems, sheet metal and both the engines have been fully localised by the company.

2523 Tipper (L) & 4928 Tractor

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

NEWS

Dealer expansion to re-enForce Motor conﬁdence Abhishek Parekh

The company is to rampLOW visibility of newly launched Force One, an SUV from Force Motors’ ﬆable, is causing heartburn within the company. In addition to expanding the dealership network, the company is looking to manage customer expectations, associated with a premium SUV. “We are on a learning curve as far as retail diﬆ ribution for this category of vehicles is concerned. We are unable to promote the vehicle as that would lead to more cuﬆomer queries and non-delivery would lead to negative perception regarding the brand,” said MD, Force Motors, Prasan Firodia. The company is looking to rampup the product ion of the Force One to address the waiting liﬆ on the vehicle and notch up higher volumes in the passenger vehicles division. The company commenced deliveries

up the production of the Force One to address the waiting list on the vehicle and notch up higher volumes in the passenger vehicles division of Force One around early October laﬆ year and has sold around 1,000 units till date. The company has set-up 19 dealers in various parts of the country. It is now manufact uring around 500 units every month. It aims to ramp up and enrol an equal number of dealers this year. “We are looking to have more dealers who can be our partners in growth. Dealers need to be able to handle the cuﬆomer segment that such a vehicle is sold into, and that is the moﬆ critical point from our perspect ive,”

he added. The company is working on a base version of the Force One with lesser number of features that can be offered at a lower base price as well as a 4x4 variant with ABS and EBD. “We are ﬆruggling to cope with customer intereﬆ. This is not only a new vehicle segment for us, but also a new experience of diﬆribution,” said Firodia. He added that the average waiting period for the model is around 45 days and company is not looking for quick ramp up of production and diﬆribution to maintain service delivery ﬆandards. During the launch, the company had expressed a target of selling around 5,000 units in the firﬆ year. “For us the scenario is similar to a firﬆ born baby and the anxiousness that should logically follow from such an experience,” said Firodia. He said that SUV segment is around 70,000 odd units per annum and growing in double digit rate per annum and there is a scope for well defined need based sub-segmentation within this segment. The product ion ramp up has not kept pace with the demand as several processes on the assembly line in addition to the learning curve associated with any newly set-up business has meant limited flexibility. The company is looking to leverage its capability in sheet metal and plaﬆ ics tooling to offer services to other OEMs and component suppliers.

A Range Of Force Motors Products

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

NEWS

Steelbird circles new segments

Shambhavi Anand

WITH a view to leverage opportunities in the automotive aftermarket, Steelbird International, the manufact urer of ﬁlters and rubber auto components is all geared up to diversifying into a new product range—lighting. The group, which is also known for manufact uring helmets, has recently launched two new helmet models in the market targeting the young riders. It is all set to incorporate two new product ion lines in its exiﬆ ing Pantnagar plant for their lateﬆ line-up. The company currently manufact ures rubber components, rubber to metal bonded components, ﬁ lters and some auto elect ronic parts. It expect s the two new lines to be operational by April 2012. It is also

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

working on integrating its warehouses with the network. Currently, the company is a Tier II supplier to few vehicle manufact urers. Besides, it also supplies to Delphi-TVS, Bosch and Escorts among others. “On the OEM side of business, we want to scale up the value chain. From being a Tier II supplier, we are working toward becoming an OE supplier,” Executive Director, Steelbird, Auto Components, Manav Kapur said. One of the two models, SB 2020, is designed to guard the chin and can also be ﬂipped-oﬀ easily to make it an open face jet helmet. It is targeted at the young riders. The company claims that it has six ventilations to enable air circulation inside the helmet. The interior of the helmet can be replaced in case of duﬆ accumulation. It is made up of polycar-

bonate material, which is unbreakable and has an anti-scratch coating on the top of the visor to absorb the impact vibrations produced at the time of the accident and oﬀers better protection to the head. Available in ten colours, it is competitively priced at `2,999. The other model is a light weight 950 gram helmet known as Adonis. It does not let fog enter the visor hence keeping visibility even during foggy conditions. This model is also available in multiple colours. Steelbird International was recently recognised by Tata Ficosa, the 50:50 joint venture between Tata AutoComp Syﬆems (TACO) and Ficosa International of Spain, as the Beﬆ Supplier of 2011. It also plans to explore opportunities in manufact uring accessories.

SPECIAL REPORT

New dealership for Dost in Navi Mumbai Our Bureau

ASHOK LEYLAND has expanded its dealer network for small commercial vehicle ‘Doﬆ’ in Maharashtra by kick-ﬆarting its second dealership in Navi Mumbai, Deogiri Commercial Vehicles. The new dealership is equipped with current infraﬆ ruct ure and 3S (Sales, Service and Spares) outlet ﬆ rategically located at Nerul in Navi Mumbai. Th is outlet is the 25th Doﬆ dealership in the country. Executive Vice Chairman, Hinduja Automotive and Chairman, Nissan Ashok Leyland Powertrain, Dr V Sumantran said, “Doﬆ has received encouraging response from the markets reﬂected in our healthy order position. We are very keen to broad base our

market and by increasing our network of cuﬆomer touch points, we will be better placed to reach and service our cuﬆomers better. Internally, we have been consiﬆently ramping up our product ion at our brand new lines at Hosur to adequately meet market needs.” Doﬆ is available in four southern ﬆates (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka), Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is available in three versions with the top-end version featuring airconditioning, power ﬆeering, dual-colour beige-grey trim and fabric seats. The customer can choose from a palette of three colour options—white, beige and blue. Doﬆ is powered by a 55 HP, three-cylinder 1.5 litre common rail TDCR engine. The company is also oﬀering Ready-toUse Vehicles on the Doﬆ platform for

“Internally, we have been consistently ramping up our production at our brand new lines at Hosur to adequately meet market needs,”— Dr V Sumantran, Executive Vice Chairman, Hinduja Automotive & Chairman, Nissan Ashok Leyland Powertrain various applications such as refrigerated containers, ﬆeel containers, ambulance, aluminium ﬁ xed side decks and serviceat-site vehicles. It is available at `3.93 lakh (ex-showroom, Navi Mumbai).

Sumantran, Executive Vice Chairman, Hinduja Automotive Ltd & Chairman, Nissan Ashok Leyland Powertrain Ltd, inaugurating the LCV outlet in Navi mumbai

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

NEWS

Kohler Engine-ers national dealership network Abhishek Parekh

KOHLER ENGINES aims to set-up a network of dealerships to cater to the aftersales services. Such dealers would be catering to spares and engine repairing services for Kohler and would be in addition to vehicle servicing centres of the OEMs. The company has appointed around 15 dealers in different parts of the country and is looking to appoint 20 to 25 dealers every year. The company is targeting a service and spares network of around 120 outlets in the next three to four years in order to reach every major cities and towns with sizeable vehicle population. “We are looking to provide complete servicing for not only automotive engines but off highway and gensets as well. Hence it is critical that we have a large network of service ﬆations even as we increase or broaden our product range,” said GM, Kohler Engines, Global Power Group, Lombardini India Pvt Ltd, Sudipto Mukherjee. He elaborated that moﬆ commercial vehicle cuﬆomers are fairly aware of kind of servicing the vehicle requires and cannot afford to keep their vehicles in the service ﬆations for longer duration of time for minor repairing works. Such cuﬆomer segment can be effectively catered with specialised service network. “It is not economical from a cuﬆomers’ perspect ive to go for aftertreatment or overhaul small engines.

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

We are not looking at major demand from such overhauling services in India,” added Mukherjee. Kohler Group has presence in the gensets business through a group entity: Kohler Power Syﬆems to sell gensets in the domeﬆ ic market through its dealership network. The service network for engines is likely to be diﬆ inct but complementary to the exiﬆ ing and growing network of Kohler Power Syﬆems. It is very logical for us to draw synergies with our group companies and not ﬆep on each other’s toes,” said Mukherjee. Sudipto Mukherjee, GM, Kohler Engines, Global Power Group, The company’s Lombardini India Pvt Ltd Aurangabad facility has cent of this capacity. More than 90 the capacity to manufact ure around percent of the engines are diesel pow100,000 engines per annum and is ered ones for diﬀerent applications currently utilising around 50-60 perincluding automotive. The company supplies engines for automotive appliThe company is targetcations mainly for SCV segment ing a service and spares with vehicle capacity of less than one network of around 120 tonne. It is looking to cater to conﬆ ruct ion equipment, oﬀ highway and outlets in the next three agriculture equipment segments as to four years in order to well in the coming months. It is also reach every major cities looking to launch higher capacity and towns with sizeable engine (1.9 to 2.5 litre range) in India, as well as other engines from its glovehicle population bal portfolio.

NEWS

Self-drive service by

Avis India now cheaper Our Bureau

AVIS India, the Oberoi Group owned international car rental brand has introduced a new concept this year by offering flat 25 percent discount on all cars available for self-driven option within its fold in India. This offer is valid till 20 March, 2012 on all Avis India cars ranging from Honda City, Toyota Innova, Toyota Etios, Ford Fieﬆa and such cars. “The self-drive concept is very good for people intereﬆed in a driving during their holiday without the hassle of a chauffeur. We have seen many people going on such holidays

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

Avis in India offers chauffeur and self-drive services across a wide range of cars including economy segment cars, mid-segment, premium segment & MUV/SUVs with a multiple number of cars. Th is is one such oﬀer for them to go on a joint family vacation,” said, CEO Avis India, Sunil Gupta. According to the company, the Indian car rental induﬆ ry is expected to grow at around 28 percent year-on-

year, with an expected car ﬆ rength of around 50,000-60,000 cars on road per year within the next three years. With India becoming an integral part of the global business, there has been a dramatic increase in the demand for the premium car rentals to cater to the international travellers (both business & leisure) and the growing expatriate community. Organised players like Avis India, are capitalising on their quality and reliability to gain larger market share. Over the next couple of years, Avis India is looking at new initiatives and expansion of its exiﬆing service lines like the self-drive and fleet management segments to make the transition into and expansion of its exiﬆing service lines like the self-drive and fleet management segments to make the transition into an integrated player in the ground transportation space. Avis in India offers chauffeur and self-drive services across a wide range of cars including economy segment cars, mid-segment (Ford Fieﬆa & Honda City), premium segment (Toyota Corolla, Toyota Camry, Mercedes E and S class) and MUV/SUVs.

NEWS

Our Bureau

MADHYA PRADESH gets its firﬆ Mercedes-Benz’s dealership—Benchmark Cars in Indore. The German luxury car manufacturer’s 3S dealership was inaugurated by Director, Sales & Marketing, MercedesBenz India, Debashis Mitra and Chairman & MD, Benchmark Cars Indore, Sanjay Thakker recently.“With the inauguration of the new dealership in Indore, we are on track with our ‘Go To The Cuﬆomer’ ﬆ rategy and are confident of giving our eﬆeemed cuﬆomers a premium vehicle ownership experience. The inauguration of the new showroom further deepens our commitment to the market and also to our discerning cuﬆomers of Madhya Pradesh,” Debashis Mitra said during the funct ion. The facility was developed over a span of six months is spread across a total area of 20,000 sq ft including the showroom and the workshop. Strategically located in the induﬆrial hub of Indore at Ring Road, Devas Naka, the new dealership has been eﬆablished with an inveﬆment of `five crore. The 3S facility has been created in a manner to offer ‘Mercedes-Benz experience’ for the cuﬆomers. The facilities offered include a drive-in valet service, exclusive cuﬆomer lounge with Cafe Mercedes along with the full range of

Debashis Mitra (centre), Director, Sales & Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India lights the candle, while Sanjay Thakker, Chairman & MD, Benchmark Cars Indore (grey suit) looks on

Mercedes’ Benchmark for

Madhya Pradesh Mercedes-Benz cars on display. The accessories arena, engaging audio-visual presentations, boutique collection is the highlights of the new facility. To make the process of owning the dream Mercedes-Benz car a smooth and hassle-free experience, the dealership will have dedicated services for insurance, car loans and even carleasing options. Benchmark Cars Indore also has over 20 committed and qualiﬁed personnel to cater to sales, aftersales and service and give the cuﬆomers an enriched vehicle ownership experience. Equipped with high quality Benchmark Cars, Indore Mercedes-Benz

equipments and trained manpower, the workshop has been built at par with the brand’s global benchmark. Benchmark Car Indore boaﬆs of a workshop having 11 bays that can service 10 cars per day. One bay is kept solely for the purpose of changing tyres or spares. The workshop can undertake general repairs and accident jobs, spares, round-the-clock aftersales support and also have a separate driver’s lounge. With the eﬆ ablishment of the new dealership at Indore, Mercedes-Benz continues to enjoy a network spread across 30 cities with over 60 touchpoints across India and retains the diﬆ inct ion of being the leading luxury car manufact urer with the wideﬆ and moﬆ intensive network of sales and aftersales services in India. The company grew by 30 percent in the period from January-December 2011 clocking 7,430 units.

