Aftermarket - October 2011 by Infomedia18

INDIA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET

Vol. 1 No. 4 October 2011

64 Pages `50

g n i r u t c a f u n a M n a e y L r n o o t s s d n s s e c c TVS sta u s ut o h s e ﬂ o t

NEWS

Polaris Industries

CUTTING EDGE Driving Simulators

INTERVIEW

GM Singh, Hover Automotive Brought to you by

Auto Monitor

EDITORIAL Partner in Progress IT is always a jubilant time for the automotive industry in September or from this month onwards, as this is the harbinger of the festive season. Maintaining the tradition followed every year, the passenger car industry grew last September after a series of poor performing months due to hardening interest rates. The increasing price of petrol has also put the spanner on the sales of petrol vehicles. However, this phenomenon has paved the way for two different avenues of opportunitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;firstly, it has spurred the sales of diesel vehicles in the used car market and secondly, it also made people look at high technology options in petrol driven vehicles, to offset the increased fuel costs. Off late, the used car market has been witnessing a sudden surge in demand for diesel vehicles since those who are planning to sell their cars, defer now, hoping that the cars would fetch more value. It is also due to the fact that they are deferring their new vehicle purchase decision because of increased cost of finance. In the new car sales too, the demand for diesel vehicles has been increasing significantly. Diesel cars that accounted for about 30 percent of the total vehicle sales about three years ago, have increased to more than 50 percent now. Due to issues related to supply of components for engines, diesel car production is not matching demand. The changing scenario has also spurred an increase in the activities in aftermarket, and as a result, the sale of accessories is set to soar significantly. In addition, the spare part sales for the older vehicles will further catalyse business growth. Though the vehicle sales have been moderating since the beginning of this calendar, there are enough indications that it will grow, despite the cost of finance becoming dearer. This is because of the shear population and poor motorisation of the country. And Indian OEMs are focussing more on the aftermarket now than even before. In fact, some of the vehicle manufacturers have gone a step ahead; in order to train their dealerships / service centres on new generation tools and equipment, the OEMs have approached even overseas garage equipment manufacturers. This is to serve the customers not only with sophisticated services, but also its execution in a shortest possible time. In this scenario, knowing the vehicle parameters well ahead of the launch of the new models will help the garage equipment manufacturers to simultaneously develop dedicated tools. However, it is still not happening, as it should be. OEMs should look at garage equipment manufacturers as partners in progress to cater to the requirement of the end users. Wishing you much pleasure reading. Do send us your feedback.

T. Murrali t.murrali@infomedia18.in

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

NEWS

CONTENTS NEWS 6

Polaris gives new dimension to off-road vehicles

Harman to grow presence in auto acoustics products

Fourth NEI facility to be set up near Hero plant

10 Tenneco to consolidate its presence in India 11 Madhus paints new vistas with green paint booths 12 First APAC 16 organised by SAE 32

COVER STORY 22 TVS stands on Lean Manufacturingto flesh out success story TV Sundram Iyengar & Sons has applied lean concepts at Ashok Leyland’s service centre in Nilambur

uring Manufatcotr y s

an s s d s o n Le T VS s tan succe t u o h s e to ﬂ

IN CONVERSATION 32 GM Singh, VC and MD, Hover Automotive elaborates on the way forward INDIA’S FIRST MAGAZINE FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET

38 Vol. 1 No. 4 October 2011

64 Pages `50

ring Manufactu s on Lean ess stor y TVS stand out succ to ﬂesh

NEWS

Polaris Industries

CUTTING EDGE

INTERVIEW

GM Singh, Hover Automotive

Driving Simulators

Brought to you by

REARVIEW 36 Demand for AC service spurs proliferation of specialised shops

CUTTING EDGE

Auto Monitor

Cover Design Mahesh Talkar

38 Tecknotrove unveils driving simulator range for CVs

OCTOBER 2010 AFTERMARKET

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OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

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Polaris Industries gives new dimension to off-road vehicles T Murrali

SEVERAL government inﬆ itutions including defence is act ively looking at buying off-road vehicles manufact ured by the US based Polaris Induﬆ ries Inc, to also support after sales service requirements of their fleet operating in forward areas that cannot be reached through normal roads, according to Managing Director, Polaris India, Pankaj Dubey. Speaking to Aftermarket at the teﬆ track to showcase the capabilities of the vehicle in Chennai, he said the company has already received orders from defence for snowmobiles to be deployed in bad weather conditions. Couple of months ago, the US company announced its formal entry in the Indian market with the launch of its offroad vehicles. The product line introduced to the Indian market consiﬆs of All Terrain Vehicle (ATVs), Ranger RZR Side by Side vehicles and Snowmobiles—priced between `2.84 lakh and `24 lakh.

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

Dubey said the company has already eﬆablished nine dealerships and it will add one more before the end of this calendar. In Chennai, the vehicles will be available through MPL Adventure Sports Vehicles, a part of MPL group, which is in to vehicle dealerships for several OEMs including Ford, Mahindra and Ashok Leyland. The company has forayed in to Chennai, “as it is one of the key markets for us in India. We foresee huge intereﬆ and business potential in the market and thus appointed MPL as our dealer to offer our innovative products. In the fi rﬆ phase, we are launching our flagship product including ATVs. We are hopeful about offering a lot of adventure and utility experience on offroads in Chennai.” The company is looking at cuﬆomers in several segments including agriculture / farming, adventure, fun, lifeguard, beach patrol, conﬆ ruct ion, manufact uring, foreﬆ, mining, exploration, paramilitary, tourism and fi re fighting. Considering the specific

NEWS

requirements of the country, he said, “We may sell more vehicles for utility purpose than for adventure and fun.” The Dealer Principal and Director of MPL Adventure Sports Vehicles, S Ravindranathan, said the dedicated showroom for Polaris in Chennai will be operational within few days. In addition to the display area, the showroom will have a small service centre. However, moﬆ of the service will be carried out at the cuﬆomers’ premises, as these vehicles cannot be brought to the service centre. The National Service Manager of Polaris India, Vinod Jee Pandita told Aftermarket that the company would shortly be launching Polaris On-Site Service (POSS) to facilitate

servicing of the vehicles at cuﬆomer’s premises. Each vehicle would be given a periodical maintenance chart with which, the cuﬆomers will know the schedule. Based on the requirements POSS will facilitate after sales service at cuﬆomers’ place. Unlike the onroad vehicle Polaris vehicles will not have free services. Asked about the time to address cuﬆomer complaints, he said the company has not decided on any timeframe, however, priority will be given for cuﬆomer service, he said. Since the spare parts including tyres, have to be imported, adequate inventory will be maintained, he added. “While the Indian market is no ﬆ ranger to ATVs, the look and feel

of these vehicles and adventure has been very limited so far. Polaris is a brand known worldwide for its innovative off-road vehicle and we associate with them right from the beginning and jointly develop the off-road vehicle market in the country—something that people desire for, but have been missing,” Ravindranathan said. Dubey said, “Since the market for such vehicles is ﬆ ill in nascent ﬆage in the country, our principal aim is to sensitise the consumers, create a new market and to generate more intereﬆ in these act ivities.” After the ten dealerships achieve breakeven, say in about three to five years, the company will look at increasing the number of dealers to 25, he added.

Photograph: Bhargav TS

(L-R) S Ravindranathan, Dealer Principal & Director of MPL Adventure Sports Vehicles & Pankaj Dubey, MD, Polaris India

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

NEWS

Harman International to grow presence in auto acoustics products

M Lakshminarayan, MD, Harman International (India), AR Rahman, Dinesh Paliwal, Chairman, President & CEO, Harman, International (India) & Jeff Willard, CMO, Harman International Induﬆ ries Inc

Abhishek Parekh

HARMAN International (India) is evaluating on introducing more products to target the growing automotive acouﬆ ics market. It is evaluating on introducing products across brands in India for the goring vehicle population in the aftermarket. It recently signed AR Rahman as its brand ambassador for JBL and kicked oﬀ its campaign ‘Hear The Truth’—a multi-year campaign featuring an evolving roﬆer of top international musicians who want their fans to liﬆen to music as it was intended to be heard. Rahman will feature in the campaign highlighting ‘How AR Rahman liﬆens to AR Rahman’. Harman International India (HII) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harman International. It designs and manufact ures a wide range of premium audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer lifeﬆ yle and professional markets. Its prominent brand includes AKG, Harman/ Kardon, Inﬁnity, JBL, Lexicon and

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

Mark Levinson. HII is headquartered in Bangalore and was set up in 2009 with M Lakshminarayan as its Managing Director. The company has a workforce of over 450 people, including about 250 working for the oﬀshore development centre, a hub for innovation and embedded engineering. The India Development Centre was set up in order to broaden Harman's engineering footprint into developing audio and infotainment solutions across the automotive, consumer lifeﬆ yle and professional markets. Sahil International is the authorised diﬆ ributor in India for Harman consumer products. Harman will launch its advertising campaign, social media engagement and other initiatives intended to challenge liﬆeners to ‘Hear the truth’, a campaign designed to resonate with JBL’s long-time fans and music lovers, through the artiﬆs and songs they adore. Musicians across genres around the world will be inducted throughout this multi-year campaign. During the course of the cam-

Harman will launch its advertising campaign and other initiatives intended to challenge listeners to ‘Hear the truth’, a campaign designed to resonate with JBL’s fans and music lovers, through the artists and songs they adore. Musicians across genres around the world will be inducted throughout this campaign paign, JBL will utilise social media channels to share behind the scenes video content and video shoots with the featured artiﬆs. “The campaign is headlined by world-class musicians and AR Rahman brings with him the talent, absolute zeal and love for music and quality sound which we, at Harman, deem a necessity in today’s world. The JBL brand is renowned worldwide by musicians and sound engineers for its quality sound, and our mission is to ensure their musical integrity is faithfully recreated through JBL products,” said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Oﬃcer, Harman, Dinesh Paliwal. The JBL heritage reaches back more than 60 years and is a leader in developing audio equipment to maximise music for the digital area, developing iPad, iPhone and iPod speakers for the home and oﬃce, premium after-market sound syﬆems for car audio enthusiaﬆs and ground-breaking loudspeakers for home-theatres and audiophiles.

NEWS

Fourth NEI facility to be set up near Hero MotoCorp plant Shambhavi Anand

ONE of the leading manufact urers of NBC brand bearings for automotive and induﬆ rial segments, National Engineering Induﬆ ries, Jaipur (NEI), a CK Birla Group company, is mulling setting up its fourth plant in the country. “By December 2011, we should be able to finalise the location. Currently, we are weighing the situation, keeping in mind our cuﬆomers and their plans. Once the plant is set up, we will ﬆart by making ball bearings and then move to taper roller bearings,” NEI chief executive officer Rohit Saboo told Aftermarket. The two deﬆ inations under consideration are Gujarat and Karnataka. Since the plant will cater to the needs of Hero Moto Corp majorly, the final location will depend upon the twowheeler manufact urer’s proposed plant to be put either in Gujarat or Karnataka. On one hand in Gujarat, NEI has major cuﬆomers like Maruti Suzuki while on the other, Karnataka offers the advantage of proximity with Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI). The winner of the preﬆ igious Deming Award in 2010, NEI plans for the new plant to be spread across an area of 15 acres and will be highly automated to reduce dependence on manual assiﬆance sharply. For inﬆance, a usual line requires five people, the new automated line will reduce this number to two. Around 98 percent of the highly product ive and automated machines will be imported from either Japan or Europe. NEI plans to inveﬆ `100 crore

in the machinery and support paraphernalia. The land and building may coﬆ somewhere between `10 to 15 crore. The company is also setting up another plant in Mahindra Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rajaﬆhan for its joint venture with local company, NTN. Th is plant will produce third generation wheel bearings for companies like Hyundai and Toyota. The conﬆ ruct ion which is already under progress will be completed by the ﬁ rﬆ quarter of the next year. The company is hopeful that the plant will commence product ion by the fourth quarter of 2012. The JV which is known as NTN NEI Manufact uring India (NNMI) already has a plant in Bawal. NEI has also planned to increase it’s spend on research and development signiﬁcantly. It plans to spend around two and a half percent of its total revenue on R&D this year. Currently its R&D spend was 0.5 percent of the total revenue. “We have realised that for a better future we muﬆ rely on our own R&D ﬆ rength. Hence, we will be deploying more funds for the same. While this year we have allocated `25 crore for research work from next year it will increase slightly and be over three percent of the revenue annually,” Saboo informed. It plans to double the size of its R&D team and is also conﬆ ruct ing a building in Jaipur for the purpose. Talking about the recent slowdown triggered by the hike in intereﬆ

Rohit Saboo, CEO, NEI

rate of vehicles Saboo said, “While some segments have been affected by the slowdown, others are ﬆill doing well. Two-wheelers and tractors are not affected but passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles have been slightly affected. Though some pockets in the CV segment like light commercial vehicles and one-tonners are ﬆill doing well.” The capacity utilisation of NEI has come down from 90 percent to 86 percent. The company has made no alterations in its inveﬆment plans due to the “perceived slowdown”, according to Saboo. “About two years ago, we had planned that we will inveﬆ `150 to 200 crore every year and we will continue to inveﬆ that amount,” he added. The company has crossed a turnover of `1000 crore and is bullish about the next year as well.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

NEWS

Tenneco to consolidate its

presence in India Shambhavi Anand

THE Indian subsidiary of the US-based manufact urer of ride control components and exhauﬆ syﬆems, Tenneco Automotive India, is planning to consolidate its presence in the Indian aftermarket. “The aftermarket space in India is unorganised and therefore to ﬆ rengthen our presence we need to organise ourselves ﬁrﬆ,” Managing Director, Tenneco Automotive India, Abhijit Mukherjee told Aftermarket. To achieve its vision, the company plans to educate the exiﬆ ing diﬆ ributors more about their products by the means of brochures and training sessions. “Th is will yield better results rather than juﬆ increasing the number of diﬆ ributors,” Mukherjee added. Aftermarket contributes 15 percent to the revenue of Tenneco in the country. It intends to increase this share in the coming years. Tenneco is setting up a new plant in Chakan to cater to the needs of its global cuﬆomer Volkswagen. The conﬆ ruct ion of the plant has already commenced towards the end of the laﬆ and will be fully operational by the ﬁ rﬆ quarter of the next calendar year. The company already has plants in Husor, Pune, Bawal and Chennai which supply to its cuﬆomers like Maruti Suzuki, Renault, Tata Motors, Mahindra, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Nissan, Toyota, Daimler and the JV between Ashok Leyland and Nissan. It also has a small facility in Pondicherry for powdered metal component which are precision components required for ride control products.

