Unique JV with Sankagiri Lorry Urimaiyalargal Sangam
Mr. G. Srinivasa Raghavan, Global President & CEO, TVS & Sons Ltd., (left), handing over the first TVS Hypermart membership card to Mr. M.R. Kumaraswamy, SLUS President, as Mr. R. Dinesh, Joint Managing Director, TVS & Sons Ltd. looks on
TVS & Sons’ retail biz arm has signed an agreement with Sankagiri Lorry Urimaiyalargal Sangam (SLUS), the country’s largest truck fleet association, to set up India’s first automotive parts hypermarket branded TVS Hypermart. The new initiative is aimed at providing a better customer experience by bringing together different aspects of sales and service under a common brand.
With both TVS and SLUS discussing the different requirements of fleet owners and other associates in the commercial vehicle trade, the Hypermart is being established exclusively to address the needs of over 2,300 truck-owning members of SLUS, at Sankagiri in Salem district. The association members collectively own a total of over 12,000 vehicles, almost all of them from Ashok Leyland.
Mr. G. Srinivasa Raghavan, Global President & CEO, TVS & Sons Ltd., says: “Hypermart is an integrated approach which will provide a differentiated and holistic experience to customers. It will be a one-stop solution for customers giving them access to multi-brand parts along with a great degree of serviceability under one roof.”
Improving TCO
Under the umbrella of the TVS Hypermart, SLUS members will enjoy the benefits of an integrated approach to bring down the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of vehicles by focussing on preventive maintenance, use of genuine parts, better driving for road safety and more mileage. The Hypermart will function as a single source supplier to SLUS of parts, lubes and other consumables for commercial vehicles of all makes and brands, thereby helping the latter to better focus on its core activities by freeing up transacting and co-ordination time with various suppliers.
Being the single point of supply, TVS will also provide assistance on inventory management through better demand forecasting, stock turns and leaner inventory levels with a view to freeing up working capital for the association which could be put to other uses.
The other benefits for SLUS include a unique membership card for parts purchases, servicing, fuel and other commercial transactions and priority service, including 24×7 call centre assistance. The Hypermart will be the single point of contact for SLUS’ warranty claims and insurance issues, while it also plans offer of technology support through fleet management solutions catering to maintenance scheduling, parts management, route/driver allocation, geo fencing, vehicle tracking, fuel management, etc.