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

INSIGHT & OUTLOOK

Staying in Sync Three best practices for the automotive industry to manage the supply chain complexities

Souma Das

LIKE never before, the dynamics of the automotive induﬆ ry are witnessing a sea change. Not juﬆ that the market conditions are changing rapidly but additionally, the companies are increasingly facing newer issues and challenges. Be it the demand variability or increased vehicle complexity

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

and differentiation or managing the ongoing ﬆ ruggles with capacity while maintaining a healthy supply chain, the automotive companies need to handle these issues effect ively in order to beat the competition. “How to bring in the much needed flexibility in the supply chain?” remains the single moﬆ important queﬆ ion to answer. Fortunately, for the automotive

INSIGHT & OUTLOOK

induﬆ ry the above issues fall under ‘Good to have’ problems as the news for the induﬆ ry is good. Laﬆ year has seen a tremendous surge in sales for both European and Japanese carmakers. While the EMEA and APAC markets ﬆ ruggled domeﬆ ically, the North American market showed ﬆ rong signs of recovery combined with unabated ﬆ rong growth in Asian countries like China and India. As the above chart shows, the recovery is evident in both developed and emerging nations since late 2010. Also, the emerging nations like India and China show a lot of potential as car sales in these nations are forecaﬆed to surpass the developed nations by 2013. With manufact uring operations in these regions, the carmakers have

The company should have the ability to meet true Just-in-Sequence (JIS) and Just-inTime (JIT) requirements and deliver exactly what is needed by receiving supply ‘right to the line’ and ‘right on time’ big opportunities to respond—and thereby mitigate sluggish sales in their own domeﬆ ic markets. Yet with the good news comes new challenges for automotive companies— whether OEM or Tier I suppliers, re-manufact urers, specialty vehicle producers, or aftermarket part and service providers. How quickly can the company re-source its critical materials and components while keeping inventory low and quality high? Flexibility in the global sourcing is the key. It requires the company to “ﬆay in sync” across the entire reach of its supply

chain—right from customers to product ion to suppliers and back again. Overcoming these challenges may seem complex, but they are not insurmountable. There are three beﬆ pract ices that can immensely help any automotive ﬁ rm to successfully meet the new challenges of today’s resurgent automotive market.

1. Respond to customer to adapt more quickly to changing market conditions Liﬆening carefully to the voice of the cuﬆomers and then responding accordingly is of paramount importance for automotive fi rms in this age of mass cuﬆomisation. Cuﬆomers expect innovation; they want to drive a vehicle that is unique to them. Th is requires OEMs to offer more flexibility and options, with no increase in product ion coﬆs. In response, suppliers muﬆ be able to meet this challenge as well. Service levels and cuﬆomer quality requirements are continuing to increase. The bar continues to rise and manufact urers, as well as aftermarket service providers, muﬆ ﬆep up to the challenge. There are certain benchmarks that an automotive fi rm muﬆ attain so as to quickly meet the cuﬆomer demands. Firﬆ , the fi rm needs to have enterprise visibility across its production machines, demand, and all of their supply chain capabilities. Th is is possible if it properly plans tooling, machines, and all the resources. The company should have the ability to meet true Juﬆ-in-Sequence (JIS)

Souma Das, MD & VP Sales, Infor

and Juﬆ-in-Time (JIT) requirements and deliver exact ly what is needed by receiving supply ‘right to the line’ and ‘right on time’. It is also important that the ﬁ rm has the exact supply, the exact resources, at the exact time to produce the product exact ly when its cuﬆomer wants it. To achieve this benchmark the company muﬆ have synchronisation across all operations—internal, external and outsourced. Strong IT tools for communication such as Elect ronic Data Interchange (EDI) are central to eﬀect ive communication between the company and its cuﬆomers.

2. Adopt to exible production In this case, the key is to achieve operational excellence. In today’s volatile market, the automotive manufact uring leaders need to focus relentlessly on this goal as it is vital to underﬆand the balancing of production and resources. OEMs and their tier suppliers throughout the automotive supply chain need to look at operational excellence initiatives to deliver increased cuﬆomer fulﬁ llment

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

INSIGHT & OUTLOOK

Car sales in emerging nations to surpass developed countries by 2013 40

millions of units

Developed Nations*

Emerging Nations** Forecaﬆ

5 0

* Weﬆern Europe, U.S., Japan & Canada. ** All other nations while cutting expenditures. Many automotive companies have adopted different manufact uring approaches as Kanban, serialisation, sequencing, lean manufact uring, repetitive manufact uring, and cellular manufact uring. Whichever approach is followed, there are certain capabilities that the companies muﬆ possess that are helpful in adapting to flexible product ion thereby reducing coﬆs. It is important to convert cuﬆomer’s demand immediately into order visibility with the help of an ERP syﬆem. All the orders need to get automatically “pushed” to suppliers meaning the fi rm needs to immediately let the suppliers know what they need to deliver. It is also critical to schedule all the resources for optimal production in order to prevent bottlenecks and inefficiencies and reduce waﬆe and non-value-added processes. Finally, it is essential to have complete visibility into the supply chain so as to receive an early warning of out of control processes and deviations.

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

The role of IT in adapting to flexible product ion is pivotal. To implement such capabilities, it is essential that the fi rm is able to maintain multiple IT syﬆems effect ively. It’s not juﬆ a case of the number of these systems being implemented such as ERP, SCM, EDI to name a few but more importantly the ability of the syﬆem to cuﬆomise itself for adopting changes in the business process. Designing simplified and leaner business processes is therefore critical so that flexible technological syﬆems can be built to enable flexible product ion and reduce operational coﬆs.

3. Direct your supply and tackle complexity by communicating better and faster with your suppliers Over the years, the inherent complexity of the automotive induﬆ ry has increased multifold with anywhere between 15,000 and 20,000 parts sourced from all over the world to manufact ure a car. So, for this induﬆ ry supply chain is not juﬆ a ﬂow of parts

in single, linear fashion but it is act ually a sophiﬆ icated array of networks of trading partners. For automotive manufact urers and those in their supply networks, handling multiple trading partners is a complex task which needs efficient management of time, resources and communication mechanism. In the face of this complexity, it is even more difficult for automotive companies to direct their supply. Synchronised communication with the suppliers on demand, replenishment, quality, and coﬆs is critical. In simpler words, the firm muﬆ be able to let its suppliers know what it needs immediately. Inﬆead of mandating one set of syﬆems to all suppliers which can add to coﬆs and complexities that the supply chain cannot afford, an alternative option is to consolidate all relevant EDI funct ions onto a single platform which is ERP-independent. It requires no inveﬆment by suppliers to participate and, as a result, can fit in with all exiﬆ ing syﬆems throughout the supply network. This not only gives the firm the ability to cut through the complexity of the different syﬆems in use, but can ‘fi ll in the gaps’ of those syﬆems without recourse to expensive new technologies. Th is also booﬆs the return on exiﬆ ing ERP inveﬆments. With the help of the right IT syﬆems that offer a low total coﬆ of ownership and deliver results quickly, it is critical for the automotive firms to follow these three beﬆ practices to ﬆay in sync with cuﬆomers and suppliers. By applying these beﬆ practices and improving supply chain visibility, automotive firms can create a well-connected and transparent supply chain. The end result: higher cuﬆomer satisfaction, ﬆronger supplier relationships, and the ability to maintain, if not regain, profitability. (Courtesy: The author is Vice President & Managing Director of Infor. Views expressed are personal.)

COVER STORY

Photograph: Joshua Navalkar

Ga-raging growth of equipment

Just as tools are crucial to repair damages, garage equipment is the artery of the automotive industry. Aftermarket has scrapped the surface paint and diagnosed that the segment is essential to the health of the industry and its demand remains relatively less affected by the global changes. Plug in to read on… Nandita Rohit Kapadia

THE fuel prices are burning, material coﬆs have hardened, the automotive induﬆ ry is unable to rev up and experts foresee that the key to growth lies in the diﬆant future beyond 2012. Yet, one sector that continues to be dynam-

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

ic, buoyant and well oiled is garage equipment. Manufact urers of garage equipment had at the Auto Expo 2012, launched a slew of equipment for OEM service ﬆations and garages, and have planned many new launches in the pipeline. Demand for garage equipment is relatively unaﬀected by

COVER STORY

Jasvinder Singh, Country Manager India, Car-O-Liner

the unﬆeady market currents. On the contrary, garage equipment manufacturers continue to eﬆablish trade and technology tie-ups with global companies to diﬆ ribute better products, or even manufact ure ﬆate-of-the-art equipment, upgrade their products by folding in better features and bring better products to India, regardless of the coﬆ of the equipment.

Evolving Pro le Of Service Stations/ Garages According to the recently launched ‘Aftermarket Study Book Phase II’ by Auto Component Manufact urers Association of India (ACMA), pres-

ently, the auto component aftermarket in India is valued at `24,800 crore and `8,000 crore for services. OEMauthorised service ﬆations is set to grow by 20-30 percent from the current level of 15-25 percent and semi-organised service ﬆations will grow from 10-20 percent to 20-30 percent by 2017. The ﬆ udy ﬆates, “By 2017, the market share of OEM-authorised network of service ﬆations will grow to around 20-30 percent from the present 15-25 percent; that of multi-brand organised service centres accounting for 10-20 percent of the market today, will account for 20-30 percent by 2012.

for ﬆate-of-the-art equipment in their workshops. “What’s noteworthy is that it is relatively less expensive to repair a vehicle that to replace it,” said Singh.

The Damage Controllers

Emerging Need For Better Equipment

Country Manager India, Car-OLiner India (New Delhi), Jasvinder Singh said, “Even severely damaged cars can be brought back into shape. Th is way, their resale value comes up. Although the service centres of global companies like Toyota and Honda in India are packed with lateﬆ equipment, only 25 percent of the dealers are well equipped—Indian OEMs have yet to catch up. In India, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti take the lead. Mahindra has now made it mandatory

Singh, pointed out, “The growth of aftersales is increasing, vehicles onroad are increasing and thus damages to repair are consequently increasing. Car makers want to improve fuel eﬃciency of their vehicles by reducing the weight. At the same time, safety of their vehicles and passengers is very important for them.” Managing Director, ATS Elgi Limited (Coimbatore), Harjeet Singh Wahan felt, “Product ivity, reliability and training are the three areas that are diﬀerent today than what they

Key ﬁndings of the ‘Aftermarket Study Book’ are based on a ﬆ udy conducted across 100 cities and 150 RTOs, indicate that the change drivers in the auto service market are: • Lateﬆ Vehicle Technology • Quality Conscious Cuﬆomers • Need For Skilled Personnel • Environmental Regulations • Soaring Real Eﬆate Prices

Today, equipment is becoming more complex, is packed in with more accurate diagnostics that enables faster service cycles, but are more expensive. “Productivity, reliability and training are the three areas that are different today than what they were 20 years ago.”Harjeet Singh Wahan, MD, ATS Elgi Equipment today, has cut repair coﬆs and reduced service time to a great extent

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

COVER STORY

were 20 years ago.” Suppliers and workﬆ ation heads interviewed, unanimously agreed that faﬆer service cycles and better training for technicians-mechanics were amongﬆ the recent developments in the garage segment. Equipment is becoming more complex, is packed in with more accurate diagnoﬆ ic features that enable faﬆer service cycles and as a result, they are becoming more expensive.

(Aftersales), Shaman Wheels Pvt Ltd, Shailendra Solanki, “We look for coﬆ eﬀectiveness. Also, inveﬆments (in equipment) are high and equipment imported is expensive.” Added Singh, “Equipment repairs help in reducing the coﬆ-of-ownership for the vehicle owner. And replacing parts of a vehicle’s body shell is expensive, but with the crash repair syﬆems, the parts can be repaired and brought back to original speciﬁcations as per OEM measurements.”

Factors That Determine Demand When asked the factors that determined demand for garage equipment, Assiﬆant, General Manager, Apex Honda (Mumbai), Mumbai, Sushil Sahani summed it up, “There are three factors such as company recommendations, market updates and personal experience.” As equipment evolves, so would the need for skilled operators, higher initial inveﬆ ments and followup training. The following are the cited factors that inﬂuence the growing demand for garage equipment:

• Cost-Effectiveness Of Equipment While many dealers and OEMs may prefer equipment that is coﬆ eﬀective, Singh believed, “The price of equipment may not come down but coﬆ of repairs will come down.” That is a critical factor that determines why OEMs prefer eﬆablished brands for their benchmark quality over cheaper alternatives. Car-O-Liner (owned by Sweden-based Alignment Syﬆems) specialises in crash repair syﬆems and spot welding machines among other products. Mercedes-Benz dealer, Shaman Wheels (Mumbai) is perhaps the ﬁrﬆ dealer in India who opted to elect companies like Car-O-Liner and Madhus, in addition to other global brands for their equipment. Said GM,

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

• Returns On Investments (ROI) As the initial inveﬆment on quality equipment is ﬆeep, workﬆations are aware that purchasing ﬆate-ofthe-art equipment would provide for return on inveﬆments over a period of time. “The trend is changing and demand for good quality equipment is gradually increasing; there has been ﬆiﬀ competition with low coﬆ products from China however, now workshop owners prefer to inveﬆ in good quality products, which are reliable in the long term and ensures quality repair job with better ROI,” pointed out CEO, Rai Automative Syﬆems (New Delhi),

“The cost of upgrading equipment can be anywhere upto `50,000 in a year. However, we expect the ROI over a period of ve years. Sometimes, the break-even point is much faster. What’s more, manufacturers make is mandatory to select certain brands,” Shailendra S Solanki, GM-Aftersales, Shaman Wheels Rishikesh Sahay. Iterated Director, Madhus Garage Equipments Pvt Ltd, K Narasimhan, “Technology improvements in line with the requirements of the lateﬆ in automobile innovation are the order of the day. Time saving, result oriented and less down time of the equipment are the factors that inﬂuence the purchasing decisions. With these features, longevity of the equipments is another factor. ROI is deﬁnitely better under these conditions.” Solanki added, “Additionally,

Equipment repairs help in reducing the coﬆ-ofownership for the vehicle owner

COVER STORY

Photograph: Joshua Navalkar

equipment like tyre changers, diesel smoke metres and lifts. Coimbatore-based ATS Elgi has its own R&D facility that specialises in a screw compressor that it had launched at the Auto Expo’12. Moreover, it has developed two-poﬆ hydraulic lifts and paint booths with specialised features. The company has also developed water-based paint booth with a hi-tech tower that can convert a solvent based paint to a water-based paint. It has eﬆablished a trade venture with Germany-based Herrmann for lifts run by water and air that they will launch soon. Abhay Rao, CEO, Shaman Wheels

the coﬆ of replacing and upgrading equipment can also be anywhere from `25,000-50,000 in a year. However, we expect the returns on inveﬆment over a period of ﬁve years. Sometimes, the break-even point is much faﬆer. What’s more, manufact urers make it mandatory to select certain brands.”