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

Abhijit Mukherjee, MD, Tenneco Automotive India

The company which has inveﬆed 20 million dollars in its Indian operations in the laﬆ three years plans to inveﬆ the same amount in the next three to five years. It has sales revenue of six billion dollars. The manufact urer is also working on several innovative and futuriﬆ ic products on ride control as well as emission control side. These advance products are meant for the next generation of vehicles which will hit the roads after 2015. These products are intended for OEM business initially. The shocks will have hollow piﬆon rods with the usage of “different material” like plaﬆic. Th is will significantly reduce the weight of the vehicle in which it is used. Though it is not being developed for a specific cuﬆomer, the company is hopeful that once done it will find numerous takers. It is also working on developing low coﬆ electronically controlled ﬆruts. “Electronically controlled shocks require electronic control units (ECU) which is an added coﬆ. We are trying to develop a product where the electronic chip

is inside an individual ﬆrut so that the control is within that eliminating the need for a separate unit. This will help in reducing complexity of the syﬆem as well as coﬆ,” Mukherjee explained. This technology is aimed at the vehicles of B and C segment and has internal valve technology which results in lower power usage while offering faﬆ damping adjuﬆments. The Indian car makers like Maruti have shown intereﬆ in these low coﬆ electronically controlled ﬆruts which are being developed at the Indian engineering centers in collaboration with the centers in Belgium and America. On the emission control side also the company is working on advanced products keeping in mind the emission norms expected to be implemented in the country. While the main engineering centre for ride control products is in Husor, Tenneco is building a new engineering centre for emission control in its Chakan facility. The Indian centers are supported and funded through the main global centers in the US, Europe, China and Japan. “While currently there are no customers yet for any of these technologies in India, when the demand comes, Tenneco is ready with these technologies and will be able to readily and rapidly respond to the OEMs requirements as they try to give more value for money by increasing the number of features that are on offer. The same thing happened with ABS where initially the technology was confined only to high end car segments but has now spread to all segments as a ﬆandard offering. In the OE business we not only work for the present but also for future,” Mukherjee added.

NEWS

Madhus paints new vistas with green paint booths Bhargav TS

GARAGE equipment trading company, Madhus Garage Equipments, with a vision to scope new prospects, saw enormous opportunities in the eco-friendly paint booths in the aftermarket. Consecutively, the company that is based in Bangalore, has recently ﬆarted importing high performance and coﬆ competitive paint booths from a Chinese manufact urer Guangzhou Guangli. It is also planning to expand its network in order to cater to the rising demand in this segment. According to Managing Director, Madhus Garage Equipments, Ravi BM, the market in India is looking for reasonably priced and good quality equipment. “The products that we bring from Guangli is about 40 percent cheaper when compared to the same product available in India. Moreover, the Chinese products are more eﬃcient. Th is new paint booth is fabricated with rock wool internally and we use the two ﬆage burners and powerful fans to circulate the air evenly,” he said. Currently, the company imports and sells a wide range of products that include wheel aligners, tyre changer, brake teﬆer, gas analysers, body shop equipment and wheel balancers. Madhus Garage represents several multinational manufact urers including Hunter, Car-O-Liner, Ravaglioli, Telwin, Romess and Texa.

Bridging Technology Gaps Ravi said, “In the laﬆ 24 years we have been importing the lateﬆ technologies that are used in countries like US, Europe and Japan in to this country.

Ravi BM, Managing Director, Madhus Garage Equipments

With this, we can say that the equipment used in our workshops in India is at par with international ﬆandards. So far, lateﬆ technologies have been coming in every two to three years and we ﬆart bringing in new equipment as the lateﬆ technology is released in the international market.” The big challenge in the induﬆ ry is availability of service and spare parts. To address these issues, the company has 65 trained service engineers across the country. And for immediate part requirements, it has a centralised spare parts diﬆ ribution centre, which reaches the cuﬆomer within 24 hours. According to him, there is a huge potential in the truck market in India. Earlier there was no particular equipment used in the truck segment as it had always been dominated by the roadside garages using regular tools. However, today a lot of automation has come into the pict ure and the service is done easily by using pneumatic tools. Thus these kind of specialised tools and equipment have really made the truck segment move in a diﬀerent direct ion. As a result, the

truck market will grow tremendously in another five years, he said. In the garage equipment business, there are three main areas—the body shop equipment, workshop equipment and wheel service equipment. In the three areas, Madhus Garage plays a vital role and exploring more possibilities. “For our new AC equipment, we have received many enquiries from major OEMs like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi to supply to their service centres and we will be supplying the equipment next year. Thus we have to gear ourselves to meet these orders, which will be new generation vehicles,” Ravi added. Apart from OEMs, the company sees individual garages as a major precursor to this growth. “The smaller players like dealers and garages, which we call the entry level market holds immense potential in the paint and refinishing segment,” he said. While the premium OEM cuﬆomers choose expensive paint booths, the smaller players in the aftermarket prefer more coﬆ effect ive products. These entry level players will be the company’s main focus in the near future, he said.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

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India’s ﬁrst APAC 16 on mobility technology

organised by SAE

ACMA and SIAM delegates at the unveiling of the logo

THE Society of Automotive Engineers India (SAE India) is organising the 16th Asia Pacific Automotive Conference (APAC 16) for the fi rﬆ time in India. Scheduled to be held from 6 to 8 October, 2011 at Chennai Trade Centre, the focus of the conference is ‘Suﬆainable Technologies for Safe and Smart Mobility’. According to the Chairman of the organising committee of APAC 16 and the CEO of Automotive Infotronics, Dr Aravind Bharadwaj, the event will see major national and international participation from the induﬆ ry, government and the academia. The conference is expected to discuss the automotive road map and address the concerns raises by the induﬆ ry members. Though the Indian automotive induﬆ ry has notched a prominent position in the global automotive map, it ﬆ ill has a long way to go to become a significant player in the world. And this is primarily because the vehicles

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

that are being manufact ured in the country are not fully designed yet. While unveiling the conference theme and logo recently, the President SAE India and Co-Chairman APAC 16 and the Executive Oﬃcer, PE, Maruti Suzuki, R Dayal was present along with former President ACMA and Managing Director, Wheels India, Srivats Ram. The Chairman, APAC 16 and the President, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Pawan Goenka, said that though the Indian automotive induﬆ ry is in ﬆ riking diﬆance of accomplishing the objectives laid by Vision 2020, the vehicle manufact urers have to go a long way in terms of completely designing the vehicles. Besides, the Indian OEMs fall short in terms of the lateﬆ technical advancements. Conferences like this could play a vital role for India to become a leading player in the design and manufact ure of vehicles. He hoped that young engi-

neers in the country would leverage this advantage and propel the capabilities in design. According to Goenka, the world is keenly watching India as it rises to be a global economic powerhouse. In the India growth ﬆory, the automotive induﬆ ry and the Indian OEMs are playing a key role. With increasing globalisation, Indian OEMs are also expanding outside India independently, or through ambitious acquisition besides, moving up in their own world class R&D. Inveﬆment in OEM plants usually see a multiplier eﬀect in terms of inveﬆment and employment generation in the associated supply chain. Thus, the signiﬁcance of this industry warrants creation of an eco-syﬆem that can support the growth through suﬆainable technologies and transportation infraﬆ ruct ure. “APAC 16 brings together the Indian auto induﬆ ry, international experts, key policy makers and academia under one roof to see this

NEWS

dream take shape in reality,” he said. Bharadwaj ﬆated that APAC 16 will witness congregation of a number of experts on suﬆainable technologies for safe and smart mobility and present an ideal platform for exchange of ideas in several domains including green vehicles, CO2 reduct ion and ambient air quality, renewable resources, safety, infotronics and frugal engineering. The conference will be an ideal platform to exchange ideas in areas like engine technologies, green vehicles, collaborative innovations, IPR policy and regulations. The three-day conference will primarily focus on suﬆainable technology options and creation of an enabling eco-syﬆem to advance safe and smart mobility. It will see several technical and plenary sessions, panel discussions and top tech programmes addressed by eminent induﬆ ry personalities. The conference will also provide an ideal platform for companies to

exhibit their products, technologies and services, he said. “We expect the Indian auto component induﬆry to achieve an annual turnover of $110 billion by 2020, a ﬆrong growth arm of Indian automotive induﬆry. It is therefore imperative for us to adopt suﬆainable processes, as ten

APAC 16 brings together the Indian auto industry, international experts on sustainable technologies for safe and smart mobility, key policy makers and academia under one roof to see this dream take shape in reality years from now, the safety and environment considerations due to growth in the automotive sector shall increase manifold. ACMA has created a Suﬆainable

Technology Committee that aims to promote innovations related to energy efficiency and energy conservation,” Ram added. APAC 16 will offer the Indian auto induﬆry a platform to share and exchange ideas with global experts on suﬆainable technologies for safe and smart mobility, he said. Dayal iterated that India is taking its position as an emerging deﬆination of frugal engineering and global players are keen to collaborate with the country. However, India’s path to mass motorisation will be very different from that of developed countries. “We muﬆ firﬆ develop smart and safe technologies, business models, and government policies that can suﬆain and pave the way to increased automobile penetration in the country. SAE India has made remarkable progress over the years and hopes to provide a framework for the induﬆry to eﬆablish a seamless transportation network in the country,” he added.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

NEWS

Optimism dominates

amidst market concerns at FADA SUPERIOR products and innovation are necessary conditions, but will not be a sufficient for ‘brand differentiation, said Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Aftersales, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, VRV Sriprasad, at the 47th Annual Session of Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), held at New Delhi recently. He continued, “Consumer experience will play a bigger role as product differentiation will cease.” Earlier, welcoming the gueﬆs, Nikunj Sanghi, President, FADA, said passenger vehicles that had been growing at a rapid pace have largely been hit by internal and external factors. Commercial vehicle sales, while ﬆill in positive territory, are growing. However, the current rate of growth pales againﬆ the heady 25 percent growth during the previous two years. The fact that twowheelers are holding ﬆeady inspires confidence and guarded optimism. Talking about Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, Sriprasad added that Daimler, the inventor and pioneer of automobiles, is set to challenge conventional wisdom and bring about a paradigm shift in commercial vehicle space. He revealed that Daimler India would be introducing the next generation trucks designed by the Indian engineers for the Indian people at competitive prices within a year, to challenge the near duopoliﬆic character of Indian commercial vehicle induﬆry in India. Another dignitary present at the event, Director, NCAER-Centre for Macro Consumer Research, Dr Rajesh Shukla, in his presentation, highlighted the changing Indian consumption

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

Rakesh Jain, FADA committee member addressing the dignitaries; (L-R): Satyendra Garg, VRV Sriprasad, Nikunj Sanghi, Anil Dua, Dr Rajesh Shukla & Mohan Himatsingka

Passenger vehicles have largely been hit by internal and external factors. CV sales are growing. However, the current rate of growth pales against the heady 25 percent growth during the previous two years. And since two-wheelers are holding steady inspires con dence and optimism basket. He noted that while rural India is ﬆ ill 13-14 years behind urban India in terms of non-food consumption, which has been rising ﬆeadily both in rural and urban areas and augurs well for the automotive market in India. With GDP growth likely to rise by nine percent through to the year 2015, and incomes of both urban and rural households rising, the auto market is

expected to record a healthy growth. While Sr Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Anil Dua, Hero MotoCorp, painted a bright pict ure of automotive scenario, he added that the huge untapped market would suﬆain the growth. He exhorted automobile dealers to create their own service brand equity, as it is the cuﬆomers’ experience and service, which would be the diﬀerentiating factor in the highly competitive market. Expressing his cautious optimism, Sanghi hoped that the current slowdown was transitory and the Indian auto market would regain its buoyancy sooner than later. The underlying thread was that the Indian automotive market is poised for a big leap forward. The rising income levels, changing life ﬆ yles, growing aspirations of rural India and increasing urbanisation are the drivers that will propel the induﬆry ahead. The current fatigue seems temporary, felt the experts.

