Shriram Automall contributes to CV fleet management efficiency

Given the current situation where CV fleet management is extremely difficult with the growing market for used commercial vehicles, there is an urgent need for an organised platform to meet these requirements. Identifying an opportunity and leveraging on its experience of operating in this segment for decades, Shriram Transport Finance Company (STFC) launched a new venture, Shriram Automall India Ltd., an ideal platform for buying and selling of used and unused commercial vehicle, agricultural equipment and construction equipment. It extends a helping hand to fleet operators, NBFCs and end users and offer several services to meet their wide-ranging requirements.

Shriram Automall India Ltd. provides fleet management services along with various other facilities for fleet owners and individual customers like stockyards, convenient parking facilities, and full-fledged service stations to refurbish old vehicles.

Surveys conducted reveal that the trucking segment in India is witnessing interesting trends. While the M&HCV segment has registered a steady increase in its share of heavy duty and long haulage trucks with an improvement in the road and highway infrastructure, M&HCVs, which are more influenced by macro-economic indicators, are likely to register a huge rising demand with the steadily growing LCV segment. It is expected that the M&HCV industry will grow by 3-4 per cent and the LCV industry by 17-18 per cent in 2012-13.

All this necessitates an organised platform like Shriram Automall in the Indian CV and equipment industry. With finance and insurance facilities from Shriram Transport Finance Company (STFC), Shriram Automall also offers its services through auctioning (physical and online), One-Stop (virtual truck bazaar), and New Look (Refurbishment Unit).

In Auctioning, each Automall is spread across 3-5 acres of land and is strategically located near the highways. It addresses the needs of buyers and sellers with utmost transparency where customers are invited to inspect the vehicles and equipment parked in the yards.

Shriram Automall conducts more than 100 auctions a month all over India. Services like documentation, parking and valuation are also available at Automalls. Besides direct interface through physical auctions, online auctions through www.samil.in/bids are also possible.

New Look is engaged in two major services. It offers the facility of refurbishing vehicles and then selling the same with the consent of the owner. New Look service stations are present in almost all the Automalls/yards.

For those who are not able to participate in physical or online auctions Shriram Automall has the introduced One-Stop kiosk based on intranet. With around 500 kiosks placed all over the country, more than 20,000 vehicles are always listed on these kiosks. Customers can go through the details of the vehicles, and if interested they can contact the representative available near the kiosks for further details. This is more of a negotiated sale wherein the representative acts as a mediator between the buyer and the seller and helps them close the deal.

This way Shriram Automall India Ltd. intends serving most effectively all those associated with the commercial vehicles and equipment business.