• In-House R&D Facility Today, garage equipment is becoming increasingly sophiﬆ icated and is folded in with a range of intelligent funct ions that plays a crucial role in bringing down the coﬆ of repairs and reducing service cycles. Technologies like IT in paint drying and online diagnoﬆ ic tools like ﬂash programming may not be prevalent in India as yet, but it’s only a question of time. Equipment manufact urers have their own R&D facilities that enable the companies to develop better innovations while maintaining coﬆs. For inﬆance, Manatec Elect ronics has its in house R&D centre in Puducherry has developed Fox 3D alignment syﬆems over a period of two to three years among other

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

• Quality/Standards Of Equipment While many garages and workﬆations look at optimisation of coﬆs, it is crucial that brands selected are of sound quality and follow predetermined benchmarks. Solanki, said, “Mercedes-Benz makes it mandatory to procure top-of-line products and all the dealerships follow OEM’s mandate of preferred companies to access garage equipment from.” Shaman Wheels, CEO, Abhay Rao remarked, “The importance, ﬆatus, ﬆandards and network development (of equipment) has come up. Standards require colour coding. Also, technology has come up. Mercedes cars have a lot of electronics, thus the level of diagnoﬆ ics has risen. If you sell 30 cars a year, you need this kind of equipment for service. We don’t compromise on inveﬆment in equipment, so that the quality (of service) is not hampered.” For inﬆance, welding machines from Car-O-Liner oﬀers a range of features that are more advanced than conventional gas-welding machines, which heats up the metal too much and deﬆ roys its ﬆ rength. The company also oﬀers crash repair syﬆems

A Range Of Garage Equipment At Work

and jigs that can be better cuﬆomised for various car models. Narasimhan said, “The future of the induﬆ ry is bright. We need quality equipment to service the lateﬆ vehicles on the road. To a great extent, OEMs and their dealerships are aware that quality service to their cuﬆomers is important and select ing the right machine for their workshop is the only way to accomplish this goal.”

COVER STORY

Imports-JVs & Technology Trades The Indian garage sector presents a mix of imports, trade transfers and in-house manufact uring. Although companies manufact uring equipment in India are scarce presently, companies like ATS Elgi, Precision Teﬆ ing Machines and Manetec Elect ronics(Puducherry) manufact ure moﬆ of their own equipment and do cut an edge. Companies like Karcher Cleaning Syﬆems Pvt Ltd (Noida), Car-O-Liner are subsidiaries of global companies, whereas others like Rai Auto, Madhus import equipment from select overseas companies.

• Aftersales Support & Expertise A critical factor that equipment sup-

pliers have to ensure is back-end support/service. And its importance was emphasised very ﬆrongly by a number of experts. Wahan remarked, “A service network across all cities is very important. We provide immediate solutions via phone or personally.” Solanki conﬁrmed, “A good back-up for immediate support is very important. We also have a training centre and provide training to cuﬆomers and companies. “ In an earlier talk with Aftermarket, Co-Founder and MD, CarZ, Venu Donepudi ﬆated, “With more than 10 million cars on the road from vehicle manufacturers, our research says that only one-third of them go back to the service centres after the warranty

Manufacturers with Signi cant R&D Facilities • ATS Elgi (Coimbatore) • Manetec (Punducherry) • Precision (Greater Noida) period is over. And traditional garages do not have enough knowledge or equipment to handle technologically advanced cars. The company is equipped with lateﬆ diagnoﬆic scanner among other equipment and the modern garage equipment used by CarZ has been imported from Japan, Korea and Germany. In an interact ion with Aftermarket a few months ago with Head of Business Unit Diagnoﬆ ics and Vice

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

COVER STORY

Garage Equipment Suppliers A quick factsheet of select leading equipment suppliers and the latest products they have to offer. Also presented are future launches and tieups with companies. Company

Manetec

TATA Motor, JK Tyres and Apollo Tyres. Further approvals are on its way Latest Products (or (1) Vision-based 3D wheel aligner branded â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fox 3Dâ&#x20AC;? in India

Approved By

(2)'Push and Pull' run out compensation software

Madhus Garage Equipments MB, Honda, Tata, Ashok Layland Volvo, JK, Apollo, M&M, Hyundai, Audi, Skoda, Maruthi, Toyota, Ford, GM, Bridgestone 1) Texa Konfort (Italy) K610E AC charger (`2,25,000)

ATS Elgi i

CCar-O-Liner

Approved by all the major car companies including Maruti, Hyundai, Tata, Toyota, Honda, GM, Ford, VW, MB and Audi for their upcoming workshops. (1) A hi-tech tower to convert a solvent-based paint booth to a water-based paint booths

Approved by MB, Honda, Audi, Volkswagen for their upcoming workshops and other major OEMs (1) Crash Repair Systems (`20-35 lakh) : (a)Mark6 Car-OTronic (b) Quick42 CarO-Tronic (2) Spot Welding Machines (`9-15 lakh): (a) CR 500 (semiautomatic) (b) CTR 12000 (fully-automatic)

(2) Test Lane by Ravaglioli, (2) Multi-level car parking Italy. It is called Test Lane systems to enhance parking integrating Roller Brake Tester, space at the garages Suspension Tester and Side Slip Tester (`11 lakh plus tax)

Rai Auto All major OEMs

(1) Gypsot Invertor Model BP LX at `seven lakh (Auto Expo'12) (2) Crash Repair System (launched in Dec'11)

(3) Quick wheel alignment programme

Future Launches

Hunter Hawakeye ELITE wheel (3) Auto Car Washing system (3)Crash Repair (3) Griffon bench with Aligner (`11,00,000 plus tax) to speed up the car washing as System : Quick 42 Car- integrated vehicle well as save water O-Tronic lifting system (Prices vary) (4) Eco-friendly Herrmann (4) Spot Welder : Germany lifts which run water CTR12000 and air. (5) A lift run by water and air by Herrmann, Germany (1) Water-based paint booths Will be announced Paint booths for water Working on few Hawkeye Elite shortly borne paints from products and technologies 'Blowtherm' Italy Traditional and small crash repair benches for minor and medium damaged cars

(2) Expecting to launch sixeight more products this year, related to safety and productivity

3D Wheel alignment machine model : Sphere ARP 3D from SPACE- Italy Porsche, MB, JLR, BMW, Audi, VW workshops

Supply To

Authorised workshops/work stations of almost all vehicle manufacturers, third-party workshops & retail fuel outlets

Authorised workshops/work All OEMs including JLR stations of Maruti, VW, Audi, MB, M&M,Tata, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, General Motors etc and tyre companies like Apollo, JK, MRF, Bridgestone etc. For Truck/Bus equipments: Ashok Leyland, Tata, Volvo, JK, Apollo etc

BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, Maruti, GM, Ford, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata, Hyundai, Nissan, Renault

JV/Technology Transfers/Imports

No Info

Hunter (USA), Ravaglioli (Italy), Manufacturing agreement with Texa (Italy); Car-O-Liner (a) MAHA Germany (b) CEMB (Sweden)Crash repair system Italy (c) Ecotechnic Italy and trading agreement with Spanesi Italy; Samoa, Spain; Piusi Italy; MAD, Netherlands; SP Air, Japan; Bright, China; Herrmann, Germany

Products supplied from Gys (France); parent company, Blowtherm, Italy. More Sweden-based in pipeline. Alignment Systems AB

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

COVER STORY

President (Automotive Aftermarket), Robert Bosch GmbH, Olaf Henning, said that ‘remote service’ helps the cuﬆomers to minimise the downtime of equipment and the vehicles at the workshops eventually enhancing profitability. If an engineer experiences difficulties with the diagnoﬆ ic equipment, he calls the hotline and the engineers from Bosch headquarters will reach the equipment through internet to fi x the problem.

• Training Mechanics While all equipment suppliers assure companies with training services, workﬆ ation heads emphasised the growing complexities of cars. A major development today from garages over 10 years ago is manpower training. As vehicles are becoming increasingly complex, so are diagnoﬆ ics and repairs. Chairman of Business Unit of Diagnoﬆ ics and VP, Automotive Aftermarket, Robert Bosch GmbH, Ulrich Th iele said in an earlier interview with Aftermarket, “If you open the hood of any car, you won’t be able to underﬆand anything; therefore you need diagnoﬆ ics tools. Since the car complexity is growing, diagnoﬆ ics has become the

As equipment evolves, so would the need for skilled operators, higher initial investments and follow-up training. “There are three factors such as company recommendations, market updates and personal experience.”— Sushil Sahani, Assistant General Manager, Apex Honda, Mumbai

enabler to underﬆand the problems.” Apex Honda Service Head, Vijay Bhansali said, “All cars have their own syﬆems that are upgraded every year, Honda has Honda Diagnoﬆ ic syﬆem and Audi has VAS (an Audi-developed software), which are plug-in syﬆems for faﬆer diagnoﬆ ics.” As a result, today, technicians are expected to be well versed with equipment technology. What’s more, dealers are also expected to incorporate equipment that adheres to ﬆandards laid down by global OEMs. Also, in response to the growing requirements, manufact urers have organised intensive training workshops for cuﬆomers/ OEMs. Apex Honda’s Bhansali explained that today, suppliers provide a trial period for the product and once selected they provide on-the-job training, wherein, a team from Honda, a team from the supplier side and our in-house trainer, come together for training.” Shaman Wheels’ Solanki agreed and said, “There is a lot of training. We have a benchmark for body repair services.” All equipment suppliers were in accord with respect to the importance of training; ATS Elgi’s Wahan pointed out, “We have a training centre and provide regular training to cuﬆomers and companies”.

• Other Factors “Insurance companies are also urging service centres to improve the quality of repairs. They have a ﬆ rong inﬂuence on the choice of garage that the car owner has to select from for repairs in case of damage or accident. A major percentage of car repairs are covered by insurance companies, and they prefer garages that oﬀer ﬆandardised equipment at reasonable coﬆs. Th is compels

Vijay Bhansali, Head Service, Apex Honda

the service ﬆations/garages to better equip and ﬆ reamline their workﬆations,” perceived Singh.

Final Destination Garage equipment has come a long way today. Demand for garage equipment and tools has been unaﬀected by the spike in raw material prices and have shown remarkable resilience though the turbulent economic periods through the years. The Vice President, Automotive Aftermarket, Bosch, S Muralidharan pointed out that the garages in India have been evolving over a period of time and reached to the current levels where they manage with software, manual and inﬆ ructions through compact discs. It will take some more time for these service centres to embrace remote service, he felt. Suppliers like Car-O-Liner’s Singh believed that car manufact urers need to push dealers to upgrade workshops like BMW, Mercedes, Honda and Toyota. On the other hand, Rai’s Sahay was optimiﬆ ic and concluded saying, “Today, India is a preferred deﬆ ination for car manufact urers worldwide, only because there is a huge potential in this ﬁeld and the numbers of cars will be growing in the coming years. The garage equipment induﬆ ry has a vital role in keeping up with the automotive aftermarket.”

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

IN CONVERSATION

It is critical to deskill jobs at dealerships, tackle manpower retention 34

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

IN CONVERSATION

Abhishek Parekh

BAJAJ AUTO is in the process of sprucing up its dealership for a more engaging cuﬆomer experience. President- Motorcycle Business, Bajaj Auto, K Srinivas, who was inﬆ rumental in setting up the pro biking showrooms for Bajaj Auto before changing track to auto ﬁ nance, speaks to Aftermarket on what ails dealership business and how these issues can be tackled. What was the major learning experience in setting-up probiking showrooms for Bajaj Auto? In the auto dealership business, it is relatively easier to change or upgrade physical infraﬆruct ure of a showroom or a service centre. The challenge is to change the cuﬆomer experience through service delivery. Moﬆ dealers get the former part right but lag in the latter aspect. Probiking was a company owned and operated initiative and we were act ually running moﬆ of the showrooms ourselves. Even as a company, we had problems attracting and retaining manpower. One can only imagine the plight of a dealer who is running a showroom as an entrepreneur!

The two-wheeler segment in India has a huge potential to grow and we are looking to have a much larger share of the market. Overall, the product lifecycle has reduced for two-wheelers, and it is a challenge to entice and retain customers to keep buying products from us

Having said that, I feel it is critical for a dealership to have some key people intact in the business. Such key people can help in business continuity and consiﬆency. It is critical for a dealer to deskill moﬆ or many tasks in a dealership so high employee turnover does not threaten the business. In probiking showrooms, we tried to ensure that if a person leaves the job in the morning, we find an immediate replacement and train him/her by evening, so that he/ she is almoﬆ ready the next day. How does one ensure business continuity and consiﬆency under the current reality of high turnover in automobile dealership business? In my experience, for a typical service centre, positions like work manager, service supervisor and expert mechanic are the key positions, and a dealership muﬆ have a long term view on these positions. Similar or equivalent positions in sales or dealership are critical. Th is may differ from dealership to dealership or service centre to service centre depending on location, type or category of vehicles sold and other issues but overall the perspective holds true for moﬆ dealerships. High turnover in a dealership business is a fact of life and vehicle manufacturers and dealers need to accept it. Jobs or tasks are needed to be divided into skilled and unskilled categories, and HR policies can be accordingly framed by the concerned dealer. Some of our dealers have created workable ﬆ ruct ures for group and individual incentives and we are looking to have these learnings and implementations shared across all dealers. What kind of dealers do you work with and are looking to enrol going forward? Beyond a point, the management ﬆ yle and implementation differs and

one needs to adopt an approach that works. We insiﬆ on meeting certain parameters and predetermined objectives from a dealership and beyond that, its dealers’ responsibility to ensure that these object ives are met and the concerned dealer needs to have that flexibility. We also require our dealers to have involvement and passion for the business. It is not difficult to find a potential dealer with loads of capital but if act ive involvement at the principal level is not there, then we would not be comfortable. What is your outlook on the twowheeler segment and what are your future plans? The two-wheeler segment in India has a huge potential to grow and we are looking to have much larger share of the market. Overall, the product lifecycle has reduced for two-wheelers and it is a challenge to entice and retain cuﬆomers to keep buying products from us. Financing is likely to play a major role in helping us to reach the next level in terms of volume growth and wider reach. We are selling around 30,000 to 35,000 bikes in rural areas on fi nance. The cash collection model has worked well for us and we are looking to reach out to a larger cuﬆomer base. Cash flow in rural areas is not uniform throughout the year and moﬆ people residing there do not have bank accounts. Bajaj Finserve has become the largeﬆ two-wheeler fi nancing entity in the country today and we are seeing an increasing number of fi nance companies and even banks looking to grow a two wheeler portfolio. The key in two-wheeler fi nancing is to create innovate fi nancing product s and collect ion models to tap segment of cuﬆomers who are not otherwise coming into your fold.

