A key initiative to expand company aftermarket
Tenneco Inc. has announced the opening of its first Monroe stock shop in India, in Mumbai. This unique retail concept for the automotive replacement market provides a single point of sale for a complete range of Monroe branded shock absorbers and struts for vehicles across all segments.
The Monroe stock shop, opened in partnership with Monroe distributor Rane Pvt. Ltd., demonstrates Tenneco’s commitment to the Indian automotive aftermarket. Currently, Monroe offers the widest shock and strut product range in the Indian market with applications for all types of vehicles, from passenger cars and SUVs to two- and three-wheelers, off-road, light commercial vehicles and medium and heavy-duty trucks.
Mumbai, a key market for Tenneco India, represents approximately 34 per cent of total aftermarket sales in the western region of the country. Further Monroe stock shop retail points are planned for other major metropolitan areas in India.
“We are delighted to bring our global aftermarket brands and expertise to India,” said Mr. Pankaj Kapoor, Deputy Managing Director, Tenneco India. “As a leading original equipment (OE) supplier to vehicle manufacturers worldwide, we continue to expand our aftermarket product coverage, leveraging Tenneco’s OE quality and technology in our aftermarket replacement products.”
Monroe products are available for more than 80 per cent of the cars on Indian roads. This coverage is set to increase as the company continues to add new domestic and international vehicle references, leveraging both its domestic production capacity and that of Tenneco facilities in other parts of the world.
The Monroe brand has been growing strongly in India over the last few years and in 2012 accounted for over 20 per cent of domestic shock absorber sales, according to Tenneco analysis. “Over the last three years, our growth rate has outpaced the market’s. We are on track to achieving the number one position in the Indian aftermarket with our Monroe brand, a position we already enjoy in North America and Europe,” said Mr. Kapoor.
Monroe offers a full value package to its wholesale customers and the trade. This includes leading-edge logistics solutions to ensure rapid delivery of products to the installers, customer service, training and state-of-the-art marketing support. The Monroe website offers in-depth product information, application look-ups, latest news and links to Monroe specialists.
“Our objective is to support the growth of the independent aftermarket in India. In addition to superior products, we are also committed to providing our customers with tools such as electronic catalogues and local websites designed to provide easy access to the very latest information,” Mr. Kapoor added.
Rane, a name to reckon with
According to Mr. Jamil Merchant, Managing Director, Rane Pvt. Ltd., his company, established in 1920, has been successfully associated with Tenneco for several years and remains the No.1 distributor of Monroe stocks and struts since last five years. The company was jointly promoted by the family members of Maskati, TR Ganapathy Iyer and Dadajeed Hakjee in the pre-Independence period, with a branch in Karachi also. Later on, Iyer decided to move down to Chennai, then known as Madras, and set up a trading entity called Rane (Madras) Ltd. in 1936. Even today, the name Rane is synonymous with automobiles in India.
Apart from Monroe products, Rane Pvt. Ltd. is also a distributor of various other leading auto component brands such as Ucal, Contitech, Hindustan Compo, etc. Headquartered in Mumbai, it has branches in Secunderabad and Ahmedabad.
The newly-opened Monroe stock shop in Mumbai is located at 461, Dr. D.B. Marg, Opera House.