NEWS

Photographs: JDileep Prakash

Mahale ﬁlters expanding portfolio Sunil Nair, COO, MFSI at the plant

Nabeel A Khan

MAHALE Filter Syﬆems India (MFSI) is increasing its focus on the aftermarket with special attention to commercial vehicles. Hiﬆorically, it has been observed that when the OE business is slowing down due to fall in the sales of vehicles, people ﬆart paying more heed to their exiting vehicles thus increase spending in the aftersales procedures. Buying this point of view, MFSI is expect ing an increase in this segment of business. “If the slowdown goes on, we expect that our aftermarket will oﬀset that. We have built a second factory laﬆ year in Parwanoo, Himachal Pradesh, to increase focus on the aftermarket, The other reason for setting up the plant here was that the Himachal Pradesh government gave us a beneﬁt of roughly

around 10 percent in terms of sops for operating within ﬆate,” COO, MFSI, Sunil Nair, told Aftermarket. Though, he did not elaborate on the kind beneﬁts oﬀered by the ﬆate government. Currently, the manufacturer is utilising 80 percent of its Parwanoo plant capacity, which is dedicated to the aftermarket business, and churning out around `25 crore a month in terms of revenue. The company has already eﬆablished its presence well in the aftermarket through Purolator, (another brand of the company which exiﬆs for over 30 years), and gets around 26 percent of its total revenue from this segment. MFSI is inveﬆ ing around `two crore in marketing in the aftermarket. Of late, it has increased presence in the HCVs in the aftermarket. Earlier, Purolator was mainly into PVs but after a JV with Mahale, it has received a

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

NEWS

lot of support from Germany that has enabled it to develop and produce fi lter for the commercial vehicle. Currently, Mahale’s market share in the HCV and CV aftermarket is very small but hopes to get 15 percent of its total aftermarket sales in the coming two years. “We have not loﬆ focus on the PV; we are ﬆ ill by far the leading manufacturer of fi lters in the PV aftermarket. We are only increasing the focus in the CVs because of the growth we have seen in the laﬆ few years following Indian government’s increased inveﬆment in infraﬆ ruct ure development,” Nair added. During this month, the company is launching a whole range of fi lters and other products for the commercial vehicles in the aftermarket. It has developed a green fi lter, which is metal free and has a good potential in the international market. Worldwide, PVs have shifted toward the metal-free fuel fi lter for its ability to be completely recycled. It also has a patent on this product, but is conteﬆ ing a case againﬆ a number one manufact urer over violation of the patent. The company was not very active in the two-wheeler segment because of low profit margin, however, after its split with Hero Honda, it hopes to get bigger business from Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India. It has also recently received an order from Suzuki Motorcycles. It is also developing a new nano filter, which is expected to have an improved duﬆ holding capacity and also better water separation technology. In India, diesel fuel contains a high percentage of water content, and this technology will help increase life of the engine and fuel efficiency. As compared to laﬆ year, the company is performing quite well and hopes to close with a hike of around 24 percent in the total revenue which ﬆood at `356 crore in 2010 to reach `420-450 crore in 2011.

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

Different ﬆ ages of product ion of fuel filters at the Gurgaon plant

NEWS

Nibon binds into

adhesive industry Bhargav TS

ADHESIVE manufact urer Nibon Induﬆ ries, will be launching thread lock and cynoacrylate adhesives soon. Managing Director, Nibon Induﬆ ries, Nithin Largus Konnully said, “The adhesive induﬆ ry is growing rapidly and we want to regiﬆer our footprint in the Indian market by bringing diﬀerent kinds of adhesives. The new thread lock will help our induﬆ rial end-users, new design and manufact uring opportunities, all in one formulation. In short, these two improved products permit the use of top quality anaerobic thread lockers in a much wider range of applications.” Based in Kochi, Kerala, Nibon Adhesives is also present in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry and Goa. Shortly, it will be entering in Mumbai and Delhi region. It has also ﬆarted supplying RTV (Room Temperature Viscosity) and PU sealants.

About The Products The thread lock is a single component, solvent-free product, which dries immediately and offers additional advantages. On the other hand, cynoacrylate is a general purpose industrial grade gap-fi lling subﬆ rate, which can be used in all the applications. The purpose of a nut lock is to prevent the loosening of mating components, which may be operating in conditions of varying ﬆress levels, temperatures or vibrations. The effectiveness of the locking device is often critical to the safety of the syﬆem.

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

Products to be launched by Nibon

Cynoacrylate enables faﬆer and greater depth of cure. Light curing adhesives are often referred to as adhesives that cure “on-demand” or “on-command”. Th is is due to the ability to adjuﬆ or align components with the adhesive in place, and only curing when the assembly is correct ly positioned. There are several polymer types that cure via light cure technology and are appropriate as adhesives. Moﬆ are based on free radical curing acrylate technologies. RTV is basically designed for automotive applications, such as sealing exhauﬆ manifolds, turbo housings, oxygen sensors, adhering auto and appliance trims, providing form in place of gaskets for gear boxes, compressors and pumps sealing trailer and truck cabs, and bonding or sealing appliance part. PU sealants are solvent free polyurethane with high adhesion ﬆ rength and good elaﬆ icity, which allows multi-coat painting. It is basically used

in common joints for car body works such as wind shields, front and back panels, engine cabins, car doors and folded parts.

Looking Forward The company also has plans to setup a manufact uring facility in Pollachi next year with an inveﬆment of `200 crores. “We are planning to manufacture 20 metric tonnes of adhesives and after ﬆ udying the induﬆ ry, we will ﬆart exporting our products.” Nibon designs machineries for product ion as per the requirements, therefore the initial inveﬆments is higher. The products are highly competitive for the Indian market and the pricing also done accordingly, Nithin added. Nibon Adhesives currently supplies to Popular Automobiles in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and to many other dealers. In the days to come, it will also evaluate the adhesives targeted at the OEMs, as part of its expansion mode.

NEWS

TVS sets up service centre for Tata Motors TVS Automobile Solutions (TVS AS), which has been hived oﬀ from TVS & Sons as a separate company laﬆ February, has inaugurated its third exclusive authorised service centre for Tata Motors’ passenger cars segment in Chennai. The other two centres are located in Hyderabad and Kochi. Th is facility also marks TVS AS’s 17th outlet and 60th overall, including franchisees, in India. Located across a 28,000 sq ft area, the ﬆate-of-the-art facility has advanced mechanical bays, a body shop, and paint booth with various facilities. Besides catering to the regular running and body repairs, the cuﬆomer-centric service centre will also take up the new car-free services and warranty jobs thus providing Tata passenger car owners the complete servicing solutions under one roof at its facility.

Expressing his delight over the inauguration of new facility, President, TVS Automobile Solutions, R Srivatchan said, “In line with our growth ﬆ rategy, we are happy to inaugurate this ﬆate-of-the-art facility with specialised and world class equipment. Our well trained technicians are specialised in handling Tata cars services and repairs. They will ensure quality service and on-time delivery schedule to cuﬆomers with complete value for their money.” Inaugurating the facility, Head Cuﬆomer Support (PCBU), Tata Motors, Dinesh Bhasin said, “This facility is spacious, technically

TVS service centre

well-equipped and eco-friendly. MyTVS, will do well in meeting the cuﬆomer demands.” The new service centre will also oﬀer other facilities like emergency breakdown assiﬆance, extended working hours, pick-up and drop facility, assiﬆance with insurance claims, Flexi working schedules (seven days a week) and transparency in dealings.

3S facility for Ashok Leyland TVS & Sons, one among the largeﬆ automobile diﬆribution companies in the country has inaugurated the 3S (Sales, Service and Spares) facility for Ashok Leyland commercial vehicles in Karur, about 300 km southweﬆ of Chennai. Th is is the 18th outlet of the company exclusively for Ashok Leyland products in Tamil Nadu. The new facility was inaugurated by the Executive Director, Ashok Leyland Rajive Saharia along with the President, TVS & Sons, N Krishnamoorthy. They jointly handed over 51 new vehicles to cuﬆomers. The company has plans to eﬆablish its facilities in a grid of 50 to 100 km depending on the requirement of the location so that cuﬆomers need not send their vehicles oﬀ their route for

the purpose of servicing. Besides network development, it has taken up several improvement initiatives in commercial vehicle servicing using tools such as Kaizen and Lean, which helped reducing the turn-around time of the service by half of what it was one year earlier. TVS & Sons Karur facility has spread across 50,000 square feet. Saharia said “We are happy for partnering with TVS & Sons, which has always ﬆood for service quality with the use of lateﬆ technology. Krishnamoorthy said “We have been conﬆantly inveﬆing not only in business expansion and infraﬆruct ure, but also in upgrading the skills of our employees for the beneﬁt of all our associates and ﬆand by our founder’s vision of innovation and quality in service deliverables.

We will be eﬆablishing more 3S facility in Tier II and III locations in order to ensure cuﬆomer delight by serving closer to their work place”. The advantages of the new Karur facility include two bay services for faﬆer servicing of vehicles, apart from exclusive washing facility. The outlet has a computerised wheel alignment syﬆem and is also equipped to overhaul BS III engines. It will serve the fleet operators depended on transporting of products to and from local textile, bus body and blue metal induﬆry. Working on two shifts from the beginning, the service centre has eﬆablished a separate module ﬆores with sufficient bins for ﬆocking OE parts for workshop and counter sales to fulfi l the needs of fleet operators.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

SPECIAL REPORT

Navigating for success NNG looking for partnership in ﬂeet management business for Indian market

(L-R) Detailed shots of varying graphic interfaces of iGo my way software

Abhishek Parekh

NNG, which supplies navigation software under the brand ‘iGo my way’, is looking to forge partnership in India for ﬂeet management segment targeted at trucks and buses. It is in process of launching its ‘iGo Primo’ in the Indian market through its exclusive and nonexclusive dealers. The company is also looking to tap two-wheelers and pedeﬆ rian segment in India though its current focus is largely conﬁned to the passenger vehicle segment mainly through the OEM route. It is also in the process of setting up its diﬆ ribution network in partnership with hardware or device manufact urer. The company was eﬆablished in 2004 and has partnerships with various mapping and content service providers across the world to provide cuﬆomer interface on navigation devices. Application service providers like NNG provide applications on content (maps) to the hardware suppliers (personal navigation device) to be sold to the OEMs and in the aftermarket. This three way partner-

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

ship is critical for optimum utilisation of capabilities with each partner and for enhanced user experience. The navigation software is also sold as an application for iPhones and android based smart phones and other personal devices. “We can enter a market with a portfolio of applications or products when the basic mapping of moﬆ of the geographical areas of key towns and cities is done. We do not aggregate maps. We partner with leading content aggregators who provide mapping service,” ﬆated Vice President, Eaﬆern Europe & Emerging Markets, NNG Kft, Peter Bolesza. More importantly, he adds, the application has to be robuﬆ and updated as maps are conﬆantly enhanced and updated at the content providers’ end. The navigation market is beginning to take oﬀ in recent months with pre inﬆalled devices in several mid-sized passenger vehicles. But the attract ion of the market is primarily the low level of penetration of PNDs and other forms of navigation in automobiles. Currently navigation enabled passenger vehicles comprises juﬆ around 1.5 to two

SPECIAL REPORT

percent of the total number of passenger vehicles sold in India, according to Navteq’s and other induﬆ ry eﬆ imates. In Europe, around 50 percent of the new passenger vehicles sold are enabled with some form of navigation. The

screens and PND mode is predominant there,’ according to Bolesza. He added that NNG, in partnership with Navteq, is working on several features or applications suitable for the Indian market and usage pattern.

may have been or are popular in another comparable market like Brazil or China. The market for cuﬆomer-centric products evolves in a very unique manner and India is unlikely to be diﬀerent in this respect,” elaborated Bolesza.

TomTom launches VIA series in India TomTom recently introduced its VIA series of their personal navigation device range in India. The key features in the series include landmark navigation, hands-free calling advanced lane guidance and voice control. “There is no doubt that the navigation market in India is growing briskly and looking for high quality, easy to use navigation solutions. With the extensive experience that TomTom is bringing to the region, coupled with its global quality ﬆandards and processes, we can change the current regional landscape” said Managing Director, TomTom India, Jocelyn Vigreux. The company’s automotive-grade quality maps of India covering the entire country with ﬆ reet level details, will form the back bone of the VIA range dedicated to the Indian car driver. The maps will continue to expand coverage and add relevant content like points of intereﬆ for landmark navigation for the growing Indian market. The VIA series will be available at leading retailers and independent car accessories ﬆores as well as on-line as of October 2011. company is expect ing sales of around a lakh units in India in 2012 with numbers likely to double every year up to 2015. “Moﬆ application providers and content partners are looking for suitable delivery models and it is diﬃcult to say as to which delivery model would be predominant in India. Though moﬆ induﬆry observers predicted that phones would be predominant mode of navigation, the experience in Europe has proved that users require much bigger

In India, the localisation implies that applications need to have more local languages, several levels of 3D landmark capabilities, ‘appropriate’ pricing and ease of usage. The PND device with ‘igo’ already supports 40 diﬀerent languages. Bolesza is shifting to India in order to gauge the market need and customer usage for bringing additional features and application speciﬁcally for the Indian market. “We will not bring features/applications juﬆ because they

Peter Bolesza, VP, Eaﬆern Europe & Emerging Markets, NNG

“Our experience is that a user would act ually ﬆop using a device for navigation if it gets complex to use and he/ she has to tap several times for getting direct ions on a device. Moreover, complexity in usage is counter-productive as it could lead to more time being consumed for any task,” said Director, Sales and Marketing, Navteq, Rajat Tandon. Though Indian market is evolving and bracing up to navigation service, what delivery mode will users eventually navigate towards is a bigger queﬆion!