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

INSIGHT & OUTLOOK

Indian Two-Wheeler Industry Volume growth decelerates in Q3, 2011-12; slower growth expected in Q4, 2011-12 as well THE Indian two-wheeler (2W) induﬆ ry recorded sales volumes of 3.4 million units in Q3, 2011-121, a growth of 11.0percent (YoY) but flat (QoQ ). Although the YoY volume growth of the induﬆ ry remained in double digits, the pace of growth during the laﬆ quarter was at its loweﬆ gear in the laﬆ three years. The deceleration in growth was contributed mainly by the motorcycles segment which grew at a much lower rate of 9.2percent (YoY) in Q3, 2011-12; even as the scooters segment continued to poﬆ 20percent+ (YoY) expansion. Overall, ICRA expects the domeﬆ ic 2W induﬆ ry to report a volume growth of ~13 percent in 2011-12 as we expect growth to fade further in Q4, 2011-122 due to base effect. In an environment where the northward movement of inflation, fuel prices and intereﬆ rates has been the nemesis of the Indian automobile induﬆry at large, the 2W induﬆry has been the moﬆ resilient reflected in its healthy volume growth of 15.0percent (YoY) in 9m, 2011-12. The growth has been supported by various ﬆruct ural positives associated with the domeﬆic 2W industry including favourable demographic profile, moderate 2W penetration levels (in relation to several other emerging markets), under developed public transport syﬆem, growing urbanisation and expected ﬆrong replacement demand, besides moderate share of financed purchases. ICRA expects these ﬆrengths, coupled with the OEMs’ thruﬆ on exports, to aid the 2W induﬆry to report a volume CAGR of 10-12 percent over the medium term to reach a size of

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

21-23 million units (domeﬆic + exports) by 2015-16.

Overview The Indian two-wheeler (2W) industry recorded sales volumes of 3.4 million units in Q3, 2011-121, a growth of 11 percent (YoY) but flat (QoQ ). Although the YoY volume growth of the industry remained in double digits, the pace of growth during the laﬆ quarter was at its loweﬆ gear in the laﬆ three years. The deceleration in growth was contributed mainly by the motorcycles segment which grew at a much lower rate of 9.2 percent (YoY) in Q3, 2011-12; even as the scooters segment continued to poﬆ 20 percent+ (YoY) expansion. Overall, ICRA expects the domeﬆic 2W industry to report a volume growth of ~13 percent in 2011-12 as we expect growth to fade further in Q4, 2011-122 due to base effect. In an environment where the northward movement of inflation, fuel prices and intereﬆ rates has been the nemesis of the Indian automobile induﬆry at large, the 2W induﬆry has been the moﬆ resilient reflected in its healthy volume growth of 15 percent (YoY) in 9m, 2011-12. The growth has been supported by various ﬆruct ural positives associated with the domeﬆic 2W industry including favourable demographic profile, moderate 2W penetration levels (in relation to several other emerging markets), under developed public transport syﬆem, growing urbanisation and expected ﬆrong replacement demand, besides moderate share of financed purchases. ICRA expects these ﬆrengths, coupled with the OEMs’ thruﬆ on

exports, to aid the 2W induﬆry to report a volume CAGR of 10-12 percent over the medium term to reach a size of 21-23 million units (domeﬆic + exports) by 2015-16.

Sales Volumes Analysis: Scooters Barring Q1, 2011-12, the growth in scooter segment’s sales volumes has generally outperformed that of the motorcycles segment, partly due to the former’s smaller base. In Q3, 2011-12 too, the sales volumes of the domestic scooters segment at ~660,000 units recorded a growth of 21.6percent (YoY), higher than the 9.2percent growth in motorcycle sales. With this, the share of the scooters segment in the total domeﬆic two-wheeler volumes increased to 19.4percent in Q3, 201112 from 17.6percent in 2010-11.

Market Share Trends The Indian motorcycles segment continues to be dominated by Hero MotoCorp (erﬆ while Hero Honda) which has been recording sequential gains in market share over the laﬆ three quarters. The top three players accounted for 88.2percent of the induﬆry’s volumes in Q1, 2011-12 (92.0percent in 2007-08), with Honda Motorcycles having overtaken TVS since Q1, 201011 as the third largeﬆ player after Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto.

Short to Medium term Outlook • ICRA expects the entry segment volumes in the domeﬆ ic market to grow at a much slower pace than the overall 2W induﬆ ry and volume growth to be driven mainly by

INSIGHT & OUTLOOK

2010-11 to ~21% by 2014-15. With this, the domeﬆ ic scooters market is eﬆ imated to nearly double in size by 2014-15. Thus, even as a multitude of brands already dot the segment’s landscape and more are expected to follow, the likely expansion in the pie should offer sufficient volumes for the induﬆ ry to grow profitably. For the new entrants, a faﬆer gain in market share could haﬆen the process of profitability improvement.

Financial Performance Of TwoWheeler OEMs • Hero MotoCorp Graph Revenues: In Q3, 2011-12, Hero MotoCorp’s revenues at `5,983.6 crore grew by 16.9 percent YoY and 3.4 percent QoQ , supported by 11.3 percent YoY and 2.9 percent QoQ increase in sales vol-

Short To Medium Term Outlook ICRA expects the scooters segment to gradually increase its share in the domeﬆ ic 2W market from 17.6% in

Trend in Financial Performance of Hero MotoCorp 18%

7,000

16%

6,000

14% 5,000

` Crore

12%

4,000

10%

3,000

8% 6%

2,000

4% 1,000

Revenues

umes and 5 percent YoY and 0.5 percent QoQ increase in average realisations. Till 2010-11, exports accounted for 2.5 percent of the company’s sales volumes. Although since the time Hero MotoCorp’s JV agreement with its erﬆwhile partner Honda (Japan) ceded in Dec 2010, the company has been unable to scale up its exports much; it is likely to get more aggressive on the exports front as and when its fourth manufacturing plant gets eﬆablished (for which

OPM

Q3 FY12

Q2 FY12

Q1 FY12

Q4 FY11

Q3 FY11

Q2 FY11

Q4 FY10

Overall, Honda Motorcycles continues to maintain its leadership position in the scooters segment through its ﬂagship brand Act iva (besides Aviator and Dio) enjoying a market share of 50.7% in Q3, 2011-12. While capacity shortfall at the company’s plant at Manesar (Haryana) had reﬆ ricted its volume growth in the recent paﬆ, the company began commercial product ion at its new plant at Tapukara (Rajaﬆhan) in July 2011. Th is has allowed the company to consolidate its market position over the laﬆ two quarters. However, Hero MotoCorp’s demonﬆ rated success in improving market share (through its sole brand Pleasure) coupled with new scooter models proposed to be launched by Hero MotoCorp, TVS and Yamaha over the short to medium could imply shrinkage of market share gap between the market leader and others over time.

the company is mulling a location near one of the ports). Operating Proﬁt Margins (OPM): Hero MotoCorp’s OPM at 15.0percent in Q3, 2011-12, declined marginally by 15 basis points (bps) QoQ but increased by 454 bps YoY. The YoY expansion in HMCL’s core EBITDA margins, however, was relatively lower at 194 bps YoY on exclusion of the eﬆimated royalty payments made by HMCL to its erﬆwhile partner Honda Motor Company (HMC, Japan) in Q3, 2010-11. Going forward, HMCL’s ability to suﬆain the scale required to absorb the additional expenses being incurred for creating a new corporate brand, introduction of new models, building of R&D capability and exploring overseas markets will govern its proﬁtability.

Hero MotoCorp

Market Share Trends

Q1 FY11

exports. Th is is because the segment is not a key focus area of OEMs due to limited scope for margin expansion and high intereﬆ-rate sensitivity. • While the executive segment is expected to maintain its ﬆeady growth, competition is likely to intensify following aggressive exiﬆing model refurbishment and new model launch plans of moﬆ OEMs. • The premium segment is expected to remain the faﬆeﬆ growing over the medium term, given the disproportionate growth in purchasing power in the hands of middle-class urbanites, especially in the age group of 20-30 years. This should also translate into superior proﬁt margins for players that are ﬆronger in the premium segment.

PAT Margins

Net Proﬁts: Hero MotoCorp’s Q3, 2011-12 PAT at Rs. 613.0 Crore grew by 42.9percent YoY and 1.6percent QoQ. Overall, the company’s revenues and PAT touched a record high in Q3, 2011-12. • Bajaj Auto Revenues: In Q3, 201112, Bajaj Auto’s revenues at Rs. 5,063.2 Crore grew by 21.2percent YoY but declined by 3.9percent QoQ ) led by continued ﬆ rong exports growth in both the 2W as well the three-wheel-

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

INSIGHT & OUTLOOK

Bajaj Auto

YoY, the revenue growth was much higher by virtue of favourable change in product mix. Thus, notwithﬆanding the increase in proportion of low-ticket mopeds in TVS’s domeﬆic 2W sales volumes from 39percent in Q3, 2010-11 to 41percent in Q3, 2011-12, the increase in proportion of >100cc scooter (Wego) and >125cc motorcycles (mainly Apache RTR family) in its sales mix enabled it to improve its average realization YoY. Operating Proﬁt Margins (OPM): TVS’ OPM at 6.5percent in Q3, 201112 was 44 bps higher YoY but 40 bps lower QoQ. While the company’s product mix in Q3, 2011-12 was in its favour on YoY basis, its relative deterioration on QoQ basis accordingly translated into movement in OPM. Net Proﬁts: While TVS recorded OPBITDA growth of 14.6percent YoY in Q3, 2011-12, the company’s PAT growth at 1.4percent YoY was much lower on account of higher tax rate and lower ‘other income’. Also, the company’s PAT in Q3, 2011-12 declined by 26.1percent on QoQ basis both due to negative revenue growth (QoQ ) as well as decline in OPM on QoQ basis. (Courtesy: ICRA)

Trend in Financial Performance of Bajaj Auto 6,000

35%

5,000

30% 25%

4,000

` Crore

20%

3,000 15%

2,000

10%

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

Q3 FY12

Q2 FY12

Q1 FY12 PAT Margins

valuation of forward exchange contracts. This is a notional loss and would get reversed on maturity of the underlying contracts (assuming the company’s actual exports remain in line with its budgeted eﬆimates during the term of the contract). • TVS Motor Revenues: In Q3, 201112, TVS’ Net Sales at Rs. 1,762.2 Crore grew by 7.0percent YoY but declined by 11.5percent QoQ. While the company’s total 2W volumes in Q3, 2011-12 grew by 0.9percent YoY and total three-wheeler (3W) volumes declined by 11.0percent

TVS Motor Trend in Financial Performance of TVS 8%

2,500

7% 2,000

6% 5%

1,500

4% 1,000

3% 2%

500

1% 0%

Revenues

OPM

PAT Margins

Q3 FY12

Q2 FY12

Q1 FY12

Q4 FY11

Q3 FY11

Q2 FY11

Q1 FY11

0 Q4 FY10

er (3W) segments; increase in average realization due to both price increase as well as favourable change in product mix; and favourable currency movement on exports. The company management’s outlook on exports (~32percent of 2W volumes in Q3, 2011-12) remains robuﬆ with a target to achieve export of 1.5 million units in 2011-12E, reflect ing a growth of 25 percent over 2010-11. Operating Profit Margins (OPM): Bajaj Auto’s OPM improved to 21.0percent in Q3, 2011-12, higher by 63 bps YoY and 89 bps QoQ. The improvement in margins was supported by relatively higher realizations from exports, operating leverage benefits and rationalization of spends on sales promotion. The DEPB benefits were discontinued poﬆ September 2011; however, BAL has undertaken price increase on export models (besides price increase on domeﬆic models), which should allow the company to suﬆain its margins going forward. Net Profits: In Q3, 2011-12, while Bajaj Auto’s OPBITDA growth at 25.0percent (YoY) was robuﬆ, the company’s PAT at Rs. 795.2 Crore grew at a relatively lower rate of 19.2percent (YoY). This was due to the exceptional MTM loss of Rs. 58.9 Crore recorded by the company in Q3, 2011-12 related to the

OPM

Rs. Crore

Revenues

Q4 FY11

Q3 FY11

Q2 FY11

Q1 FY11

Q4 FY10

1,000

SPECIAL FOCUS

Car makers drive on internet,

outdoor media Industry shifting gears to beﬁt new marketing terrain Nabeel A Khan & Shambhavi Anand

WITH the age of car buyers going down and disposable income increasing, car manufact urers have been exploring a range of possible options to reach out to them. Below-The-Line (BTL) marketing and digital media seem to be the preferred choice at the moment. Moﬆ vehicle manufact urers are increasing their spend and focus on these methods of marketing. “People spend more time on internet than TV or any other media, so a larger percentage of our marketing expenditure will go on digital media.” Executive Director for Marketing, Sales and Service at Ford India, Nigel E Wark said. Hyundai Motors Company spends up to 14 percent of its total marketing expenditure on BTL. “There are phases where BTL becomes very important in automobile sector because a vehicle is a product that people would like to touch and feel. Th is can be done by increasing ﬆ ress on BTL. Whenever we launch a new product , we extensively use the opportunity of displaying them. As everyone cannot come to our showrooms to see the products, we go to the people and show them the vehicles,” Director, Sales and Marketing, Arvind Saxena said. BTL attracts even a larger share of the largeﬆ player in the Indian market, Maruti Suzuki’s marketing expenditure. “The company is spending `40-50 crore that is around 25

percent of our total marketing expenditure. Such a method is good for marketing an exiﬆ ing brand where the positioning is clear and you want to simply provide support to that brand and have suﬆenance. You can associate the event, which is related to nature of the brand, that’s what we try to do,” Chief General Manager (Marketing), Shashank Srivaﬆ ava pointed. The company has adopted mall act ivation, mileage rallies, and desert ﬆorm rallies among others in order to reach out to its target audience. The company recently ﬂ agged oﬀ, the 10th Desert Storm Rally, a motor sports

event, from the national capital showcasing the quality of a vehicle. Dinesh Jain of Hover marketing, who handles the marketing and advertising of Nissan Motor India, is of the view that BTL methods like road shows and rallies can booﬆ the brand image of a company or product by enabling touch and feel of it. He further adds that, “Road shows are done at a local level. However, such shows only help when there is already an exiﬆ ing brand image or brand persona of the brand and its product. In the absence of it, people will juﬆ ﬆare at the vehicle and hardly notice its personality. It

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

SPECIAL FOCUS

will cease to be effect ive.” Another important trend is that the vehicle manufact urers are looking at riding on the increasing penetration of internet and through easy availability of gadgets. One needs to fi nd out new avenues to attract such sect ions of the target audience. “Even the humbleﬆ of people and the traditional population are using social media very effect ively—for example, a flash mob in which people who otherwise did not know each other come together through the social media. It is surprising that we had received huge bookings for XUV500 using only the new media without a single TV commercial or print advertisement before the launch,” Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, Anand Mahindra, said. He added, “One has to underﬆ and how to leverage social media. Around 90 percent of buyers take the help of internet before deciding what to buy. Hence it is imperative that we liﬆen to what people say about us on the new media.”

