An exclusive report from MOTORINDIA
ATS ELGI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elgi Equipments Ltd., is a leading manufacturer and distributor of automotive service equipment in India. The company offers the widest range of garage equipment and its products are known for their quality, innovation and efficiency.
In an exclusive interview to Motorindia, Mr. Ramesh Ponnuswami, Managing Director, ATS ELGI, shares his views on how the company has maintained its position at the top of the automotive service industry in India.
Excerpts:
Question: To begin with, please give us an update on business at ATS ELGI. How have you done in the year gone by?
Answer: During the last financial year, car sales growth slumped to about four per cent over the previous year, resulting in an overall reduction in demand for garage equipment. Despite challenging market conditions, our business grew by 14.5 per cent over the previous year. Several new product introductions, e.g., crash repair system, centralized lube management system, auto car wash, effluent treatment plant and dual car parking lift have enabled this growth.
Q: The Indian automotive industry is growing steadily both in terms of numbers and quality standards. As a result, there is growing expectation from the garage equipment companies. How is ATS ElGI gearing up to meet the rising market demand?
A: Quality and reliability are two areas we strive for continuous improvement. We have highly competent teams working with us. This, coupled with our internal business processes, enables us to prevent, predict and meet increasing expectations from OEMs and customers. Our R&D and product development activities are aimed at addressing the needs of our customers, such as productivity improvement, revenue increase and space savings / maximising.
Q: In the last few years, ATS ElGI had almost 50 per cent market share in the garage equipment segment in India. Where does this figure stand today?
A: We have maintained this share and have also increased share in some of the verticals such as body shop, washing and lube equipment.
Q: A few words on your product portfolio in the garage equipment segment please. Which of your products have done well in the market and are you expanding your range with new products?
A: We have nine verticals in our business depending on the kind of equipment – lifting, body shop, washing, lube, wheel service, AC recovery, pneumatic tools, mobile service units (trucks & vans) and commercial vehicle workshop equipments. Our focus would be to expand on our new products in these verticals. Our new products that include crash repair system, centralised lube management system, dual car parking lift, auto car wash are well received in the market, and we expect to be the market leader in these categories in the near future.
Q: Which of your garage equipment are indigenised and what are the products you market from overseas companies?
A: We are the largest manufacturer of garage equipments in India. About 60 per cent of our sales come from products manufactured in house. We have partnerships with overseas companies mainly for body shop products, lube dispensing equipment and pneumatic tools. We have manufacturing arrangements with European companies for products such as wheel service equipment and AC recovery units. Notably, we are the only Indian manufacturer of hydraulic two post lifts.
Q: There was a plan to increase your focus on the commercial vehicle segment. Could you give us an update on segment-wise sales?
A: The plan is on track. We have introduced many products for the CV segment especially in the lifting and wheel service segments. As the CV business evolves, we expect more and more CV customers to use OE authorised workshops which will drive demand for garage equipment.
Q: How have you done with respect to OEM business? Do you have any recent major breakthroughs?
A: Our product sales are dependent on OEM approvals. Over the past year we have had several product approvals from OEMs and our business has seen good growth in most of the OEMs. We have also had the major share of business from new OEMs that entered the market last year.
Q: Could you throw some light on your service-related aspects? Do you have any special initiatives to back up your strong sales performance?
A: A major contributor for our growth and sustained market leadership has been our after sales service. We have continuously invested in expansion of our service network. Apart from AMC and On Call services our health check campaigns have been well received by customers and OEMs. Our customers can get a free assessment of the equipment and recommendations for addressing deficiencies in equipments. Our service team is by far the largest in the country, with a pan India presence – 12 branch offices manned by 24 service engineers and 40 technicians, supported by 200+ dealer technicians. Our in-house training department provides regular training sessions to our service team & measures their skill levels against benchmarks. The centralised Customer Care System based in Coimbatore registers service-related requirements via phone / fax /email and initiates action for closure. An escalation process is in place to ensure that service calls are closed promptly.
Q: Can you give us an update on the export of garage equipment from your Kurichy facility? How are your export prospects at present?
A: Our international business has grown by 20 per cent over the previous year, and we expect to sustain this growth rate with the introduction of new products in select markets.
Q: The recent years have witnessed entry of a few multinational garage equipment companies into India. What are your plans to stay ahead of the pack?
A: We welcome such competition as it helps us to stay focussed on continuously improving our product quality and service, besides being cost competitive. Our track record of over 50 years in the garage business, pan India presence, product range, aftersales service, internal business processes and partnerships with the best in business will enable us to offer superior value proposition to our customers and compete with multinational garage companies in India.