Garage service disruption as the niche area was the focus of the partnership between Hella India Lighting Ltd. and Koovers earlier in January. Promising reliable servicing of post-warranty cars at affiliated garages was the focus of this partnership, and as a mark of its launch, officials from both entities inaugurated their new franchise as the first pilot project in India.
The idea is to bring in transformation in the way passenger cars, as of now, are serviced by roadside garages. Identifying the segment as one with a tremendous growth potential, it was claimed that over 70 per cent car owners opt for the unorganized service providers instead of going to authorized car showrooms.
Speaking on the occasion to MOTORINDIA, Mr. Ramashankar Pandey, MD, Hella India Lighting Ltd., said: “Unlike the CV sector, the passenger car segment is about individual customers. The Hella-Koovers partnership focuses on the car segment because this business model requires this kind of partnership. We believe that if the transport industry needs to do its job properly, vehicle maintenance should be taken up by the automotive companies. And Hella encourages these partnerships because with us around the owners need not invest in these things. We will do the job for them with the help of our partners.”
The founders of Koovers were confident that they could offer reliable option of ‘quick service garages’ to its customers. There is training of the garage mechanics involved while ‘arming them with the genuine parts’. With solid back-up support from Hella, the customers will get all information about the problems bugging their vehicles and what needs to be replaced and the cost of the parts – all via using a simple mobile phone app.
Mr. B.S. Sandeep, CEO & Co-Founder, Koovers, observed: “There is a tie-up for 75,000 parts and the catalogue may be released by the end of the year. With the Koovers model, we are making technician jobs at the garages more attractive because they will get more visibility and naturally receive more respect.”
With this opportunity, the ubiquitous garage mechanic, who till now had to satisfy himself with a low-status job, can now look forward to Government-certified training instead.
Mr. Sandeep explained: “We are trying to create training centers for developing manpower which will encourage the rural empowerment. We offer ASDC certified training to technicians to standardize car care service. The training pre-requisites for the entry-level courses are 10th and 12th standard schooling, and for some others no formal academics are expected. The syllabus will be ascertained by ASDC and the training will be imparted by our partnership.”
While this is the pilot launch with two garages being taken under the Hella – Koovers wing, the idea is to document the progress, the way the garages handle the customers and their vehicles for the first three months or so, to control the quality and make any necessary changes to improve efficiency.
Mr. Pandey agreed: “We cannot just make expansion plans without checking the service quality constantly. In three months, we hope to get customer records to know how it is working out. It is not only about the manpower of Koovers but also about the garages in question – whether they can come up to the expectations, are they ready to evolve and would they do this repeatedly to improve professionalism. I am sure this venture will be welcomed by the market because it is ready and mature enough now to take advantage of this service.”
A little far off yet still on the horizon is the hope that Hella-Koovers partnership may extend its services to the LCV segment also but Mr. Pandey, though excited, was cautious that ‘it all would depend upon how everything evolved in the near future’.
Another reason behind the tie-up is that the customers need not pay more than what is reasonable for a service that is not necessarily always upto the mark. Mr. Pandey shared the reason for Hella’s nod to the partnership in the first place. He said: “Hella has a range of products for enabling the quick service and maintenance that Koovers has in mind to provide for cars. This is a partnership between us where Koovers brings footfalls and Hella brings in its brand pull. The biggest strength Koovers receives is the long-standing faith the customers have in Hella because of our thorough processes and strict quality control. Koovers brings operational strengths. They build the technology, the apps, digital marketing and the IT system of the garages. They will make the parts available, besides making finance available to the garages.”
Hella India hopes to gain deeper insights into the market as well with this partnership. He shares: “In the last four or five years, Hella has fitted around 10 million vehicles across all segments, but we do not know who these people are. We do not get the feedback from the stake-holders. But when we go through an organized channel like Koovers, we get customer insights and, in turn, our customers are protected. Though we do not have the exact data, we do know that every month roughly 2,50,000 number of parts are going out. Our main aim of getting into partnership with Koovers is to get closer to our customers.”
Mr. Pandey also raised concerns about spurious products and parts that gullible customers get saddled with when seeking roadside garage assistance. He said: “It is our responsibility that our customers get quality products and services because today the market is highly unorganized and fragmented, so Hella is ready to partner with those who helping organize the market.”
Hella India and Koovers have brought on board several genuine parts manufacturers for cars to use at the garages.