Saxena agreed with Mahindra that a younger and tech savvy cuﬆomer needs to be addressed through a platform, which is more suitable for them. “Due to the large number of people having presence on the digital media, especially from the larger cities, this media is very coﬆ eﬀect ive as the inveﬆ ments are much more attract ive.

“People spend more time on internet than TV or any other media, so a larger percentage of our marketing expenditure will go on digital media,”—Nigel E Wark, Executive Director, Marketing, Sales & Service at Ford India

We keep working on bringing in some kind of innovation in advertising in

terms of content to keep the audience intereﬆed.” According to Srivaﬆava, Maruti is trying to explore the digital media in a big way and spends around `17 crore againﬆ laﬆ year’s èight crore on the same. Digital marketing includes social media, Online Reputation Management (ORM) and search engine optimisation. The company finds it extremely coﬆ effect ive tool for advertising. “There is no end to how much money one can spend, but the biggeﬆ advantage of the media is that you know who your cuﬆomer is and so can eﬆablish a direct connect ion with them. You know their opinion, views, knowledge and they are ready to share it with you as well as share it with their peers,” Jain said. Though currently Nissan’s spend on the new media is a single digit percentage out of the total marketing expenditure, it will rise to double digits in the next three years with the increasing emphasis on the new media. Cuﬆomers can also book Nissan vehicles for teﬆ drives online.

Hyundai Eon displayed as part of a BTL marketing strategy at a shopping mall in New Delhi

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

FACILITY VISIT

Servicing to Fame Nabeel A Khan

FOR Debashis Banerji, a branding and marketing consultant at a leading IT company, driving 65 km from his residence to come to Oberoi Cars in Noida to get his car serviced, is deﬁnitely worth it. “The reason, I come here leaving many of the workshops in my locality, is the kind of polished attitude of the people here and the importance they give to the time of cuﬆomers”, Banerji, an owner of a Fiat Linea said, while working on his laptop in the gueﬆ lounge of the dealership. Oberoi Cars, eﬆablished in October, 2010, has charmed many Tata and Fiat

car owners with their good service and warm attitude of the workers in the workshops. The dealership has been ﬆarted by a Ludhiana-based induﬆ rialiﬆ Sukhvendra Singh Oberoi, who has been in the hospitality and education business. He owns Live Hotels and also manufact ures Beﬆ Vision televisions, apart from running many educational inﬆ itutes in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. After successful operations of this facility, the company plans to open two more 3S (Sales, Spares and Service) facilities in the region within two to three months. A few days ago, it opened a new 3S facility in Noida Sector-63, around 20 km away from

“We want to treat customers as kings. The second thing is that we want to provide service as quickly as possible. We want to satisfy them,”— Sukhvendra Singh Oberoi, Director, Oberoi Cars the exiﬆ ing facility. Two more 3S facilities dedicated exclusively for Fiat and Tata Motors will come up in Okhla in New Delhi. The company is one of

Photographs: Nabeel A Khan

The Service Station At Oberoi Cars, Noida

MARCH 2012

FACILITY VISIT

the main potential partners, as the Fiat India plans to have 20 exclusive sales and service centres in the country by the end of the year. The company is among the early birds to take the vision ahead. It also manages Fiat Café that was recently opened by Fiat in New Delhi. Oberoi Cars sells around 300 cars and services over 1,500 cars every month. Considering the space conﬆ raints, the syﬆematic planning and vertical optimisation of space in the facility vouch for its competence to be future-ready. The Oberoi Cars’ exiﬆ ing facility at Noida Sector-1 is spread over 50,000 sq ft and across four ﬂoors.

The Facility Layout It has planned the facility in such a way that the vehicle enters from one side and exits from the other side after being completely serviced, which

is typical of a passenger car assembly plant. The front side of the ground floor is occupied by the workshop adminiﬆ ration ﬆaff, while the other side is utilised in creating two lounges for cuﬆomers diﬆ inct ly marked as ‘For Family’ and ‘For Driver.’ The rear side is meant for repair and service, facilitating cuﬆomers waiting at the lounge to have a glimpse of their vehicles being serviced. The right corner of the ground floor features a small reception for sales division, while the main display and sales desk are positioned in the fi rﬆ floor. The second floor is dedicated to the adminiﬆ ration, sales and insurance team. Paint and body shop is on the third floor. The vehicles are taken through two lifts commissioned at both the ends of the building. The dealership is equipped with many high-end hydraulic crash repair sys-

The new Noida facility encompasses 35,000 sq ft with an investment of around `seven crore & can service up to 1,000 vehicles in a month. Two 3S facilities for Fiat & Tata will be ready in Okhla by May. The company also plans to enter states like Punjab and HP tems and a paint shop. It has inveﬆed around `nine crore in this facility including `one crore on equipment. The inveﬆ ments do not include the coﬆ of acquiring the land. The company has already achieved the break-even point and hopes to get returns on inveﬆ ment in another two years.

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

FACILITY VISIT

Oberoi Cars sells around 300 cars and services over 1,500 cars every month. Considering the space constraints, the systematic planning and vertical optimisation of space in the facility vouch for its competence

food for the cuﬆomers in the waiting lounge during lunchtime. “Generally, at some OEM workshops, you can be expected to be roughed up, but at this place, they match the service attitude of luxury carmakers in the country,” said Rahul, a young cuﬆomer from Weﬆ Delhi. The new facility in Noida is being opened on a rented location encompassing 35,000 sq ft with an inveﬆ ment of around `seven crore and can service up to 1,000 vehicles in a

month. Two new exclusive 3S facilities for Fiat and Tata will be operational in Okhla by May. The company also plans to enter other ﬆates like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. “Our aim is to deliver world class service with minimum hitch. We have over 95 percent repeat cuﬆomers. Many of the cuﬆomers recommend their friends and family to this place”, said General Manager (service), Oberoi Cars, Wing Commodore, Brigadier Raj Gopalan.

to be future-ready

Dealer USP “We want to treat cuﬆomers as kings. The second thing is that we want to provide service as quickly as possible as we don’t want the cuﬆomer to wait for hours and hours. We want to satisfy them,” Director, Oberoi Cars, Sukhvendra Singh Oberoi told Aftermarket. The USP of the dealership is that even the mechanics are very welltrained. They speak courteously, which attracts the higheﬆ number of cuﬆomers. It provides with a vehicle pick-up and drop facility and also arranges for

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

A Car Being Serviced At The Company

SPECIAL REPORT

HMSI opens ninth showroom in

Chennai The Chennai Showroom

Our Bureau

BUOYED by the increasing sales Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has added another dealer to its network MPL Honda in Chennai. This is the ninth retail showroom for the company, which can offer sales, service and spares. The showroom was inaugurated by noted Tamil Film Director, KS Ravikumar along with the Unit Leader of HMSI, Jobin Jose. According to company officials, HMSI has been selling around 6,000 vehicles a month in Chennai and MPL will add about 700 to 1,000 vehicles a month, in the next six months. The Chairman of MPL Group, S Ravindranathan said that with MPL Honda, the group is present in the entire automotive retailing space in addition to off-the-road vehicles. HMSI has 1,364 outlets across the country including dealerships, subdealers and other branches. It plans to sell 21.05 lakh units in FY12, which is a growth of 27 percent over laﬆ fi scal’s 16.56 lakh units. According to the data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufact urers’ (SIAM),

it has regiﬆ ered a year-on-year growth of 23.78 percent by selling 1,586,009 units in the cumulative period of April 2011 to January 2012 in the domeﬆ ic market.

HMSI has increased its production capacity by starting a new line at its Tapukara plant. The new line will help in doubling the capacity of this plant by adding six lakh units (0.6 million) taking the current capacity to 12 lakh (1.2 million) units Recently, the Japanese two-wheeler manufact urer has increased the product ion capacity by ﬆarting a new line at its Tapukara plant. The new line will help in doubling the capacity of this plant by adding six lakh units (0.6 million) taking the current capacity to 12 lakh (1.2 million) units. HMSI’s cumulative product ion capacity now reaches 28 lakh (2.8 million)

units annually. Th is will help HMSI in meeting with the rising demand and retaining its position as the top three two-wheeler manufact urer in the country after Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto. “The plant which ﬆarted operations in July 2011 with initial annual product ion capacity of six lakh units will now produce a total of 12 lakh units annually. With this, we shall be able to service our cuﬆomers of Act iva and CB Shine in more speedily manner,” Vice President, Sales and Marketing, NK Rattan said. It has also announced to set-up a third plant in Bangalore that is scheduled to be operational in the ﬁ rﬆ half of 2013, with an annual product ion capacity of 12 lakh (1.2 million) units. MPL group is involved in selling earthmoving machineries such as frontend loaders, rear dumpers, hydraulic excavators and bull dozers and surface miners. In addition it is selling utility vehicles manufact ured by Mahindra & Mahindra, passenger cars by Ford, small commercial vehicles by Ashok Leyland-Nissan and all terrain vehicle by Polaris.

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

NEWS

Speedy cover

for

auto buyers Our Bureau

INDIAFIRST Life Insurance, a joint venture between—Bank of Baroda and Andhra Bank along with UK’s risk, wealth and inveﬆment company Legal & General recently unveiled— Autolife, a new process of getting life insurance cover inﬆantly. According to a company ﬆatement, under Autolife, automobile buyers can now not only ensure their family’s happiness but also secure them from future uncertainties. They can now avail the benefits of a life insurance cover and place as buying their new car and that too at an affordable coﬆ. “It is convenient as it does not require any documentation/ medicals or waiting period and assures speedy and empathetic settlement of claims within 48 hours,” the media release said. The company has entered into its fi rﬆ tie-up with Varun Motors of Andhra Pradesh to offer life insurance cover to its cuﬆomers. IndiaFirﬆ Life is planning similar tie-ups at a nationwide level across various untapped

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

segments in the near future so that cuﬆomers across the country can avail the beneﬁt of a life insurance cover through a simple process. Varun Motors caters to around 15,000 customers every month. They are spread across Andhra Pradesh through 100 centres.

IndiaFirst Life is planning tie-ups at a nationwide level across various untapped segments in the near future so that customers across the country can avail the beneﬁt of a life insurance cover through a simple process “Today we are witnessing two quite diﬆ inct yet obvious trends—one in the automobile induﬆ ry and another in life insurance. While both the induﬆ ries (automobile and life insurance) seem to not be related to each other, they

offer an intereﬆ ing possibility for synergy. In recent times, the automobile induﬆ ry has seen an upsurge not only in terms of numbers but also the kind of involvement and time spent by end users in deciding the right fit. The second trend noticed is the growing preference of inveﬆors for returns over protect ion and inﬆant gratification/solutions inﬆeadof long waits. Th is we see as a gap as well as a great opportunity for us as we increase our focus on group business,” MD & CEO, IndiaFirﬆ Life Insurance Nandagopal said. Under its fi rﬆ tie-up for Autolife, cuﬆomers of Varun Motors (twowheeler/four-wheeler) besides availing vehicle insurance will also be able to avail a life insurance cover of up to `20 lakh at an affordable coﬆ. Cuﬆomers have the flexibility of select ing from any of the four options—blue, silver, gold or platinum, which will provide life insurance cover of up to `three lakh, `five lakh, `10 lakh and `20 lakh respect ively.

NEWS

Formula One enters into technology association with

Tata Communications Our Bureau

TATA COMMUNICATIONS entered into a multi-year technology service and marketing agreement with Formula One management. The agreement will see Tata Communications delivering world-class connectivity to all 20 Formula one race locations over its global network. It will also provide hoﬆ ing and content delivery services to Formula1.com. Formula One group business and race locations will now be connected to the Tata Global Network, supported by secure MPLS connect ivity. Formula One Management's IT infraﬆ ruct ure

Tata Communications and the Formula One Management will work in close collaboration on research and development around connectivity and the latest video technologies and Formula1.com will be co-located and hoﬆed in Tata Communications’ data centres.

