'My TVS' to have pan-India presence soon

TVS & Sons lines up Rs 120cr to up network

After establishing as a successful business model in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the last two-and-a-half years, TV Sundaram Iyengar & Sons Limited is planning to give pan-India presence to 'My TVS', a used-car sale and integrated service solutions for car customers, in the next couple of years.

Speaking to the media on the occasion of the launch of 'My TVS' in Andhra Pradesh here on Thursday, R Dinesh, executive director, TVS & Sons, said that the company had drawn up plans to invest about Rs 120 crore in the establishment of network of outlets for used cars and independent multi-brand car services, including emergency breakdown centres in places beyond South India.

According to him, these operations would require a working capital of an additional Rs 100 crore.

To raise quality manpower to be able to undertake repairs and other services, TVS is planning to set up about six training academies at different locations in the country with the first such centre coming up in Madurai shortly. Dinesh said each training centre would train about 350 people a month both in hard and soft skills.

"Once we expand our presence to six or seven states, we may also go for tie ups with car manufacturers in this business division," he said, adding that the company aimed at a 10-12 per cent market share in the Rs 6,000-crore used car and after-sale services.

The company, which is launching 'My TVS' in Karnataka next month, will expand its network to tier-2 cities like Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada once the Hyderabad outlets achieve 50 per cent saturation, according to the TVS executive director.

In Hyderabad, the company will be offering collision repair services through its own service outlets before expanding to emergency breakdown services at strategic locations and integrated service packages and annual maintenance contracts for customers.

Giving a presentation on 'MyTVS' at the press conference, R Srivatchan, president, customer centric business of TVS & Sons, said unlike in other countries, there was no independent service network available in India and the company aimed to fill the gap.

The used car sale and services business, which is expected to touch Rs 100-crore revenue during the current year, accounts for 20 per cent of the company's total turnover, according to Srivatchan.

'MyTVS' has a customer base of nearly 50,000 in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It has an average sale of 3,000 used cars a year and attends to 8,000 breakdown calls, he said.