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

COVER STORY

g n i r u t c a f u n a M n a e y L r n o o t s s d n s a t TVS s succes t u o h s e ﬂ to

T Murrali

P Nachimuthu VP, (AL SBU) TVS & Sons

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

HOW about servicing your truck in a few hours rather than a day or two, which will increase your vehicle up time and proﬁts subﬆantially? Sounds futuriﬆ ic! Hold your breath. It is happening at one of the service centres of Ashok Leyland Strategic Business Unit (AL SBU) of TV Sundram Iyengar

& Sons (TVS) in Nilambur, about 15 km from the textile city Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Ask the Vice President of the company, P Nachimuthu, about the secret—pat comes the reply—Lean Manufact uring Pract ice (LMP). Th is methodology is very much associated with manufact uring, but how it can be adopted into servicing a vehicle? He

COVER STORY

answered that by making the service centre a factory. Once adopted, then the reﬆ is always beﬆ , he said. On inquiring about the impetus for introducing LMP at AL SBU, he replied that with service centres and the dealerships facing several challenges, moﬆ of the companies involved in the business are looking at several options to not only overcome, but also to leverage the emerging trends. As part of the initiative to make AL SBU proﬁtable, “we have drawn extensive plans to address several challenges,” he said.

Challenges According to Nachimuthu, the challenges that any service centre faces includes high real eﬆate coﬆ, manpower availability, talent retention, increasing technology of vehicles and the entry of a hoﬆ of diagnoﬆic tools. Though there

are several challenges, there is no competition as the market is growing and more and more vehicles need attention of organised service centres. The challenge faced by the vehicle owners include the increased price of vehicles due to technological upgradation—for improved performance and compatibility with emission norms. Th is eventually enhances the EMI paid by the vehicle buyers by up to 30 percent. In addition, the rise in fuel price increases the operational coﬆ thereby thinning the margins further. As the users do not have an option in reducing this expenditure, they are looking at containing the coﬆ of ownership that include aftersales service and consumables. Therefore, users comprising ﬂeet operators as well as individuals, expect high technology service at the loweﬆ coﬆ possible, preferably on credit payments.

The vehicle users are unable to depend up on local garages, again on two counts—non-compatibility with technological demand and availability of skilled manpower. Therefore, the ﬂeet operators and individual owners began preferring authorised service centres. “If we need to capitalise the trend, it is necessary to enhance productivity and eliminate waﬆe and optimise exiﬆing resources. And the only option we had was resorting to LMP,” he said. The company has sought the services of a lean management consultant Takao Kasahara to improve productivity of its service centre. Implemented at one of the service centres situated in Nilambur, the company begun witnessing positive results. In order to improve productivity and eliminate waﬆe, it developed many techniques including developing jigs and ﬁ xtures that primarily reduce the fatigue

In accordance to LMS, the company has laid rails with turntables to facilitate easy moment at the engine overhaul and reconditioning shop

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

COVER STORY

The workers have developed a tool rack speciﬁcally for engine and clutch

of the workers. This helps the company on two counts—employee satisfaction and productivity improvement. Besides, it has identiﬁed non-value added process and done away with that—giving additional 15 percent productivity. “We have also identiﬁed the nonvalue added activities and eliminated those activities in the process. This has improved our productivity by up to 15 percent. That’s the reason why we have not increased our scheduled rates. For example, earlier we were working on clutch repair for four hours, but now we have increased our productivity and executing the same job in one and half hours and are charging the same amount,” Nachimuthu added.

The Nilambur Centre The ﬁ rﬆ initiative in going lean is to make ‘throughput process’ from the exiﬆ ing one in a cluttered manner. Like in the manufact uring process where a

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

‘single piece flow’ process helps enhance product ivity, the company has adopted the same methodology for servicing the vehicle as well as overhauling the engine and clutch. Inﬆead of manually pushing the trolley carrying the engine, it has laid rails with turntables to facilitate easy moment at the engine overhaul and reconditioning shop. In addition, it has developed a unique fi xture to hold the engine, which can turn either ways through a mechanically operated handle, for easy assembling. The unit can be rotated to the desired level of the person working on the engine. The engine assembly is sandwiched between the machining area and teﬆing, to optimise product ivity. The sequence is planned ﬆarting from dismantling followed by degreasing, water washing, machining if necessary, engine assembly and teﬆ ing before delivering to the cuﬆomer. Every engine is teﬆed for close to an hour. It has introduced a similar process at its clutch overhaul ﬆation. The service centre has built a unique bay for removing and reinﬆalling the clutch from the vehicle. All these initiatives helped this facility to reduce the engine overhaul time from 61.6 hours in April 2007 to 36.14 hours at the beginning of this fiscal and is ﬆ ill improving. Similarly, the predelivery inspect ion has been reduced to 1.12 hours from 3.35 hours and the ‘8,000 km’ service from 3.06 hours to 1.24 hours and ‘16,000 km’ service from 5.33 hours to 3.29 hours during the same period. The overhauling time for clutch is reduced to three hours from more than 16 hours.

Wonders Of Workmen The intereﬆing aspect of this initiative is that moﬆ of the tools including those meant for inﬆalling ‘rear-end oil seal’ and ‘main bearing cap remover’, have been developed in-house by the workmen. Besides, they have also devel-

oped a tool rack specifically for engine and clutch. It has taken several initiatives to remove non-value added items. Also, it has worked on certain aspects that call for two or three workmen for even basic checks. For inﬆance, at leaﬆ two people are required to check if the front and rear lights of the trucks are functioning—one in the driver cabin to operate the switch and the other looking at the lamps around the vehicle. To address this issue, the workmen of this service centre had developed a unique method using hanging mirrors in the front and the rear of the vehicle. The place to position different models of truck has also been earmarked. Therefore, by positioning the vehicle that needs to be checked at the designated point, a single person can check lighting syﬆem of the entire vehicle at one shot, using the reflection of the mirrors, thereby saving half of the work force. “We are planning to horizontally deploy these beﬆ practices we learned and implemented in Nilambur to all our outlets in Tamil Nadu and Kerala,” Nachimuthu said. The company witnessed 30 percent growth in vehicle services in 2010-11 compared to previous year. However, “the company has not yet made profits in services, but now we are confident

Every year we are planning to add two outlets in Tamil Nadu. The purpose is to minimise the time for customers to reach our service centres. In addition to this, we have started 24x7 services in major outlets like Salem, Coimbatore, Madurai, Namakal and Sankagiri. In about a year’s time, all the outlets will function 24x7

COVER STORY

available with them. We can eﬀect ively utilise our available manpower in the regular service. We have also oﬀered this service to Ashok Leyland in the other regions where we are not present,” he said. The company is focusing more on employee satisfaction by reducing the ﬆrain while executing the job, thus the worker is able to do more jobs.

Reconditioning Business

Re-conditioned engine

of making proﬁts in services due to diagnoﬆ ics capabilities and equipment availability; we are also planning to charge a premium price for that service,” he quipped. TVS has taken several initiatives to catch up with the trend. In managing the manpower, the company has introduced variable pay, which provides more incentives based on the work. Other

The LMS-led initiatives helped the facility to reduce the engine overhaul time from 61.6 hours in April 2007 to 36.14 hours by April 2011 and is still improving. Similarly, the pre-delivery inspection has been cut to 1.12 hours from 3.35 hours and 16,000 km service from 5.33 hours to 3.29 hours during the same period

than ﬁ xed pay, it has introduced variable pay up to 35 percent. It introduced ‘Outlet Performance Index’ for sales and service to assess individual performance. “So far we have not segregated the performing and non-performing workforce; hereafter we will do it,” he said. In order to upgrade their skills, the company sends its employees for a certiﬁcate technical training course. Due to the skyrocketing real eﬆate prices, the company is looking at leased and rented premises to further expand its service centres. It currently holds 25 percent of the market share in terms of total vehicle parc. AL SBU plans to eﬆablish a tie-up with one of its group’s business divisions—MyTVS—soon to enhance the number of vehicle served by the company by another 15 to 20 percent. Currently, up to 20 percent of the service personnel at each of the company’s outlets are deployed for roadside assiﬆance. “In order to optimise resources, we are tying up with MyTVS, which will provide roadside assiﬆance facilities that are already

Leveraging its capabilities, the company is also reconditioning engines for Ashok Leyland at its facilities in Salem, Coimbatore and Madurai. Presently, it overhauls about 300 engines for cuﬆomers and reconditions close to 30 engines though the inﬆalled capacity is 500 engines per month. The company oﬀers six months guarantee for all these engines. AL SBU of TVS has 17 outlets in Tamil Nadu, 11 in Kerala, six in Madhya Pradesh, ﬁve in Uttar Pradesh and one in Uttarkhand. “We are also adding four more outlets in MP. Every year we are planning to add two outlets in Tamil Nadu. The purpose is to minimise the time for cuﬆomers to reach our service centre. In addition to this, we have ﬆarted 24x7 services in major outlets like Salem, Coimbatore, Madurai, Namakal and Sankagiri. In the remaining places, we have implemented two shifts as Ashok Leyland has begun incentivising round-the-clock service, especially for attending warranty issues. In about a year’s time, all the outlets will function 24x7,” he said. In addition, the company promotes Ashok Leyland annual maintenance contract, extended warranty package, extended service all cover insurance. For poﬆ warranty period it has introduced TVS annual maintenance contract and on-site maintenance. The company expects about 10 percent increase in market share with all these initiatives, he added.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

EXTRA MILE

Photographs: Nilayan Dutta

Topsel breaks new ground with success

Ashok Manaktala, MD, Topsel India

Nabeel A Khan

FROM an engineer in a multinational company to spearheading a multimillion business empire, Managing Director, Topsel India, Ashok Manaktala has been moving ahead by embracing the mantra of honeﬆ y and ‘good trade policy’ which according to him is maintaining common and transparent norms across his business network. Topsel India ﬂagged oﬀ its entre-

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

preneurial journey as a diﬆ ributor of Waxpol products in Weﬆ Bengal and Bihar in January 1969 with an inveﬆment of around `60,000. With a turnover of `40 lakh in the ﬁ rﬆ year itself, it earned a proﬁt of around `30,000. “I was working as an engineer in Philips, but felt that with a job, I could not earn enough. Eventually I quit in January 1969 to ﬆart new venture with an inveﬆment of `60,000. I had `6,000 in capital, borrowed `40,000 from my

uncle, and got the reﬆ from a ﬁnancer.” Gradually, Topsel expanded its distributorship and now has a diﬆribution chain of over 14 major auto spare part suppliers and three dealerships of Toyota Motors in Kolkata with joint turnover of around `400 crore. It is in the process of adding three more dealerships in the eaﬆern part of the country. With the launch of small cars like Etios and Liva, it sees greater opportunity in dealership and has acquired land

EXTRA MILE

in jewellery, Manaktala entered in to the new business based on ﬆ rong business ethics, running it successfully with continuous expansion. The jewellery business gave a turnover of `100 crore in FY11. Topsel has three Toyota dealerships—two in Kolkata and one in Silliguri. It has ﬆarted a 3S dealership in Kolkata in 2010 with an inveﬆment of `30 crore, though, the dealership is currently not able to give much profit as compared to its other business verticals in the book, but looking at the land value and the market value of the assets, the company is satisfied with growth in terms of valuation. “We never experienced any loss; we always made profit even during recession. We expanded our business in auto spare parts from `20 lakh in the fi rﬆ year to presently at `200 crore. Our spares parts venture has over 10 branches across India and over 3,000 diﬆ ributors.”

Dual Satisfaction

3S facility set up in 2010 in Kolkata

in Rajarghat (New Kolkata), Howrah and Malda (Weﬆ Bengal) for new dealerships. It plans to ﬁrﬆ expand its showroom in Gangtok into a dealership with an inveﬆment of `ﬁve crore. The expansion will be complete within two years. Topsel is the diﬆ ributor for auto spare part-makers like Solex carburetor, Talbros, Talwar Groups, Sriram Piﬆons and Hinduﬆan Composite. This business vertical is ﬆ ill the ﬆ rongeﬆ base for the company as it gives a turnover of around `200 crore with a subﬆantial

proﬁt margin. It is the sole diﬆ ributor for 14 auto spare part-makers in India for complete range of engine parts for almoﬆ all the vehicle makers. The proﬁt margin in spare parts business, spread across eaﬆern India and Delhi, is around 2.5 percent after meeting all kinds of expenses. It has grown ﬆeadily over the years and by 2000, it had eﬆablished a new vertical with a jewellery showroom when Tanishq approached them. Though it did not have any experience

Topsel believes in holding the customer satisfaction in the higheﬆ regard. For the new 3S facility—Topsel’s Toyota centre has been embellished with unparalleled facilities in the region. It was the firﬆ to have parking till top floor without a ramp. The vehicles are taken up through lifts till the laﬆ floor. Th is dealership has a showroom and workshop spread across 1.2 lakh sq ft. The showroom is on the ground floor ﬆ retched to around 9,000 sq ft. “The Toyota dealership is an around `200 crore business, but there is not much profit in the dealership business due to depreciation, high intereﬆ rates and huge inveﬆment involved. Thus we don’t see much of profit in the dealership business at the moment, but in the future we are sure that we will be able to realise it,” Manaktala said.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

EXTRA MILE

(L&R) Multi-brand used car sell and purchase sect ion

While going the extra mile, the company has a ﬁ xed policy and doesn’t sell anything on premium and uses bills for all the spare parts business transact ion. Manaktala attributes his success to its core policies and a little bit of luck. The dealership business clocked a turnover of `150 crore in FY11and hopes to close around `250 crore in FY12.