The company’s capabilities in video and content delivery networks will enable uninterrupted, high-quality connect ivity to the multi-media portal on the website. The data transfer capacity will ensure Tata Communications is able to fully support the website during race weekends, when the site gets on average four million unique visits per weekend, peaking at seven million over some events. Tata Communications’ infraﬆ ruct ure will enable the sport’s official website to inﬆantly scale up to cope with these significant and sometimes unpredictable traffic spikes. Tata Communications will also provide the site with a managed security suite and will apply an additional layer of managed security monitoring to ensure an increased level of protection to Formula One Management's IT infraﬆ ruct ure. Tata ommunications and Formula One Management will also work in close collaboration on research and development around connect ivity and the lateﬆ video technologies.

Tata Communications’ capabilities in video and content delivery networks will enable uninterrupted, high-quality connectivity to the multi-media portal on the website

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

EVENT

Handling auto waste

is a

big challenge Our Bureau

AUTOMOTIVE induﬆ ry should create a ‘disposal chain', similar to supply chain, so that vehicles that turn into scrap bundles can be effect ively disposed, the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, Dr R Chidambaram has said. Delivering the inaugural address at the fourth edition of ‘Automotive R&D Trends 2015,’ he said that the industry should take this as a serious issue and has to work together to avoid major problems caused by the new generation vehicles. According to him, the new generation vehicles are considered to be computer on wheels and require special attention during disposal. The Miniﬆ ry of Heavy Induﬆ ry along with the automobile industry has set-up a demonﬆ ration centre for automobile recycling at GARC (Global Automotive Research Centre), in Oragadam near Chennai for effective recycling. Several induﬆ ries have

donated large numbers of cars and two-wheelers to kick ﬆart the centre. Chidambaram said, “Th rough eﬀect ive recycling, one can generate two million tonnes of ﬆeel, 150,000 tonnes of aluminium, 75,000 tonnes of rubber and plaﬆ ic by 2020. With the help of these scraps it requires only seven percent of elect rical energy to produce aluminium.” Conference Chairman and Executive Vice Chairman, Hinduja Automotive Ltd, Dr V Sumantran said, “Mobility had to be viewed as a syﬆem, which called for control of vehicles, dynamic pricing of the use of road infraﬆ ruct ure, green initiatives and use of computers to monitor, control and intervene in how the vehicle is driven or used and syﬆems to address the topic of safety, in which India lagging behind.” Dr Chidambaram indicated that Chennai has the right environment to emerge as an automotive R&D hub, since it is driven by induﬆry-led research

Dr V Sumantran, Executive Vice Chairman, Hinduja Automotive addressing the conference

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

inﬆitutions like Ashok Leyland, Renault Nissan joint venture, Mahindra Research Valley, and academia like IIT Madras, IIT Research Park, Anna University, Madras Inﬆitute of Technology, to carry out R&D works on automotive technologies. He emphasised that R&D is needed in areas such as materials (to create lightweight alloys, joining of different types of materials), energy efficiency, emission control, driver assiﬆance, safety and embedded syﬆems. Auﬆ ralian Automotive Induﬆry Envoy, John Conomos said, “Auﬆralia was one of the 13 countries capable of creating a car from concept to showroom. The advanced design, engineering and product ion of the automotive induﬆry in Auﬆ ralia were supported by ﬆ rong R&D. With 160 component and service companies, the State of Victoria had a very ﬆ rong international presence. The State has been the centre for design and engineering of global vehicles and it has been doing the design, development and engineering of vehicles for offshore manufact urers.” The adviser of Inveﬆment and Technology Promotion for Asia Pacific, United Nations Induﬆrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Alejandro Vera Casso said, “UNIDO intervention helped the Indian automotive SMEs to become a technologically advanced and globally competitive in their production process. This enabled them to be a part of the supply chain of the multinational automotive companies that set-up manufact uring bases in India.

EVENT

Green axle-erates momentum in

aftermarket Bhargav TS

MYSORE-BASED commercial vehicle components manufact urer, Meritor HVS (India) has organised a fleet owners meet to showcase its two-speed axle, which is also called green axle, trailer axles, parts for aftermarket and other drive axles to participants comprising fleet owners in Namakkal, Tamil Nadu. Apex bodies like Lorry Owners Association, LPG and Tanker Owners Association, and Trailer Owners Association along with fleet owners and mechanics attended the two-day event to underﬆand the benefits of two-speed axle, which offers a seven to 12 percent improvement in fuel economy and 14 to 28 percent reduction in turnaround time resulting in improved return on inveﬆment. During the event, the company had a cut-section and a working model of the two-speed axle on display in order

to communicate the internal working of the two-speed axle and enable the participants to underﬆand the products better. Apart from the two-speed axle, Meritor had its lateﬆ range of trailer axles on display and communicated its ﬆrength, design expertise and leadership when it comes to axle design for Indian conditions. The trailer axles come in variety of weight ratings, track options, wheelend options and brake sizes along with non-asbeﬆos brakes for each and every application on Indian roads. These products are backed by pan-India service and spares network in order to reduce vehicle downtime through effective and efficient availability of spares. Products displayed for aftermarket included crown wheel pinions, spider kits, pinion flanges, axle shafts, U-J kit, yoke-teeth and others products, which address the vehicle’s requirement through its lifecycle. These parts offer genuine replacement for Meritor axles as

A Range Of Aftermarket Products On Display

Apex bodies with fleet owners and mechanics attended the event to understand the benefits of two-speed axle, which offers 12 percent improvement in fuel economy well as its ﬆandard quality spares for all makes of vehicles. The company also focused on other drive axles, like the MT148 and MS145 among others. These axles have proven themselves in the neighboring region and are renowned and sought after both in the OE as well as aftermarket/retrofitting market.

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

NEWS

BMW launches Driver Training programme Our Bureau

BMW India has introduced the BMW Driver Training programme for its cuﬆomers and prospects. Initially, the BMW Driver Training programme will be conducted in Delhi NCR and Chennai. BMW India dealerships in Delhi, Gurgaon and Chennai will identify owners and prospect ive buyers who are intereﬆed in participating in the training programme. President, BMW Group India, Dr Andreas Schaaf said, “BMW Driver Training is a signature training programme to improve the driving skills, handling, reaction time and awareness of BMW cuﬆomers. The aim was, and remains, to provide an opportunity to know the capabilities of a BMW better and experience the superior technology. The programme is designed to help cuﬆomers to overcome potential hazards in day-to-day driving.” Drawing on the extensive experience

and in-depth expertise, inﬆructors take the cuﬆomers through various driving techniques ﬆarting from basics such as the correct seating position and ﬆeering wheel poﬆ ure to the appropriate ﬆeering technique, avoidance manoeuvres, emergency and target braking, dynamic lane changes and deliberately induced under ﬆeering or over ﬆeering on bends. “The programme focuses on the challenges posed everyday on the road. It helps the driver to retain composure

and remain clear headed, as well as apply the knowledge in critical situations. It provides the ideal foundation for increasing the necessary self-conﬁdence as well as enhancing the pleasure of everyday driving. With small groups and under the guidance of experienced inﬆ ructors, the drivers get an excellent basis for developing a conﬁdent approach to driving.” Schaaf said. Th rough this programme drivers are able to get a better feel of how to react calmly in unexpected situations. By pract ising a range of safety exercises; and dynamic techniques in the programme, cuﬆomers experience both sheer driving pleasure and develop an expert control over the vehicle.

Tata Motors launches service camp for Sumo Our Bureau

TATA MOTORS has recently launched a nation-wide service camp for the entire Tata Sumo range. Around 281 Tata Motors authorised dealerships participated in the camp across the country. The Tata Sumo Care Camp covered the entire Tata Sumo range—Tata Sumo Vict a, Tata Sumo Spacio, Tata Sumo Spacio Gold, Tata Sumo Grande and the

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

recently launched Tata Sumo Gold. These care camps provide Tata Sumo owners with an opportunity to service their vehicles and ensure that it is in the beﬆ of condition. Besides a comprehensive free check-up, cuﬆomers can avail of a 15 percent discount on labour charges and ﬁ ve percent discount on original spare parts. The Tata Sumo Care Camp team also engage with cuﬆomers on maintenance tips and interior enrichment

Tata Sumo Gold launched in Nov’11

of the vehicle. Cuﬆomers can also avail for various schemes including exchange and extended warranty.

NEWS

Ashok Leyland showcases mining, logistics solutions at COMMEX Our Bureau

ASHOK LEYLAND showcased a range of logiﬆ ics solutions cuﬆomised for the conﬆ ruct ion and mining induﬆ ries at recent COMMEX 2012. The company displayed five vehicles, including two tippers on the U-truck platform and three conﬆ ruct ion application vehicles with enhanced features. The U-truck tippers have been designed and developed to offer superior trucking experience. It offers flexibility, greater load carrying capability and better gradeability that are critical for the use of these vehicles at mining sites and ﬆone quarries. The U-2523T is a rugged workhorse and ideal for use on rough terrains and in harsh operating conditions. The U-2523T incorporates moﬆ of the DGMS (Directorate General of Mines Safety) recommendations regulated by the government of India. Moﬆ suitable for ﬆone quarry owners and contractors, the U-2523 T packs extra torque for higher gradeability, additional power to pick-up and thereby make more number of trips. It has a ﬆ rong load body designed to minimise coﬆ of maintenance and

maximize availability. The U-2518il T is a heavy-duty tipper for surface to surface transportation of conﬆ ruct ion material over long distances. It is also fitted with the unique inline pump to enable faﬆer pick-up and is available in a variety of load bodies to carry different material including sand, blue metal and bricks. The company’s range of conﬆruction application vehicles, 2516 H3/4C, CT1616 XP and e-comet 1012, used as transit mixers and material carriers are specifically designed and developed for easy movement of ready-mix concrete

The company displayed ﬁve vehicles, including two tippers on the U-truck platform & three construction application vehicles with enhanced features from the batching plant to the conﬆ ruct ion site.

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

NEWS IN BRIEF

Tata Motors to launch mobile training centre Bhargav TS

IN a bid to support mechanics of Tata Motors to enhance their technical knowledge to service new generation vehicles, the vehicle manufacturer is planning to introduce mobile training centres in the rural areas. This is because the need for technical training to service vehicles is growing exponentially due to technological improvements in the vehicles. Mechanics, especially in the rural areas lack technical skills as they are not able to get refresher training due to conﬆ raints like diﬆance and travel. Tata Motors is planning to offer training programme at mechanics’ localities through a fleet of mobile training units. A company official told Aftermarket

that the mobile concept is conducted to ﬆandardise the servicing and repairing of vehicles. In addition to enhancing the knowledge levels of mechanics, it will also improve the quality of the service eventually increasing cuﬆomer satisfaction. “The mobile training unit will be travelling in a scheduled manner so that the training happens in a continuous process,” he said. Th is will be catering to the requirements of mechanics who are located far away from the company’s main training centres. The mobile training unit comprises a driver training module and a mechanic training centre. In the driver training module, the equipment will assess the performance of drivers, which will help them to improve

their driving skills. The other part of the mobile training unit consiﬆs of the mechanic training centre, which is connected to an electronic media delivering ﬆep-by-ﬆep repair procedures of the aggregates and the mechanics will be trained on those procedures. Apart from this, the mechanics will have pract ical training with the help of the cut-sect ion models of aggregates.

Jaya Hind to enter NK Rattan quits new segments HMSI

Sudhir Rao joins Skoda Auto India

Abhishek Parekh

Our Bureau

JAYA HIND Induﬆ ries is looking to enter newer segment within engine and transmisPrasan Firodia, Director, sion parts and Jaya Hind Industries syﬆems. It is looking to leverage its exiﬆing partnership with German component major KSAT for getting advanced technology and overseas business. “We are looking to leverage the relationship that our partner and collaborator has eﬆablished in Europe to enter lower HP three or four-cylinder engine blocks in and around Europe and in the process of creating export opportunities for Jaya Hind Induﬆries,” said Director, Jaya Hind Induﬆries, Prasan Firodia.

NK RATTAN resigned as Vice President, Sales & Marketing from Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt Ltd (HMSI). He was handling portfolio of Operating Head, Sales Planning and Marketing and Operating Head, Corporate Aﬀairs. Rattan joined HMSI as Head Sales in August, 2000 and has been instrumental in setting up the sales & marketing operations in domestic as well as international markets. He contributed in developing many business processes and sales quality systems like the Dealer Management System (DMS), retail management, Customer Relations Management (CRM), joint promotion and dispatch systems.

SUDHIR RAO has joined Skoda Auto India Private Ltd as its Managing Director from Sudhir Rao, MD, Skoda Auto India Pvt Ltd this month. “We are very pleased to be hiring Sudhir Rao as managing director,” said Skoda Auto CEO Winfried Vahland, adding, “he is the top automobile manager with many years of experience and an international background. He also knows the Indian market perfect ly. Under his responsibility, Skoda Auto India will vigorously continue its successful evolution of the paﬆ ten years and further consolidate its good position.

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

NEWS

Dealers squeezed between rising values and volume reductions RISING used car trade values will increase the squeeze on dealer proﬁtability according to the independent benchmark used car pricing guide CAP Black Book. Healthy dealer margins will be threatened by an anticipated reduct ion in ﬆock availability, increasingly forcing them to buy cars requiring more inveﬆment in refurbishing to retail ﬆandard, warns CAP. Despite slow retail sales, due to low consumer conﬁdence, dealers are already being forced to pay higher prices for many cars in anticipation of an approaching shortage of used car ﬆock. Th is expected reduct ion in the number of cars available in the trade market ﬆems from the cataﬆ rophic slowdown in new car regiﬆ rations in 2009. Black Book, which is used by 94 of Britain's top 100 motor dealers, reports that the moﬆ successful dealers in the current market are those able to price as keenly as possible. However, this priceled ﬆ rategy sets the scene for possible business failures in a climate of tougher competition and rising overheads, said CAP.

