MyTVS, ABC Bearings joint venture to offer 'one-stop' solution for cars

hmedabad: In what is seen as the equivalent of bigger retail stores possibly ‘edging out’ the neighborhood kirana kiosks, MyTVS, leading multi-brand car service provider from the TVS Group, on Thursday announced to set up about 15 workshops across Gujarat by 2015 to provide one-stop solutions to car owners, post-warranty period.

This may impact the roadside garages, spare part shops and mechanics.

R Srivatchan, President, TVS Automobile Solutions Ltd, said here that these state-of-the-art workshops would provide a “retail experience” to car owners. The after-market industry in this sector isworth Rs 24,000 crore, 50% of which is in the organised sector, he said.

Across India, MyTVS plans to set up nearly 100 such workshops by 2014 whose expected revenues would be around Rs 500 crore per annum, he said.

Srivatchan said that his company has tied up with the promoters of ABC Bearings Ltd, a BSE-listed company in a 70:30 joint venture to set up the first outlet in Vadodara in October. The JV aims to be the

largest multi-brand car service network in Gujarat, providing integrated car service solutions.

Earlier, MyTVS had tied up with the Rajgarhia Group in Kolkata for a similar business. The TVS Group would be expanding this network through such local joint ventures and franchisees, and soon enter the NCR region.

Excluding the cost of land, a workshop would cost Rs two crore each, he said. The JV business would also be entering into annual maintenance contracts (AMCs) with car owners for up to Rs 3,000 per annum.

MyTVS has a brand presence across India through its 24x7 emergency roadside assistance service business. It provides telematics-based vehicle tracking system and immobilizer, car diagnostics, insurance claims management services etc. It currently has 32 own outlets and another 40 franchisee outlets in the four southern states.

The 50-year-old ABC Bearings has three manufacturing facilities in Chennai, Bharuch (Gujarat) and Dehradun, said Sahil Patel, Director.

The 101-year-old, Chennai-based TVS Group had a turnover of $ 6 billion with a workforce of 39,000 in the last fiscal.

TVS Automobile Solutions Ltd (TASL), a subsidiary of TVS & Sons, the holding company, has been in the business of multi-brand car servicing and 24x7 emergency roadside assistance for the last nine years.