Customer Care The company incorporates quality aftersales services like transparency and briefs its cuﬆomers about what is going to be done to their vehicles. It also ensures that only genuine parts are used and provides comprehensive training to its mechanics and employees with respect to the lateﬆ technology. The dealership is armed with all the repair equipment according to the global speciﬁcation of Toyota Motors. Its workshop has all the spare parts

required for every models launched. It also keeps all the spare parts for the Prius. Toyota sold 10 units of the Prius in eaﬆern India.

Staff Policies “You have to keep your ﬆaﬀ happy because that is very important. You don’t run the business; rather they run the business for you. Basically you have to give them scope to grow and treat them well.” Manaktala maintained. It has currently 300 people working across all three dealerships. Though the attrition rate at the mechanic and salesmen level is high, the adminiﬆ rative ﬆaﬀ and senior management attrition rate is much lesser. Some people are with Tospsel since the day of its inception—while the spare part-business does not have any attrition at all.

Challenges However there are some bumps on the path of success, which it would like

Body shop floor

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

to resolve like the clarity on ﬆate government’s policy as to why they want to a charge of 13.5 percent sales tax on road tax and insurance. Two years ago, the government levied this charge, which the dealer community is conteﬆ ing. The case is currently under litigation. Another inconvenience is that the regiﬆ ration number takes a good 10 days and the number plate is ﬁtted only at RTO within ﬁve days of regiﬆ ration.

Next Level Topsel’s 3S facility also has a U-Truﬆ centre, where it exchanges multi-brand used cars with Toyota cars and also deals with them. At its Toyota dealership, it has been able to sell over ten Toyota cars under this centre since it was ﬆarted two months ago. The company has been picking up business quite well and is optimiﬆic about the future prospects following its growth experienced to date.

Top floor parking for damaged cars

EXTRA MILE

Equity:

a name synonymous to Hyundai

Shambhavi Anand

IN 2004, Equity Hyundai ﬆarted off as the firﬆ Hyundai dealership in Rajkot. In less than four years, it became a name synonymous with its prinicpal in the city and won the National Cuﬆomer Satisfaction 2008 and Cuﬆomer Care and Service Award 2010 from the Korean car maker —a recognition for walking an ‘Extramile’ in creating a space for Hyundai in the hearts of the cuﬆomers. Today, it sells up to 180 cars in a month from three outlets two of which are in Rajkot and one in Morbi. It also has a warehouse where it can ﬆack 400 cars at a time, a ﬆock for two months in the city. At its two service centres, it services up to 60 vehicles in a day. “We do not wait for the cuﬆomers to come to us. We make an effort to go to them. Our dealership in Morbi and Kevalam Corner was a conscious effort to get closer to our cuﬆomers,” PL Talsania, Managing Director, Equity Motors. Talking further about the measures that help Equity leave an impression on the cuﬆomers’ mind, Talsania said that the dealership tries to make the process of buying a car a ceremony in which, sweets and chocolates are an integral part. Even the children of the cuﬆomers are attended to with immense care. Follow up is an integral part of the sales process at Equity. “It is important to check that the cuﬆomer does not feel forgotten after the sales has been fi nalised. They might encounter some difficulties after taking the vehicle home. And a call to ensure that they are at ease with the vehicle will only make buying from Equity an

Praduman Talsania, MD, Equity Hyundai

enriching experience. We ensure that they get a call in three months from the sales executive who has closed the deal. And after 15 days, it is the responsibility of the service department to ensure that all is well at the cuﬆomers end,” he added. Talsania, who is an engineer by qualification, ﬆarted the dealership after completing his education and working as an engineer for a while. It was then that the opportunity to ﬆart a dealership in region came across. Hyundai being an upcoming brand, he did not have to rethink. The reputation of Talsania’s family helped him get the chance without much difficulty. Finding employees with technical expertise is not easy in Rajkot. Though Equity selects people in government run Induﬆ rial Training Inﬆ itutes (ITIs) in Rajkot, every recruit requires extensive training. There are four levels of training that recruits from ITIs have to undergo—fi rﬆ at Equity and the other three at Hyundai. It is only after the four ﬆeps of training,

ﬆ retching for almoﬆ a year, that a person becomes a maﬆer technician. There are around 25 technically trained people working at Equity currently. Apart from the cuﬆomer satisfaction reward, the company has also won National Retail Beﬆ seller Award 2010, All India Number One Oﬀtake Retail Award, National Order Volume Beﬆ seller Award 2010 and Cuﬆomer Care and Service Award 2010 to name a few. Till now, Rajkot ﬁgured in the C segment of cities in the country on Hyundai’s liﬆ. And these are the accolades that the company got while competing with other cities, which were comparatively smaller in size. Now Rajkot has graduated to the B segment competing againﬆ cities with larger population. The competition is tougher. And so is the challenge. However, to take good care of the customer is in Equities’ DNA, and the company relies on it to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

SPECIAL REPORT

SIAM convention emphasises need for better infrastructure, growth Nabeel A Khan

THERE is a dire need to focus on developing new technologies for not only vehicles but also in the manufact uring processes as it will help optimise the resources ﬆated the Union Miniﬆer of Heavy Induﬆ ries & Public Enterprises, Praful Patel, when he inaugurated the 51ﬆ annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufact urers (SIAM) recently. The theme for the event was ‘Reinventing Mobility: Vision 2020’, and the day-long event on the mobility induﬆ ry saw acclamation and praise from miniﬆers, bureaucrats and foreign delegates for its unprecedented growth ﬆory in the paﬆ decade. He continued that the automotive induﬆ ry can have open dialogue with the government to address any issues that may seem to reﬆ rict growth.

Vision 2020 The convention witnessed a huge participation of foreign delegates, policy makers apart from the leaders of the Indian automobile induﬆ ry. Acknowledging the induﬆ ry’s success, Patel said, “It’s great to see that the automobile induﬆ ry grew inspite of the government.” As part of the event, panel discussions were organised to analyse, underﬆand and create a road map to ﬁght the impending challenges and technology for future. A number of vehicle manufact urers shared their future plans also. According to the Union Miniﬆer of Urban Development, Kamal Nath, high quality access to mobility can

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

New Leaders

S. Sandilya, President, SIAM

Vikram Kirloskar, Vice President, SIAM

Eicher Group Chairman S Sandilya has been elected as the President of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufact urers, while Toyota Kirloskar Motor Vice Chairman, Vikram Kirloskar, has been elected as new Vice President. Sandilya will replace President, Automotive & Farm Equipment, Mahindra & Mahindra, Pawan Geonka.

The vehicle manufacturers’ apex body also appointed Ford India, President and Managing Director, Michael Boneham as the new Treasurer. In a ﬆatement, the incoming president of SIAM, Sandilya said, “Our goal is to be a catalyﬆ for the Indian automobile induﬆry and to be the preferred global manufacturing and design base, which will contribute to India’s economic development.”

be ensured if the government and the automobile induﬆ ry come together. Raising the issue of transportation, he insiﬆed for the auto induﬆ ry players to partner with the government to ﬁnd a suitable solution. Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia addressed the serious issues related to infraﬆ ruct ure in the country. He asked the induﬆ ry players to also focus on public vehicles to improve the public transport scenario in the country. Acknowledging that hardening intereﬆ rates have aﬀected the automobile sector and are a cause for concern, Patel expressed hope that the

slowdown in domeﬆ ic sales will be a temporary phenomenon. President of SIAM and President, Automotive & Farm Equipment, M&M, Dr Pawan Goenka, spoke about the challenges ahead for the automobile induﬆry. “The growth ﬁgures that we are now working out for the 12th Five Year Plan indicate a rise in domeﬆic vehicles sales to 5.6 million and exports to 1.3 million by the end of 2017.” He also talked about the new technologies and improving the fuel eﬃciency and capacity of manufacturing at a larger scale. While thanking the government for the initiatives, he assured that the induﬆry will contribute 10 percent of GDP in the Indian economy by 2016.

SPECIAL REPORT

OEMs seek deeper engagement with suppliers ously upgrade Tier II suppliers. This will enhance business opportunities for suppliers in the future, but will pose signiﬁcant challenges, as Tier Is will have to inveﬆ in requisite skills and resources to manage an integrated supply chain,” Srivats Ram said. Paﬆ President of ACMA and MD and CEO, Shriram Piﬆons and Rings, AK Taneja said, “Keeping in view the common goal that the two share, the

pliers in India, China, US and Europe reveals the need for multiple key enablers that are critical in deﬁning a ﬆ ronger business relationship. In China and India, OEMs help the supplier improve and grow, while in Europe the focus is on improving delivery. The ﬆ udy also revealed that product liability will be an area of challenge in India and therefore suppliers need to focus on underﬆanding the contract ual risks,

supplier-OEM relations should graduate from transaction relationship to ﬆrategic partnership.” While the growth prospects of the Indian auto component induﬆry are promising—it is evolving as a critical part of the global auto eco-system. For Indian suppliers, on one hand, there is the need to maintain competitiveness in an inﬂationary environment and on the other, the need to compete with the beﬆ in an increasingly uncertain global market, he opined. The ﬆ udy that is based on the responses from over 70 OEMs and sup-

devise ways to insulate themselves and contract ually manage Tier II and Tier III suppliers. In China, suppliers are challenged to meet the demand while in the US, the suppliers-OEM relationship is pivoted on innovation in products and processes. Suppliers will continue to face pressure as OEMs there are likely to increase thruﬆ on sourcing from low coﬆ countries. Akin to India, in international markets too, both suppliers and OEMs are ﬆ ruggling with the shortage of skilled manpower, the report added.

Illuﬆ ration: VR Gokul

MORE than the conventional criteria of quality, coﬆ and delivery, OEMs across the world prefer to engage with suppliers with ﬆable lines of communication, good work culture, effect ive process orientation and end-cuﬆomer knowledge, according to the paﬆ President of Automotive Component Manufact urers’ Association (ACMA), Srivats Ram. Th is was his view on the ﬆ udy by JD Power Asia Pacific presenting ‘Insights into Supplier-OEM relationship: A Benchmarking Study.’ Union Miniﬆer for Miniﬆ ry of Heavy Induﬆ ry & Public Enterprises, Praful Patel released the ﬆ udy at the 51ﬆ Annual Convention of ACMA. The ﬆ udy delineates several key parameters that suppliers need to focus on to diﬆ inguish their performance from others. It reveals findings about the relationship between suppliers and OEMs in the Indian domeﬆ ic market benchmarked againﬆ pract ices in the developed markets of the US, Germany, France and the emerging market of China. The ﬆudy indicates that the OEMs prefer suppliers who can jointly work with them in developing products and technologies to be delivered with a global footprint. “OEMs today are consolidating and looking to optimise their points of contact for efficient and effective supplier management and coﬆ savings. Consolidation of supplier base will call for Tier I suppliers to continu-

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

Photograph: Joshua Navalkar

Fast Forward Nissan Motors tapped the services of Hover Automotive in order to get a headstart in sales and service in India. It has been mandated with establishing sales, service and relationship management for Nissan customers. In an interaction with Aftermarket, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Hover Automotive India, GM Singh elaborates on the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience of setting up the distribution network for Nissan in India and the way forward for the automobile dealership business.