Despite slow retail sales, dealers are being forced to pay higher prices for cars in anticipation of an approaching shortage of used cars stock. The expected reduction in cars available stems from the slowdown in new car registrations in 2009

Black Book Editor, Mark Bulmer, ﬆated that after a spike in volume some major disposal sources are dramatically reducing their sale entry numbers and tell us they will continue to do so. Consequently, we expect to see significantly less volume in the future. "The response to this among dealers is likely to be a reluctant acceptance that they will have to ‘buy damage' and even purchase ﬆock speculatively, rather than for order. One independent told us he is down on laﬆ year's retail sales but is ﬆ ill act ively sourcing cars to create a buffer for the expected drying up of volume. Although not unheard of, it has also been noticed that dealers within the same group are frequently bidding againﬆ each other to avoid being left short of forecourt offerings. "Th is is throwing up the challenge—which we have long signalled for this year—of sourcing sufficient ﬆock of the right quality. The ﬆory from another group buyer is inﬆ ructive. He reported leaving one sale in the 3rd week of January at the ‘high' prices he was seeing, and reluctant to buy anything at all there. The next day he travelled to acquire more reasonably priced ﬆock, only to find prices even higher. "None of this should detract from the fact that consumers are not banging on the doors to spend their money. We are simply seeing an ongoing

uneasy balance of limited consumer demand with reﬆ ricted supply. Perhaps one fact better than any other sums up the mood of the times and that is the increasing number of cuﬆomers who are trading in two cars againﬆ one pract ical used car." CAP used car pricing and technical information has been truﬆed by motor trade professionals for more than 30 years. The company provides truﬆed and accurate pricing and technical information on cars, vans, motorcycles and trucks to the UK automotive induﬆ ry every day. As well as helping dealers, ﬂeet operators, insurers, vehicle manufact urers and ﬁnance providers, CAP information also operates at the heart of many leading vehicle marketing websites and car sales portals, including Britain's largeﬆ—AutoTrader—helping consumers safely make the beﬆ informed decisions about their purchase choices.

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

GLOBAL

BMW goes big in the Middle-East WITH Middle Eaﬆ becoming a vital market for BMW, the German car maker has recently opened its largeﬆ showroom in Abu Dhabi for its lateﬆ ﬂeet of cars including BMW, BMW bikes, Mini and Rolls-Royce Motor cars. Abu Dhabi Motors, the BMW Group's long-ﬆanding importer for the region, has inveﬆed around AED 300 million (approx Euro 62 million) in the new 35,000-sq-mt showroom over its three-year conﬆ ruct ion.

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

The new showroom was formally inaugurated by Member of the Board of Management, BMW AG, responsible for Sales and Marketing, Ian Robertson; National Security Advisor and Vice-Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, His Highness Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan and General Manager of Abu Dhabi Motors, Arno Husselmann that was held recently. At the opening, Ian Robertson said,

"The Middle East is an important region for the BMW Group. We sold more vehicles here in 2011 than ever before. There is tremendous future growth potential in many countries in this region and in the United Arab Emirates in particular." Other guests included VicePresident for Importer Markets of BMW AG, Graeme Grieve; Director of BMW Group Design,

GLOBAL

Adrian Van Hooydonk and fashion designer, Walid Atallah. The facility in Umm Al Nar houses separate showrooms and sales areas for the three premium automobile brands, BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, and for BMW motorcycles. More than 450 ﬆ aﬀ members will work at the facility. The new showroom will allow cuﬆomers to view the brands' entire model line-up in different colours and diﬀerent option packages, with more than 70 automobiles and 10 motorcycles on permanent display. Th is will be complemented by an extensive range of newer preowned vehicles and a service area equipped with the lateﬆ technology. The workshop will be able to perform maintenance on up to 120 vehicles simultaneously. A further focus will be the facility's extensive shopping and boutique area, which will sell a wide selection of BMW and Mini fashion items and other merchandise, as well as original parts and

accessories, in a bright and friendly setting. Moreover, there is a private cinema that can also hoﬆ exclusive new-vehicle presentations for special occasions, a café, a Formula One racing simulator and a children's play area. Robertson concluded, "The inveﬆment in this unique facility, making it our biggeﬆ BMW showroom globally, is teﬆament to the continued opportunities that lie ahead in Abu Dhabi and in the region."

New Middle East Sales Record The BMW Group achieved a new sales record in the Middle Eaﬆ in 2011. A total of 18,657 BMW and Mini brand vehicles were sold laﬆ year in the region's 14 import markets—an increase of more than nine percent year-onyear. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) accounted for more than 47 percent of deliveries, with Abu Dhabi and Dubai being the largeﬆ markets. The beﬆ-selling vehicles in the region in 2011 were large model series such as the BMW 7 Series, the 5 Series, the X5 and the X6. The BMW 7 was the top-selling car in the BMW model range, for example, with 4,511 vehicles delivered to cuﬆomers. In 2011 the Middle Eaﬆ was the third biggeﬆ market worldwide for the

BMW 7 Series following China and the United States. In the region's 14 markets, particularly ﬆ rong growth was seen in Qatar with an increase of 26 percent (1,265 units), Abu Dhabi - 23 percent (4,436 units), Dubai - 23 percent (4,395 units), Kuwait six percent (2,380 units) and Saudi Arabia two percent (3,072 units).

Largest Importer In Region The import company, Abu Dhabi Motors began its operations in May 1986 with a small showroom and workshop in Umm Al Nar employing 24 people. Over the years, it has grown to become the leading BMW Group importer in the Middle Eaﬆ by sales. It currently employs over 450 ﬆaﬀ members at 10 diﬀerent facilities across Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. In 2011, Abu Dhabi Motors set a new sales record: a total of 4,436 cars belonging to the three BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands were delivered to cuﬆomers—a 23 percent increase over 2010. With sales growth of 16 percent and Rolls-Royce's higheﬆ percentage of bespoke cars, Abu Dhabi Motors was also one of the British luxury brand's top ten dealers in the world in 2011.

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

GLOBAL

Ford wins Global Mobile Award

for technology During the development of the Emergency Assistance feature, Ford worked with the European Emergency Number Association (EENA), gaining valuable inputs into the system design. EENA aims to ensure a consistently high level of response to 999 emergency number calls across Europe

A new Ford technology being introduced on the all-new B-MAX to assiﬆ occupants in making a 999 call to emergency services in the event of a crash has won a preﬆ igious technology award. Ford’s Emergency Assiﬆance alerts local emergency services operators, in the correct local language based on GPS coordinates from the vehi-

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

cle, after an accident. It is the moﬆ advanced syﬆem of its type and forms a key part of Ford’s voice-act ivated incar connect ivity syﬆem, Sync, which makes its European debut in the allnew B-MAX. The Emergency Assiﬆ ance won the “Beﬆ Mobile Innovation for Automotive, Transport or Utilities” category today at the 2012 Global

GLOBAL

Mobile Awards, Barcelona. The achievement crowned a hiﬆoric Mobile World Congress visit for Ford, after B-MAX became the ﬁ rﬆ car to debut at the show and Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Company, Bill Ford became the ﬁ rﬆ automotive induﬆ ry leader to deliver a keynote speech. “Ford is delighted to see the potentially life-saving benefits of Sync with emergency assistance recognised by international communications technology experts,” said Chairman and CEO, Ford of Europe Stephen Odell. “Emergency Assistance makes full use of mobile communications

The syﬆem also identiﬁes the accident location co-ordinates using the on-board GPS unit, map and mobile network information, and saves crucial seconds by placing a call direct ly to emergency service operators rather than ﬁ rﬆ routing through a third party call centre. During the development of the Emergency Assiﬆ ance feature, Ford worked with the European Emergency Number Association (EENA), gaining valuable inputs into the syﬆem design. EENA aims to ensure a consiﬆently high level of response to 999 emergency number calls across Europe.

Cuﬆomers will be provided with Emergency Assiﬆ ance free-of-charge as part of the cuﬆomer-upgradeable Sync platform. The Sync syﬆem, of which Emergency Assiﬆ ance is juﬆ one part, is already found on more than 4,000,000 cars in the US and makes its fi rﬆ European appearance on Ford B-MAX. Sync will also read aloud incoming SMS text messages from compatible mobile phones. It can also be used with a variety of digital music players, including iPod and USB fl ash drives. The syﬆem automatically updates phonebook entries, while audio fi les can be browsed by genre,

Ford’s Emergency Assistance alerts local emergency services operators, in the local language based on GPS coordinates from the vehicle, after an accident. It is the most advanced system of its type and forms a key part of Ford’s voice-activated in-car connectivity system, Sync

technology to deliver an extremely valuable service to Ford customers, free-of charge for the lifetime of their vehicle.” The act ivation of an airbag or the vehicle’s emergency fuel pump shutoﬀ prompts the vehicle to initiate an emergency call, using an introductory message, through the occupant’s Bluetooth connected mobile phone.

“We are pleased that Ford has consulted with the EENA and European emergency call centres in the development of the Emergency Assiﬆ ance feature,” said EENA Executive Director, Gary Machado. “We are conﬁdent that solutions enabling vehicles to be connected to emergency call centres will contribute to saving lives in Europe.”

artiﬆ , album, song and playliﬆ using simple voice commands. The USB port also enables the implementation of software upgrades for future enhancements and features. The product ion-ready Ford B-MAX will make its automotive show debut at next week’s 2012 Geneva Motor Show and go on sale in the UK this September.

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

GLOBAL

Real-time electronic information system launched FEDERAL-MOGUL has recently launched an innovative real-time elect ronic information syﬆem for aftermarket cuﬆomers. The 'e360' platform oﬀers lateﬆ product information, technical resources for diﬆ ributors, parts professionals and service dealers. The company has introduced a comprehensive elect ronic communication platform that allows virtually any web-enabled aftermarket cuﬆomer to receive the lateﬆ news regarding the company's product s and programmes and to access an extensive virtual library of technical resources and other business-critical tools. The new syﬆem, Federal-Mogul e360, is available on a 24/7 basis at www. fme360.com. "The FM e360 platform eﬆablishes an important new benchmark for cuﬆomer connect ivity and support

“Not only does FM e360 allow customers to instantly connect with any of our brands, products, technical tools and other services, but it also provides Federal-Mogul sales professionals with all of the new resources they need to better support their customers’ businesses,”—Jay Burkhart, Senior VP, FederalMogul Global Aftermarket

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

A Screen Shot Of e360

within the North American aftermarket induﬆ ry," said Senior Vice President, Federal-Mogul Global Aftermarket, Jay Burkhart. "This single touchpoint enables any diﬆ ributor, front-line parts professional or service shop employee to connect with the lateﬆ and beﬆ information tools covering every Federal-Mogul product line. It also serves as a convenient portal through which users can access our induﬆ ry leading elect ronic catalogue and eCommerce syﬆems." The www.fme360.com ecosyﬆem includes a continuous feed of news regarding Federal-Mogul products and programs for the aftermarket. Users can also access real-time information regarding product orders, manage their participation in promotional programmes, look up parts and tap into the company's ever growing library of technical information, including web-

ﬆ reaming diagnoﬆ ic and repair videos, data sheets, technical service bulletins and more. "Not only does this syﬆem allow cuﬆomers to inﬆantly connect with any of our brands, products, technical tools and other services, but it also provides Federal-Mogul sales professionals with all of the new resources they need to better support their cuﬆomers' businesses," Burkhart said. "The new syﬆem features an open architecture based on proven, practical technologies that help ensure widespread adoption by cuﬆomers at every level of the aftermarket," said Manager of e-data and Digital Marketing, North America, Federal-Mogul, Brent Berman. "This is an open platform in the trueﬆ sense, and it oﬀers valuable business tools for any current or future Federal-Mogul customer. We believe there is nothing else like it in our induﬆry."

PRODUCTS

Automobile Battery Charger THIS is available in capacities covering a wide range of voltages from 0 to 300 V DC and current range from 10 A to 200 A. The battery charger effect ively controls variations in the flow of current. Available in different technical specification, the range is widely used in automobile induﬆ ry. Some of the features are maintaining conﬆant current at the load, no effect of voltage variation on output current, maintains the quality of plates and saves time period, controls overloading of elect rical supply syﬆem, etc.

Tantra International Mumbai, Maharashtra Tel: +91-022-28082384 Mob: 09967571636 Email: sales.tantrainter@gmail.com Website: www.tantrainter.com

Spring Load Balancers THESE spring load balancers are designed speciﬁcally to reduce the operator’s fatigue when working with heavy tools. The spring load balancers carry loads making it easy for the operator to concentrate on his work more eﬀect ively. These balancers are properly balanced by adjuﬆ ing spring tension and become weightless in the hands of the operator. A range of 15 models cover balancing capacity requirement from 0.25-120 kg. The spring balancers are used in automotive sector to suspend portable pneumatic tools. Normal area of use is engine assembly, two-wheeler assembly, body shop of cars, fabrication shops, chassis assembly of cars, tractors, jeeps, etc.