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

IN CONVERSATION

Abhishek Parekh

What is your view on the dealership business? We have been in the process of setting up a dealership network for Nissan over the laﬆ two years. We have had an enriching experience with a mix of experienced dealers coming into our fold as well as young entrepreneurs who could bring some new innovative ideas on the table. It has been a mixed experience for us so far in terms of dealer franchisee that we have worked with. When are we likely to see any recovery in the passenger car market? The market has been witnessing a very inactive ﬆage of late, partly due to trouble at Maruti’s facility and uncertainty on intereﬆ rate front. The market sentiments have taken a beating and there is a double whammy for cuﬆomers as home loan and car loan Equated Monthly Inﬆalments (EMIs) have risen. I do not see the passenger vehicle business growing beyond five percent on an optimiﬆic note. Buying decisions are being poﬆponed due to this uncertainty. Has the Nissan association benefited you as an organisation? Certainly. There are some unique ways of implementation or doing things in Nissan, especially on the backend syﬆem and sales experience. A major reason for the partnership is also that it allows faﬆer ramp up of dealership and service network for Nissan in India. It has been a challenging journey for us and we have gained immensely from partnering with Nissan in India. Our focus is on providing a world class servicing experience and we are gearing up for that challenge. We would be eﬆablishing more service centres soon to provide effective and timely service to our growing cuﬆomer base. We have set up the diﬆribution network for Nissan in

the laﬆ twelve to eighteen months that would have otherwise taken them more than three to four years. That is the pace at which we have tried to execute the task. Moreover, there are several processes on the backend and mode of execution of Nissan that are new to us and we have learnt in that process. What are the major hurdles that you have been facing in eﬆablishing your network? Every automobile brand is on an expansion mode and there is no doubt that we are ﬆaring at a shortage of qualified technical and sales people in the dealership business. Though we have been seeing a ‘temporary’ slowdown of late, the issue (of quality manpower) will only intensify if we account for the growth in the passenger vehicle sales touching more than five million over the next three to four years. A major problem is that working in an automobile dealership seems to be the laﬆ option for a talented engineer or technically qualified person or even a sales executive. We have to make the automobile diﬆribution as a preferred career option for the next generation. One of the ways to achieve this object ive is to provide proper training and help chart a career path for the trainees. We (dealers or OEMs) need to eﬆablish a college for automobile diﬆ ribution business to impart right training for the business. Such a college could comprise eminent technically qualified people from the induﬆ ry like automobile, hospitality and retail induﬆ ries. There has to be some dignity imparted into the profession. There are several training centres eﬆablished by major dealers for their in-house and induﬆ ry requirements, but this does not seem to be adequate. If there is no intereﬆ level among youngﬆers to be in the dealership business then training can be of little or no help.

The enthusiasm and passion to sell cars or serve cuﬆomers is crucial in this business and that is often overlooked. The mindset has to be changed and we need to make automobile diﬆribution a preferred career option. Also, lady executives are more eﬀective in any automobile dealership and we have been encouraging them to join the business. Going forward, what are your priorities? For Hover Automotive, the key priorities are to continue with pace of expansion and getting the right people to join the diﬆribution business for Nissan. We are conﬆantly looking for ways to enhance our service level and touch points to deliver to the cuﬆomers. Digital marketing is an emerging area for reaching out to the cuﬆomers and I feel it is very under-utilised currently. We are facing major challenges in terms of expansion due to high coﬆ of real eﬆate. There is a limit to how many outlets we can have and hence we have to look for ways to reach out to cuﬆomers through innovative channels. We have not yet reached a ﬆage were dealerships will need to operate on a 24/7 mode. However, given the rising coﬆ of real eﬆate, it may not be long before dealers in the city area will need to evaluate that option. We have been able to retain employees so far and we are hoping to continue doing so in the future. We are evaluating on entering CV segment, but that is at a very preliminary ﬆage at the moment. The major focus is to maintain the pace of expansion to help Nissan achieve its growth object ives in India. We have already appointed around 45 dealers and we are looking to appoint another equal number of dealers by the end of current ﬁscal. We are looking to have around 300 dealerships over the next three years or so. This would imply generating direct and indirect employment of around 18,000 to 20,000 people.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

SPECIAL REPORT

Shambhavi Anand & T Murrali

I see people as the biggeﬆ asset for Indian companies. People in the country are flexible, willing to learn and hard working which the companies can capitalise on, the Chairman and MD, Bharat Forge, Baba Kalyani ﬆated. Speaking at the recently concluded 51ﬆ annual convention of Automotive Component Manufact urers’ Association (ACMA), he said, people might not be process-oriented but that is where the role of leadership comes in. Leaders can make that happen. Also, the Indian suppliers are doing much better than in any developed nation. “For inﬆance, in Europe, 10 suppliers go bankrupt every year as compared to one every year in India,” he said. Inaugurating the event, the Union Miniﬆer of Heavy Induﬆ ries and Public Enterprises, Praful Patel said that he firmly believed that the moderation of growth in the paﬆ few months is a transient phenomenon. The coming years shall continue to witness high levels of growth for the Indian automotive induﬆry since the primary demand drivers like vehicle penetration levels, growth of the economy, the demographic profi le of the country, increasing wages and salaries coupled with the huge inveﬆments being made by the government in the infraﬆ ruct ure sector are all very favourable. The increasing inflation, fuel price hikes and the hardening of intereﬆ rates that are affect ing the competitiveness and growth of the automotive induﬆ ry were the primary concerns expressed at the event. Though the apex body is bullish about the medium and long-term prospects, it is concerned about deferral of inveﬆ ment in the view of recent slowdown. At the convention, the then President of ACMA, Srivats Ram insiﬆed on the government to continue with the

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

Praful Patel, Union Miniﬆer for Heavy Induﬆ ries and Public Enterprises releasing the ﬆ udy

Auto industry to play major role for future growth export incentives in the form of Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) and consider intereﬆ subvention as these initiatives will ensure that core manufact uring remains in India. “With the growth prospects over the next ﬁve years remaining ﬆrong, it is important that we plan to build adequate infraﬆructure and create alignment of objectives amongﬆ management and labour in our induﬆry to build an enduring competitive eco-syﬆem for our induﬆry,” he said. He also expressed his concern over the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that is being planned by the government. Kalyani, while continuing the discussion believed that inclusive and

equitable growth necessitates large employment generation for the vaﬆ numbers of youth, especially from the rural and semi-urban areas. Since the job creation potential from agriculture and services sectors cannot support the demand, the vaﬆ number of new jobs will have to come from the manufacturing sector. It is therefore necessary to increase the contribution of manufact uring sector of national GDP to at leaﬆ 25 percent from the current 14 percent. “For this to happen, the automotive induﬆ ry which today contributes 22 percent of the manufacturing GDP, will need to play a major role. Therefore, one of the primary

SPECIAL REPORT

Talent Recognised During the 51ﬆ annual convention, ACMA Awards 2010-11 were presented to companies that achieved excellence under four categories- exports, technology, quality & product ivity and manufact uring excellence—in both SME and non-SME categories. There were 75 nominations for the awards, which was the higheﬆ till date. Besides, the winners of Quality Circle Competition 2010-11 were also honoured.

Gold trophy ACMA Awards Winners (2010-11)

Gold Winners of Quality Circle (2010-2011)

EXPORT Non-SME Category: Raunaq Automotive Components SME Category: Luxite Induﬆries

NATIONAL WINNERS Team Warriors: Rane TRW Steering Syﬆems

TECHNOLOGY NON-SME Category: Delphi-TVS Diesel Syﬆems

REGIONAL WINNERS (NORTHERN) Team Sankalp: Rico Auto Induﬆ ries

QUALITY & PRODUCTIVITY Non-SME Category: Minda Corporation, Chakan SME Category: Bohra Rubber, Faridabad

REGIONAL WINNERS (SOUTHERN) Team Warriors: Rane TRW Steering Syﬆems

MANUFACTURING EXCELLENCE Subros, Noida

REGIONAL WINNERS (WESTERN) Team Eureka: Tata Yazaki Autocomp

object ives for us is to ensure that the huge future market potential that exiﬆs in this sector is met by the indigenous induﬆ ry and not by way of imports,” he said. At the panel discussion on the theme ‘Benchmarking for Progress, Performance & Competitiveness,’ Chairman, Maruti Suzuki, RC Bhargav said, “Both, the suppliers and OEMs should underﬆand the total long-term interdependence. Suppliers need to underﬆand the obligations of OEMs when it comes to exporting. OEMs are dependent on their supplier to be able to reach global ﬆandards and it is necessary for every employee of each supplier to adhere to ﬆandards and speciﬁcations.” According to President and MD, Ford India, Michael Boneham, attracting and retaining good people seem to be the biggeﬆ challenge not juﬆ for

Tier I but also for Tier II and Tier III. Also component manufact urers, apart from exporting, should themselves support their OEM cuﬆomers in their export endeavours. Kalyani said, “There are two types of OEMs in India–Indian OEMs aligned to global ﬆandards and OEMs aspiring to go global. The second category needs to underﬆand that price is an important issue for suppliers. If one has expectations of quality they should be ready to pay more,” Kalyani added. Executive Vice President, Passenger Cars, Robert Bosch, Dr Markus Heyn said, “Good process competence leads to good product designs. Hence both the parties should work in collaboration.” Moderating the session paﬆ President, ACMA and MD and CEO, Shriram Piﬆons and Rings, AK Taneja said, “The supplier-OEM relationship in the country needs to graduate from

transact ion based relationship to ﬆrategic partnership.” President, ACMA, Arvind Kapur said that globally, the intereﬆ rates for induﬆries range between zero to five percent, while in India it is nine percent upwards. Increasing intereﬆ rates is not the solution to contain inflation as few countries including Brazil and Turkey having similar economies to India had reduced intereﬆ during high inflation and seen the inflation being contained. He asked the government to look at options to reduce the coﬆ of finance.

Arvind Kapur is new ACMA President At its 51ﬆ Annual Session, ACMA announced the change in guards at the association with Managing Director, Rico Auto Induﬆ ries, Arvind Kapur taking over as the new President and Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Gears, Surinder P Kanwar, as its Vice President for the term 2011-12. Arvind Kapur said the uncertainty in the international markets as also increase in intereﬆ rates and fuel prices, has led to moderating of growth in vehicle consumption. In order to keep the growth thruﬆ and to ﬆay competitive, the induﬆ ry, on one hand, needs to optimise capacities, raise capital, absorb technologies, build R&D competence, focus on internal governance and develop ﬆ rong organizations. On the other hand, the government needs to address the challenges of access to capital, availability of skilled manpower, rapidly increasing inflation, access to technology and lack of proper infraﬆ ruct ure. Kanwar said the auto component consumption in 2010-11, in tandem with the significant growth of vehicle sales in the domeﬆic market, grew by 34 percent to $39.9 billion. However, in the current fiscal, the induﬆry witnessed slowdown of growth in vehicle consumption. Therefore the auto component induﬆry is expected to grow in the range of 12-15 percent.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

Photographs: Joshua Navalkar

SPECIAL REPORT

Demand for AC service spurs proliferation of specialised shops Abhishek Parekh

THE growing passenger vehicle population in the country in recent years has led to an increasing demand for specialised auto care. In addition to tyres and batteries, auto air conditioning is a domain with an increasing number of players blooming in major metros and cities. Prominent ones are seeking to diﬀerentiate themselves by providing service warranties and personalised care akin to authorised vehicle service centres. “Apart from batteries and tyres, automobile air conditioning is an area with increasing demand for aftersales servicing. A cuﬆomer need not keep his/her car to an air condition-

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

ing service centre for the entire day as repair job can be completed in two to four hours depending on the nature of the job. Moreover, there is a scope for oﬀering premium or express service to cuﬆomers willing to pay extra,” said partner at Correa Car Care, a Mumbai based ‘chain’ of auto airconditioning service centres, located in Malad, Mumbai. Though several specialised chains as well as ﬆandalone service ﬆations have proliferated in the recent years, there are no reliable eﬆ imates of their numbers. Automobile air conditioning repair can be a tricky job as signiﬁcant proportion of vehicles taken for repairing or servicing need to be sent back to the service ﬆation for a ‘relook’, according

REAR VIEW

to M Pious, a supervisor at a prominent Mumbai based Maruti authorised service ﬆation—Patel Auto. Moﬆ auto air-conditioning servicing job pertain to annual gas changing or recharge, cleaning of pipes and condensers, syﬆem overhaul and major repairs, which would include all of the above. The major issue with air conditioning repair pertains to identifying the trouble area. Any service technician would swear that it is diﬃcult to exact ly locate a problem in a vehicle air conditioner and even experienced the need to have several trials in a vehicle to locate any problem like leakage in pipe, fan speed, gas recharge or any combination of these issues. Around 15 to 20 percent of the vehicles come

back to the service centre for recurring or additional problems after servicing. Hence after service warranties play a key diﬀerentiator under these circumﬆances. “I can easily see a major scope for OEM air conditioning supplier play a key role in the after sales service through an organised presence in the servicing business or through partnership with authorised or third party service stations or garages,” according to an official with Mahindra First Choice. Currently, city centric players and smaller players oﬀering ﬆandalone AC servicing are playing a predominant role in addressing the market demand. The coﬆ of repairing could

range from around `1,200-1,800 for a basic gas recharge, which needs to be done once in a year in any car to as much as `3,700-4,800 for a complete AC overhaul with a three to six month service warranty. The service warranty normally entitles the car owner to have any servicing done free of coﬆ in the ﬆ ipulated time without any coverage for additional parts. Though authorised service network of OEMs are continuing to play a major role in the business, there has been a clear reduct ion in the number of vehicles coming in for major AC overhaul work. It may be a while before organised players ﬆep into the game in a major way, but signs of change are clearly palpable.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

CUTTING EDGE

Tecknotrove unveils driving simulator range for CVs

Two-wheeler driving simulator by Tecknotrove

Our Bureau

TATA Motors unveiled an eco-driving simulator at a national dealers meet in Mumbai in September, 2011. The simulator will be inﬆalled at Driving Simulator Centre in Pune soon. The eco-driving truck simulator trains drivers on driving safety and fuel eﬃciency. It helps monitor how the driver’s driving ﬆ yle aﬀects the amount of fuel he uses. The simulator enables trainees to use real life equipment in a virtual world and learn valuable lessons about safety. TecknoSim Simulators makes driver training possible in all types of weathers, terrains, emergency situations that are otherwise not possible to create in real life, thereby reducing training coﬆs and improving the safety ﬆandards. Manufactured by Tecknotrove

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

Syﬆems, a Mumbai-based company specialising in design and development of training simulators for surface vehicles, the simulator trains drivers on safe and skilled driving, while improving their fuel eﬃciency skills thereby reducing CO2 emissions and fuel coﬆs. Tecknotrove ﬆarted with designing and developing car driving simulators for OEMS like Maruti Suzuki, Caﬆrol and now sells a variety of speciality simulators for military, airports and mining companies. The company has inﬆalled over 200 simulators worldwide to help train over 10,000 drivers till date. It supplies simulators for cars, motorbikes, buses, trucks, airports, mining equipments and emergency vehicles. Since its founding, the company has completed numerous training applications for OEMS like Caﬆrol, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Honda, mining companies like Fomento, Sesa

Goa, as well as military and governmental organisations worldwide. One of the unique offerings from the company is the airside driving simulator, which is designed to train airport personnel safely, on demand and at a significantly lower coﬆ. It is aimed at training airside drivers/ operators on the act ual airport driving conditions, daily operations and handling emergency situations without the dangers and coﬆs involved, which is not possible to do in real life. The eco-driving (fuel efficiency) training and evaluation simulator is designed to train drivers on efficient driving techniques. It can help transport companies save up to 15 percent of their fuel coﬆs annually. The simulator focuses on cutting fuel use, coﬆ and carbon dioxide emissions in everyday driving and helps save money. Based on a Tata 2515 truck, the simulator uses real vehicle controls like ﬆeering wheels, gears, ABC pedals and complete act ivated dash board controls. Mounted on a 3DOF electric motion platform, the simulator provides a realiﬆ ic motion feeling of driving a truck through muddy roads, slippery roads, hills, ghats and city traffic. The visuals are displayed through three LCD display screens. The driver’s cabin is connected to an inﬆ ructor ﬆation that helps the trainers to set training scenarios and continuously monitor the driver’s performance. Every miﬆake of the driver is recorded and printed in the form of an evaluation report.

AUTO POINT

Commercial vehicle ﬁnancing to witness drop in the growth levels in FY12 Revati Kasture Head, Industry Research, CARE Research Vishal Srivastav Analyst, CARE Research

60,000

BUOYANT economic conditions and rise in induﬆ rial and agricultural act ivities kept the freight movement ﬆ rong during laﬆ two fi scals (ie FY10 and FY11). Th is led to significant improvement in the utilisation levels for transport operators and subsequently there profitability and credit profi le. The commercial vehicle (CV) induﬆ ry too benefited from

these favourable factors, as domeﬆ ic demand for CVs observed a growth of around 39 percent and 27 percent respect ively during FY10 and FY11 period. Th is growth was againﬆ the back drop of a sharp drop of 25 percent in FY09, due to concerns like slowdown in economic growth, liquidity pressure and rise in intereﬆ rates.

Outlook on New CV Finance market

50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 FY09

FY10

New LCV Finance market

FY11

FY12

New M&HCV Finance market

Source: CARE Research Eﬆimates

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

AUTO POINT

New CV Finance market FY08

FY09

FY10

FY11

96.3%

94.7%

95.0%

95.7%

Average Loan-to-value

80%

78%

79%

New LCV Finance market (Rs cr)

4,776

4,235

6,649

8,976

New M&HCV Finance market (Rs cr)

23,949

14,772

21,617

32,425

New CV Finance market size (Rs cr)

28,726

19,008

28,266

41,402

Average Penetration levels

Source: CARE Research Eﬆimates

Strong Demand Pushed The Disbursement Levels Strong revival in demand also led to healthy rise in the disbursement levels to the CV induﬆ ry during FY10 and FY11. The delays and defaults in the repayment declined significantly owing to improvement in profitability of transport operators. The healthy business situation coupled with drop in the intereﬆ rates also led to improvement in confidence among the financers and subsequently pushed average penetration levels and CV finance market size. As per CARE Research eﬆ imates, during paﬆ two fiscals the disbursements towards new CV sales grown by around 48 percent on y-o-y basis during previous two fiscals i.e. from around `19,000 crore in FY09 to around `41,400 crore during FY11. Rising concerns over slow down in induﬆ rial product ion and increase in fuel coﬆ and intereﬆ rates to pull down the growth in CV demand and so as the growth in CV fi nance business during FY12. CARE Research

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

CARE estimates the domestic CV sales to grow at a CAGR of 13 percent for FY11-FY16 period. CARE Research believes healthy long-term macro-economic outlook with increase in government focus towards development of infrastructure would taper off short term concerns over rising fuel prices and interest rates believes, concerns over hike in intereﬆ rates and infl ationary pressure would slow down the growth in the induﬆ rial product ion by some extent. Th is is likely to affect the domeﬆ ic CV demand, which CARE Research eﬆ imates to grow at a much lower level of 10-11 percent during FY12 as compared to growth levels witnessed during laﬆ two fiscals. Th is slow down in the demand would affect

growth levels observed by CV fi nancing induﬆ ry during laﬆ two fiscals. CARE Research eﬆimates, CV financing induﬆ ry would grow by 15 percent during this period.

Market Growth CARE Research eﬆimates the domeﬆ ic CV sales to grow at a CAGR of around 13 percent for FY11-FY16 period. CARE Research believes healthy long-term macro-economic outlook coupled with increase in government focus towards development of transport infraﬆ ruct ure would taper oﬀ short term concerns over rising fuel prices and intereﬆ rates. The GC segment would continue to dominate the growth as it is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR of around 14 percent, while domeﬆ ic PC segment is expected to poﬆ a growth of around six percent in next ﬁve year period. (The report is prepared by CARE Research, a division of Credit Analysis & Research. Views expressed are personal.)

EVENT

parts2clean gears up with comprehensive offerings

Glimpses of a previous edition of the expo

THE nineth edition of the part2clean exhibition, scheduled to be held from 25-27 October, 2011 in Stuttgart, Germany, will offer solutions for requirements oriented cleanliness in production, maintenance and remanufact uring. Roughly 240 exhibitors from 16 countries in Europe, America and Asia will be represented when the event opens its doors at the Stuttgart Exhibition Centre that will present one of the world’s moﬆ comprehensive range of products and services for requirements oriented, economical induﬆrial parts and surface cleaning. What’s more, representative, multiinduﬆ ry information and procurement offerings covering the entire process sequence will be offered. Beyond this, valuable knowledge will be imparted by the integrated expert forum held in German at the leading international trade fair for induﬆ rial parts and surface cleaning. Cleanliness requirements for components, products, machines and equipment have become much more ﬆrict in recent years, especially when it comes to degreasing, deburring, cleaning, residual contamination monitoring

or temporary corrosion protection. At the same time, coﬆ pressure is also on the rise. Thus manufact urers and maintenance service providers are faced with the queﬆion of how the required levels of cleanliness can be achieved and maintained eﬃciently and ecologically. Juﬆ under 15 percent of the exhibitors at this year’s leading international trade fair for induﬆrial parts and surface cleaning come from outside of Germany.

New Developments “Numerous companies will present new and further developed products targeted at optimising the cleaning process in various applications and in diﬀerent induﬆry sectors. Primary emphasis is being placed on increased energy eﬃciency, process reliability and economy”, said Managing Director, Event Promoters, fairXperts, Hartmut Herdin. And thus participating equipment manufacturers will showcase new syﬆems for wet chemical cleaning which make use of aqueous media as well as solvents, and special processes such as cleaning with carbon dioxide and plasma. The range of innovations goes right on up to options for leasing the entire

cleaning process. There are lots of new cleaning media waiting to be discovered as well. These include, for example, a pH neutral water-based ruﬆ-removing agent which functions at room temperature, a cleaning agent developed especially for use prior to hardening processes, aqueous media for use in photovoltaic applications and high performance barrel finishing compounds. New developments in the areas of cleaning containers and workpiece carriers contribute to reduced processing times and minimised manual parts handling. The exhibitors also have a number of innovations up their sleeves with regard to bath monitoring and maintenance syﬆems, as well as systems for monitoring film-like and particulate contamination, amongﬆ others reverse osmosis syﬆems for the efficient reconditioning of process water and waﬆewater, devices for measuring concentrations in liquids and particulate monitoring in manufact uring environments. parts2clean exhibitors will also offer innovative solutions for effect ive and economic corrosion protect ion, preservation and packaging of cleaned parts and surfaces.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

EVENT

ICS to showcase advanced composite technology JEC Composites has announced its third Innovative Composites Summit (ICS) to be held in Singapore from 18 to 20 October, 2011, showcasing the lateﬆ business intelligence and technical content to help promote the use of composites solutions around the world. As part of its global forums and conferences programme, ICS is the summit in the Asia-Paciﬁc region cov-

ering a wide range of technical papers, composites experts and qualiﬁed industry delegates in a single event. Asia is currently driving the global composites induﬆ ry both in terms of production and consumption volumes, and a wide range of composite materials are enjoying increased market penetration across various segments. The three-day programme, which will be

Visitors at the JEC Composite ﬆall

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

EVENT

Viewers throng at the JEC ﬆ all in one of their earlier summits

held in conjunct ion with the annual JEC Asia Composites Show and JEC Asia Innovation Awards, is expected to feature more than 345 exhibiting companies and more than 7,000 trade visitors from 51 countries. “As the Asian composites sector adapts to significant induﬆ rial and market changes, this year’s ICS programme will help expose Asian fi rms to the lateﬆ technology trends and developments that are impact ing their business. JEC Asia 2011 Composites Show and Conferences, now in its fourth year running, is already well positioned as the leading composites induﬆ ry platform in Asia-Pacific. Each year, we aim to deliver a range of induﬆ ry-specific seminars and conferences, technical sales presentations and business meetings to complement the new composites applications and technologies that will be displayed on the main exhibition floor,” said Frédérique Mutel, President and CEO of JEC Group. The programme comprises eight conferences and induﬆ ry forums that will explore the lateﬆ breakthrough innovations across different end-user applications—process automation, aeronautics, infraﬆ ruct ure, automo-

tive and ground transportation, and wind energy sectors—as well as specialised conferences providing insights into the global carbon ﬁbre market, economic trends, growth drivers in the composites sector and composites design. To build on the success of the previous ICS sessions, a new Carbon Fibre Conference has been introduced to extend the scope of the conference programme, as well as an additional auditorium to accommodate the expected increase in the number of conference delegates. “The key to the success of JEC Asia ICS program is in bringing together a diverse group of highly eﬆeemed industry experts and technical specialiﬆs to share their views on how the Asian composites sector will evolve and keep in ﬆep with global trends, particularly with regards to how environmental issues will increasingly impact the entire composites value chain,” he added. Key automotive induﬆ ry-speciﬁc highlights of JEC Asia 2011 ICS programme include weight reduct ion, which remains a key priority in the global automotive induﬆ ry. It is projected that almoﬆ one out of every two cars will be produced in Asia by 2015, and Asian car manufact ur-

ers are increasingly exploring the use of competitively priced carbon ﬁbre composites to reduce weight. Th is forum will feature a presentation by Volkswagen that will provide the lateﬆ insights into the suﬆainable use of carbon ﬁbre materials in the automotive induﬆ ry. New composites production techniques will be showcased through presentations by Huntsman Advanced Materials, Jacob Plaﬆ ics and Quickﬆep Technologies, while Honam Petrochemical will share composites lightweighting trends in the automotive induﬆ ry. The Technology Information, Forecaﬆ ing & Assessment Council (TIFAC) of India will also present on the use of composite materials in the rail transportation sector.