Tulex Industrial Tools (P) Ltd, Thane, Maharashtra Tel: 0251-2436207 Email: tulex@vsnl.net Website: www.tulextools.com

FORM IV Statement about ownership and other particulars about Aftermarket, as required to be published in the ﬁrst issue every year after the last day of February. 1. Place of Publication: Ruby House, ‘A’ Wing, JK Sawant Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai-400 028 2. Periodicity of Publication: Monthly 3. Printer’s Name: Mr Mohan Gajria Nationality: Indian Address: Infomedia 18 Ltd, Ruby House, ‘A’ Wing, JK Sawant Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai-400 028 4. Publisher’s Name: Mr Sandeep Khosla Nationality: Indian Address: Infomedia 18 Ltd, Ruby House, ‘A’ Wing, JK Sawant Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai-400 028 5. Editor’s Name: Mr T Murrali Nationality: Indian Address: 6th Floor, Kannammai Bldg, 611, Anna Salai Chennai-600 006 6. Names and addresses of Individuals who own Aftermarket & partners or shareholder holding more than 1% of total capital: Infomedia 18 Limited (formerly known as Infomedia India Limited), Ruby House, ‘A’ Wing, JK Sawant Marg, Dadar (W), Mumbai-400 028 is the owner of Aftermarket. Details of the shareholders of Infomedia 18 Limited who are holding more than 1% of the paid up equity share capital of the company as on 20-02-2012: 1. Network18 Media & Investments Limited, 503,504 & 507, 5th Floor, Mercantile House, 15 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi - 110001 2. Acacia Conservation Fund LP, Citibank N A, Custody Services 3rd Flr, Trent House, G Block, Plot No. 60, BKC, Bandra (East), Mumbai - 400051 3. Pramod Premchand Shah, Kalpana Pramod Shah, Agra Building, 1st Floor, 121/4 M.G.Road, Mumbai - 400023 4. Acacia Institutional Partners, LP, Citibank N A, Custody Services 3rd Flr, Trent House, G Block, Plot No. 60, BKC, Bandra (East), Mumbai - 400051 5. SPS Capital & Money Management Services Pvt Ltd, 66,Tamarind Lane, 4/5,Haji Kasam Bldg, 1st Floor, Fort, Mumbai - 400023 6. Sanjiv Dhireshbhai Shah, 201-203, Sapphire Complex, Nr. Cargo Motors, C.G. Road, Ahmedabad - 380006 7. The Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Oriental House, P B 7037, A-25/27, Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi - 110002 8. Accurate Finstock Pvt Ltd, 9th Floor, Shikhar, Adani House, Nr. Mithakhali Six Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad - 380009 I, Sandeep Khosla, hereby declare that all particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. Dated: 20th February 2012 Sandeep Khosla Signature of the publisher

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

PRODUCTS

Solid and Hollow Rivets THE cold forged rivets come in 1.4-10 mm diameter in round head, CSK head, ﬂat head, tin-min type, raised, mushroom head, trussed, binding head and 1.4-5 mm pop rivets and 3-10 mm hollow cold forged process rivets made from special wire. These products are made as per IS, BIS, JIS and DIN ﬆandards or as per drawings and samples. Materials used are MS, special wires, brass, aluminium, copper and SS-304/316. Applications are in machine tools, light and heavy engineering induﬆ ries, hydraulics, pneumatics, automobiles, fabrication, bus body manufact uring and other service induﬆ ries.

Stacker Crane Shock Absorbers THE SCS series ﬆacker crane shock absorbers are designed primarily for emergency applications to improve the performance and safe operation of equipment, such as automated ﬆorage and retrieval syﬆems. During normal operation, these shock absorbers are required to provide only minimal resiﬆance, but are designed to funct ion under full load conditions when necessary. In an emergency condition, when the velocity of the syﬆem carriage or trolley is greater than normal, the shock absorbers respond to protect the inﬆallation by providing controlled deceleration. Applications are in automated ﬆorage and retrieval syﬆems, automotive manufact uring and product ion equipment, theme park rides and small overhead cranes.

ABC Industrial Fasteners, Mumbai, Maharashtra Tel: 022-2847 0806 Email: abc@precibolts.com Website: www.precibolts.com

Slack Adjusters AN array of slack adjuﬆers that is equipped with lateﬆ technology is offered. These slack adjuﬆers are highly efficient and their ﬆ urdy conﬆ ruct ion is well appreciated by eﬆeemed customers. The slack adjuﬆers are known for their features, such as dimensional accuracy, ﬆ urdy conﬆ ruct ion, durability and efficiency.

Cosmo Teck, Mumbai, Maharashtra Tel: +91-022-26403687 Mob: 09833811406 Email: asif_fakih@yahoo.com Website: www.cosmoteck.in

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

Maco Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd, Kolkata, West Bengal Tel: 033-2454 3200 Email: kolkata@macocorporation.com Website: www.macocorporation.com

Belt Dressers THE belt dressers are specially formulated spray for cleaning and protecting belts made up of rubber, leather and synthetic material. These belt dressers are used in automobile fan belts, such as air-conditioners, etc. The belt dressers eliminate screeching noise, improve transmission eﬃciency by preventing slippage and developing grip, and extend belt life by protect ing it from weathering eﬀects. These are available in 500 gm aerosol tins.

Chem-Verse Consultants (India) Pvt Ltd Mumbai, Maharashtra Tel: +91-22-24033826 Email: sales@chemverse.com Website: www.chemverse.com

PRODUCTS

Wheel Aligners THE R pac super 8 x 6 fully-loaded wheel aligners have four compact measuring heads, 8 CMOS/CCD cameras and six inclinometers. These wheel aligners have camber, caﬆer, toe, front setback, and thruﬆ angle. Other salient features include kingpin inclination/spoiler program, rear setback/track width diﬀerence, wheel rim size of 12”-20”, excess toe warning, four-point runout compensation, voice prompt, data manager software, 17” LCD monitor and park-in tower cabinet with convex mirror to guide vehicle parking on the alignment pit. Optional features and supplies include electronic rotary plate, multilingual program, measurement of lock angle & toe out on turns, auto-charging facility while the sensor arm is operated using cable, and cable option, while the battery power is low.

Industrial and Automobile Keys THESE induﬆ rial and automobile keys are available in all types, like square, fl at and parallel, woodruff, gib-head, etc, as per IS:2048, 2292, 2293, 2294 and 2710, in DIN06881 to 6888, ASTM and BS-46, part I. Sizes range from 3 x 3 mm sq to 50 x 28 mm fl at parallel keys with all sides ground to required tolerance and well chamfered with all over for ease of assemble for 10 mm to 300 mm shaft key ways. The keys are used for transmitting loads in elect ric motors, pumps, couplings, pulleys, valves, textile machineries, agricultural machineries, chemical plants, machine tools of all types and other rotating parts. Woodruff keys are used in compressors, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, cars, trucks, tractors and gearboxes in all types of machineries.

Jagat Engineers, Vadodara, Gujarat Manatec Electronics Pvt Ltd, Puducherry, Puducherry Tel: +91-0413-2248926 Mob: 09344643104 Email: sales@manatec.net Website: www.manatec.net

Forged Automobile Components A variety of forged automobile components are offered for OEM and aftermarket requirements. In addition, all types of forged components are cuﬆom-designed to meet specific requirements of cuﬆomers. The forged automobile components are designed and developed using modern product ion technologies. These components are available in various profi les, like materials and grades.

Samrat Forgings Ltd, Mohali, Punjab Tel: 01762-655733,09216514444 Email: samratforge@satyam.net.in

Tel: 0265-264 2347

Hydraulic Aerial Access Platforms THE hydraulic aerial access platforms are truck-mounted and towable. These access platforms and lifts are ideal for inﬆallation and maintenance of ﬆ reet lights, HT/LT transformer junctions, overhead elect rical lines repairs, compressed air lines, OHE crane maintenance, etc. The platforms are used for fire fighting and fire rescue within the maximum heights/maximum lateral reach limits. Mountable on all LCV/HTV chassis (new or used) the hydraulic aerial access platforms and lifts are moﬆ suitable for multifarious repairs within induﬆ rial eﬆablishments as well as outdoors. These are towable by a ﬆ urdy multi-utility vehicle or small sized tractor, and are also cuﬆom-designed.

Vanjax Sales Pvt Ltd Chennai, Tamil Nadu Tel: +91-044-42821000,+91-09789976611 Mob: 0810075011Email: info@vanjax.com Website: www.vanjax.in

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

PRODUCTS

Automobile Forged Components

Diesel Engine Automobile Sleeves

FORGINGS for automobile and engineering components are manufact ured by ferrous and non-ferrous materials. Forgings are undertaken as per drawings, specifications and samples provided by customers. The forged components include transmission shafts and gears, differential gears, drive shafts, clutch hubs, universal joints, yokes, crosses, tie rods, pinions, rocker arms, spindles, kingpins, idler arms, pitman arms, ﬆeering arms, linkages, connect ing rods, small crankshafts for automobile induﬆ ries, and wing roots and spares, hinges, brackets, wheels, arreﬆ ing hooks, sprockets, shanks, fl anges, engine valves, elbows, reducers, saddles, Tees, valve bodies, rod caps, levers, pedeﬆal caps, suspension, clamps, hooks, connectors, brake jaws, anchors, slack adjuﬆers, ﬆ raddle balls, rotors, knuckles, handles, push rods, knobs, housings, pivots, hinges, fork crown, etc.

THE diesel engine automobile sleeves are made from very high quality raw material, which ensures high durability at its user end. These diesel engine automobile sleeves are available in different sizes and designs. The diesel engine automobile sleeves are available at induﬆrial leading prices.

Super Forge Rajkot, Gujarat Tel: 02827-287115 Email: superforge2004@yahoo.com

Tractor Parts TRACTORS, including earthmoving machines, components encounter low speed-high torque loading for longer periods of time. These are subjected to intense variations in loading, poor engine cooling due to low travel speeds and frequent ﬆop-ﬆart conditions. This induces extreme thermal and mechanical ﬆ resses in tractor engine parts, and only the proper foundry and machining pract ices can produce a tractor part that is robuﬆ enough to survive the elements and the harsh ﬁeld operating conditions.

Garima Global Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, Maharashtra Tel: +91-022-40378888 Mob: 09821606439 Email: email@garimaglobal.com Website: www.garimaglobal.com

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

Ghelani Industries Rajkot, Gujarat Tel: +91-0281-2462440 Mob: 09924566887 Email: ghelani_induﬆ ries@yahoo.co.in Website: www.ghelaniinduﬆ ries.reaindia.com

Airless Shot Peening Machines THE airless shot peening machines are available with 4 pairs of satellites for crown wheel and pinion for automotive components. To ensure the life guarantee in automobile induﬆ ries products, peening is technology applied to increase the fatigue life of the automotive components like crown wheel & pinion, gears & axles, crank shafts & connect ing rods, suspensions & springs, valves & cams etc, by increasing the residual compressive ﬆrength of such components. These automotive components are fi xed with the help of specific designed fi xture on suitable number of pair of satellites on indexing turntable depending upon the production output.

MEC Shot Blasting Equipments Pvt Ltd Jodhpur, Gujarat Tel: 91-0291-2740609 Email: mail@mecshot.com Website: www.mecshot.net

PRODUCTS

Petrol Injector Cleaning and Testing Machines THE model HIM-120 petrol injector cleaning and teﬆ ing machines have computerised setting for cleaning and teﬆing. These machines clean and teﬆ up to 4 injectors simultaneously for all types of MPFI vehicles. The tank capacity is 5 ltr and weight of machines is 25 kg approximately with empty tank. The petrol injector cleaning and teﬆ ing machines operate either on 230 AC ±10 per cent or 12 V DC @ 15 A battery supply. These machines give alarm at the end of each cleaning and teﬆ ing operation. The machines de-pressurise the rail after cleaning and teﬆ ing by drain key to avoid any waﬆage of chemical. Any operation can be held at any time during cleaning and teﬆ ing.

Hanu Autonics Pvt Ltd Alwar, Rajasthan Tel: +91-0144-3203674 Mob: 09413303674 Email: hanuautonics@gmail.com Website: www.hanuautonics.org

Super nishing Films VARIOFILM super finishing fi lm is used for micro-polishing of crankshafts, camshafts, rubber rollers and metal cylinders. Some of the special characteriﬆ ics of the super finishing fi lm includes smooth & ﬆ rong polyeﬆer fi lm backing with uniform thickness, uniform & ﬆable polishing performances by abrasive particles coated by advanced ﬆatically charged coating technology, special back coating for anti-skidding, treated abrasive grains & hence longer product life, and ﬆandard grain size.

Mipox Bangalore, Karnataka Tel: +91-80-65830898,09972053377 Email: rag.rao@mipox.co.jp Website: www.mipox.co.jp

Glossometers CUSTOM-BUILT gloss meters are offered for checking gloss, brightness, whiteness value of quality control in a wide range of induﬆ ries, like pencil, pen, paints, papers, bottles and its caps, mug, door knobs, soft drinks cans, handles, froﬆed glass bottles (perfume), toys, automobile parts, domeﬆic appliances, wood, etc. These gloss meters are also manufact ured as per customer’s requirements, sizes, shapes, etc. In these gloss meters, samples to be measured are simply placed over the aperture in the center of the top plate, curved as well as flat surface. Transparency, opacity, or any type of photometric inﬆruments is manufact ured as per cuﬆomer’s specifications.

Mangal Instrumentation New Delhi, New Delhi Tel: 011-6584 5192,09811117940 Email: mangal_india@vsnl.com Website: www.mangalinﬆ rumentation.com

Infrared Handheld Heating Units THE infrared handheld heating units are used for diverse heat applications used by leading automobile manufact urers, auto ancillaries, and auto body shops. These units are used for assembly line applications where components or materials need to be heated for curing, ﬆ retching, and removing creases in textile, leather, rexine and so on. The units are compact, ergonomically designed, lightweight and fieldteﬆed. These have inﬆant on/off controls and operate on line voltage. The units can be used in horizontal and vertical positions. Applications are in auto trim product, seat assembly operations, touch-up curing, wood ﬆock heating, furniture, leather, plaﬆ ic and textile fitting in chairs, sofas, etc.

Litel Infrared Systems Pvt Ltd Pune, Maharashtra Tel: +91-020-27121848 Email: sales@litelir.com Website: www.litelir.com

MARCH 2012 AFTERMARKET

AFTERMARKET MARCH 2012

1305629

Dec. 2010

Over Apr.-Nov. (10-11)

Apr.-Dec. (11-12)

% Change

2010-11 Apr.-Dec.

(9 Months) in F.Y.

Avg. Mthly. Prdn.

(9 Months) in F.Y. 2011-12 Apr.-Dec.

Avg. Mthly. Prdn.

Nov. 10 (Prodn.)

Dec. 11 over

1299079

1327870

13%

1477279

Dec. 2011

% Change

Truck/Bus