Carbon Fiber Composites The programme will also see the launch of the new Global Carbon Fibre Market Conference, which focuses on the use of high performance carbon fibre composites for key induﬆ ry segments such as aeronautics, automotive, wind energy, and sports and leisure applications. “Carbon fibre reinforced composite materials are playing an important role in reducing weight and fuel requirements in major transportation induﬆry segments such as aviation and automotive. Fuel efficiency is one of the ultimate drivers of demand for these high performance composites materials, especially as the carbon composites induﬆry continues to make ﬆrides in bringing down the overall coﬆ of large volume production,” Mutel said. JEC is the one of the largeﬆ composites induﬆ ry organisation in Europe and in the world with a network of 250,000 professionals. It represents, promotes and expands composites markets by providing global and local networking as well as information services.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

STUDY

Small CV Segment: On a High Growth Trajectory

THE launch of Tata Ace, in 2005, has given a completely new dimension to the Commercial Vehicle (CV) market in India, which has ﬁnally begun tapping its growth potential. Tata Motors capitalised on the gap which exiﬆed between the three wheelers and the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) segment in the sub one-tonne category, by creating a new segment within the LCV domain, known as the Small Commercial Vehicles (SCV) segment. The success of Tata Ace has led to a ﬂurry of new models by other manufact urers. The paradigm shift for users/buyers, from three-wheelers to the SCV goods segment, has been due to the latter’s advantages such as comfort, convenience, safety, and capacity to carry higher load. Over and above this,

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

the segment has itself generated new demand with more and more LCV drivers turning entrepreneurs. Even though several cuﬆomers aspire for an SCV, they often opt for a three-wheeler due to its low pricing and for want of surety documents required to get a loan for an SCV. Sales in the three-wheeler goods carrier market have been negatively aﬀected with the introduct ion of SCVs. Majority of SCV sales have been due to the generation of new demand from three categories of customers—majority being market load operators around 75 percent; captive users and contract operators account for the remaining 25 percent. The load requirement for SCVs is lower than traditional LCVs. Hence, SCV owners cater to transporting a plethora of

STUDY

Unit sales in India of SCVs from FY 06 to FY 11

Units sold in 000 units

300.0 250.0

200.0

150.0

100.0 50.0

0.0 FY 06

FY 07

Goods Carrier

product s across induﬆ ries that require transportation to shorter diﬆances. Th is is one of the main reasons for traders buying SCVs for captive usage, especially consumer durable dealers, cement dealers, contract ing companies, courier fi rms, and others. In the LCV segment, the sub-3.5 tonne category vehicles (SCV), sales more than trebled after the introduct ion of Tata Ace in 2005. Since then, the SCV market has grown from 89,367 units in FY 2005-06, to 288,264 units in FY 2010-11; growing at a CAGR of 26.4 percent in the paﬆ five years. The macro-economic parameters favouring the growth of the SCV segment include infraﬆ ruct ure development and urbanisation. However, fluct uating fuel prices and increasing intereﬆ rates are likely to play dampeners of demand, albeit not as much as the impact these factors would have on medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCVs). Buoyed by the growth in the SCV goods carrier segment, which is expected to grow between 15-17 percent CAGR in the next fi ve years

FY 09

FY 10

FY 11

Passenger Carriers

The paradigm shift for buyers, from three-wheelers to the SCV segment, has been due to advantages such as comfort, convenience and safety. Even though many aspire for an SCV, they often opt for a three-wheeler due to its low pricing and for want of surety documents required to get a loan (base year 2010-11), CV manufacturers are in the process of exploring opportunities to introduce new product s and better variants. With road infraﬆ ruct ure improving across the country, the demand for high-power vehicles with better features is likely to increase. The SCV passenger segment is expect ed to grow at a CAGR of around 25 percent in the next ﬁ ve years (base year 2010-11), partly due to the low base eﬀect and due to higher penetration into the three-wheeler passenger segment market.

Future demand for these vehicles is likely to be driven by: • Transportation in India moving towards hub and spoke model pushing demand • Small entrepreneurs buy trucks for their own use (earlier this segment used to hire vehicles) and the give them on hire when not in use • SCV passenger vehicles are being used as laﬆ-mile connect ivity in many rural areas where public transport is scarce. They are also faﬆ replacing three-wheeler share autos in urban centres. Also, the vehicle performance is better in terms of driving in rough terrain, passenger comfort, and also the number of customers ferried • SCV owners find driving less tiring and also monthly earnings/savings are subﬆantially higher than owning a three-wheeler The advantages for SCV owners vis-àvis a traditional LCV owners are lower buying coﬆ, less operating expenses thereby higher profitability, easy availability of finance, and attract ive resale values. An SCV owner typically makes multiple trips with lesser payload than an LCV owner, who gets maximum of two loads a day. With changing dynamics of the CV market in India due to infraﬆ ruct ure development, long-term GDP growth (which has direct correlation on CV market), and coﬆ-benefit analysis of logiﬆ ic players, there is bound to be positive growth in the LCV and HCV goods carrier segments and negative impact on the MCV goods carrier. Within LCV, the SCV segment is gearing up for a relatively higher growth in both the goods and passenger carrier segment. (Courtesy: Automotive & Transportation Practice, South Asia, Middle Eaﬆ and North Africa, Froﬆ & Sullivan )

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

ANALYSIS

Softening rubber price small relief amidst slowing automotive demand, rising import threat

riven by the ﬆ rong revival in automotive demand, particularly in the passenger vehicle and two-wheeler segments and export demand for tyres, the Indian tyre induﬆ ry reported a healthy revenue growth of over 25 percent during ﬁscal 2010-11. However surge in input coﬆs especially that of natural rubber (NR) negated any scale beneﬁts, and resulted in a contract ion of induﬆry-wide operating margins by over 500 BPS. Th is was despite numerous induﬆ ry wide price hikes, cumulatively amounting to a 15-20 percent increase in tyre prices. Despite the worrying macroeconomic indicators and a general slowdown in domeﬆ ic automotive sales, the Indian tyre induﬆ ry continued to poﬆ a healthy 25-30 percent revenue growth during Q1, 2011-12 supported by ﬆ rong replacement and export demand.

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

For ﬁscal 2011-12, while ICRA expects moderation in automotive OEM tyre demand, the ﬆ rong growth in OEM sales in the laﬆ two ﬁscals is expected to translate into higher replacement demand.

Declined Margins The tyre induﬆ ry continued its growth momentum in ﬁscal 2010-11 (April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011) regiﬆering a ﬆ rong 27 percent growth in revenues backed by healthy demand from both the auto OEM and replacement segments and supported by capacity ramp-up by major players. The growth was driven by ﬆ rong domeﬆ ic OEM demand from the Truck and Bus (T&B), Passenger Vehicle (PV) and Two-Wheeler (2W) segments which saw unprecedented volume growths of over 25 percent. Exports, which had

ANALYSIS

Average natural rubber prices during the laﬆ eight years 250

100%

80%

200

217.2

190.3

90.0

92.0

67.0

55.7

50.4

114.9

20%

% increase

40% 100

101.1

Rs. per kg

60% 150

0% -20%

FY-04 FY-05 FY-06 FY-07 FY-08 FY-09 FY-10 FY-11 YTD-12 Source: Rubber Board

declined by five percent in the previous fiscal, saw a ﬆ rong recovery regiﬆering a volume growth of 22 percent during 2010-11. Unlike the PV and 2W segments, where the OEM segment accounts for a significant portion of the volumes, the Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle (M&HCV) segment is largely driven by demand from the replacement market, which accounts for more than 80 percent of total demand. The M&HCV segment, accounting for the bulk of tyre induﬆry revenues (~65percent), saw a modeﬆ increase of four percent in overall demand on account of weak demand from the replacement segment and despite a 32 percent growth in OEM demand. The price increases imposed by moﬆ tyre manufact urers in response to the unprecedented increase in rubber prices led to a decline in demand from the price sensitive M&HCV replacement markets translating into increased re-treading and delayed replacements. However, ﬆrong OEM and export demand supported a 24 percent growth in overall domeﬆic demand (volumes), as compared to 21 percent growth in the previous fiscal. Even as the induﬆry benefited from the ﬆrong revenue growth during 201011, higher input coﬆs, especially that

YTD-12: Apr to Aug 2011

of natural rubber, led to a sharp 19 percent decline in operating profits and 37 percent decline in net profits. Players having a diversified product mix with presence in the relatively high margin radial passenger car segment (as compared to the M&HCV segment, which is largely commoditised in nature), higher presence in the replacement market segment which offers better pricing flexibility, presence in niche high margin tyres (like Off-The Road (OTR) and winter tyres) and superior brand image, have been able to poﬆ relatively healthier margins.

Headwinds Dampen Demand After regiﬆering a ﬆ rong 26 percent growth during the paﬆ two ﬁscals (2009-11), the growth in the automobile induﬆ ry, consiﬆ ing of commercial vehicles (CV), passenger vehicles (PV), two-wheelers and Th ree-Wheeler (3W) segments, has been slowing down. During April-July 2012, the M&HCV segment, which accounts for around 65 percent of total revenues for the tyre induﬆ ry, poﬆed a modeﬆ growth of 6.4 percent on Y-o-Y basis as compared to a ﬆaggering 74.2 percent during April-July 2011. Despite the slowdown in demand at the consumer end, some channel and

inventory pipeline buying, coupled with healthy exports supported tyre demand during Q1, 2011-12. However, ICRA expects these macroeconomic dampeners to mute demand (volumes) for tyres during the ﬁscal 2011-12 to around seven-10 percent in the OEM segment and around 10-13 percent in the replacement segment. However, while near term automotive demand is expected to be tempered owing to the macroeconomic headwinds, the long term growth fundamentals of the induﬆ ry remain ﬆ rong.

Softening Prices Help Margins A raw material intensive induﬆ ry, tyre manufact urer margins are highly correlated to the price movements of raw materials. The prices of Natural rubber (NR), the key raw material conﬆ ituting around 43 percent of total raw material coﬆs, witnessed a sharp rise during fiscal 2010-11. Domeﬆ ic rubber prices increased from lows of `95 per kg in May 2009 to highs of `240 per kg in April 2011 while global NR prices rose from $164 per kg to $483 per kg during the same period. Globally, NR consumption increased by 14.4 percent during the fiscal 2010-11, while NR product ion increased by only 6.1 percent. In India, NR Product ion during the fiscal 2010-11 grew by 3.7 percent as againﬆ the consumption growth of 1.8 percent. In absolute terms, Indian NR product ion for the fiscal 2010-11 ﬆood at 0.86 million tonnes as againﬆ consumption of 0.95 million tonnes, leading to large import requirements. The removal of anti-dumping duty againﬆ Chinese, Thai Truck & Bus radials (TBRs) with effect from Auguﬆ 12, 2011 could impact the replacement market for domeﬆ ic tyre manufact urers. During fiscal 2010-11, the country’s NR imports ﬆood at 0.18 million tonnes—a 0.5 percent increase over the laﬆ fiscal. Until March 2011, the

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

ANALYSIS

Trend in imports of Trucks and Bus Radials 1,800

500%

Imported radial MHCV tyres (In '000 Nos.) Growth (%) 393%

1,600 1,400

400% 300%

1,200 1,000

600

598

729

1,127

1,607

43%

248

-18%

55%

200

22% 50

400

200%

141%

800

FY05

FY06

FY07

FY08

FY09

FY10

FY11E

100% 0% -100%

Source: DGFT, ICRA eﬆ imates

Indian tyre induﬆ ry suffered from an inverted duty ﬆ ruct ure wherein the customs duty on import of the input, NR ﬆood at 20 percent, as againﬆ the duty of only 10 percent on import of tyre. In April 2011, this inverted ﬆ ruct ure was corrected partially with NR import duty attract ing the lower of 20 percent or `20 per kg (which at current prices is an effect ive eight-10 percent). In July 2011, through a notification, GoI also allowed the import of upto 40,000 tonnes of NR during fiscal 2011-12 at a concessional duty of 7.5 percent.

Decline In Crude Oil Prices Crude oil prices have been volatile during the laﬆ six months following the debt crisis in Europe and United States, political upheaval in Middle Eaﬆ and North Africa, and cut in demand forecaﬆs by OPEC4. Synthetic rubber (SR), a key raw material for tyres adding a signiﬁcant 15 percent to the overall input coﬆs is a crude derivative. Apart from NR price movements, SR prices also have ﬆ rong correlation to crude oil price movements.

Backward Integration To Protect Margins As evident during the paﬆ few

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

Domestic rubber prices increased from lows of `95 per kg in May 2009 to highs of `240 per kg in April 2011, while global NR prices rose from $164-483 per kg. Globally, NR consumption has increased by 14.4 percent during the scal 2010-11 years, the margins of tyre manufact urers are highly susceptible to movement in rubber prices. As witnessed during ﬁscal 2010-11, margins declined sharply owing to the signiﬁcant upsurge in rubber prices and the inability of tyre companies to fully pass on the rise to the consumers. While revenue growth remained ﬆrong across all quarters in 2010-11, revenues witnessed an accelerating trend with the fourth quarter regiﬆering a ﬆrong growth (y-o-y growth of 32 percent) supported by higher sales of PV tyre, revival of demand in the truck and bus radial (TBR) replacement tyre segment and ﬆrong year-end buying. The growth momentum continued in Q1, 2011-12 with major players regiﬆering

ﬆrong revenue growth nearing 30 percent (y-o-y). However with the softening of demand across all automotive segments and with the higher base effect coming into effect, ICRA expects demand to moderate from Q2, 2011-12 onwards. Although tyre OEMs have so far resiﬆed price reduct ions, ﬆiff resiﬆance to price increases from fleet operators may limit such flexibility in future. The margins of tyre companies, mainly players with large export revenues, are also expected to be under pressure with the withdrawal of Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) scheme from October 1, 2011. The domeﬆic tyre induﬆry has been in an inveﬆment mode during the laﬆ few years with almoﬆ all participants adding significant capacities. Supply additions were high between 2008 and 2010, with domeﬆic capacities increasing by around 49 percent. While the capacities in fiscal 2010-11 are eﬆimated to have increased by ~eight percent, the induﬆry is poised for another ~25 percent addition during the next two years. Of this, bulk of the inveﬆments are expected in fiscal 2011-12 with ~19 tyre projects targeted for completion this year. The relatively lower coﬆ of imported TBRs, domeﬆic capacity conﬆ raints (particularly in radials) and faﬆ pace of radialisation in the T&B segment has led to a huge growth in imports of TBRs during the laﬆ couple of years. In order to protect the domeﬆ ic industry, the GoI in February 2010 imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty (ADD) seven on TBRs (tyres and tubes) imported from China and Thailand. Even factoring in the ADD, Chinese tyres continued to remain cheaper than domeﬆ ic tyres. Coupled with shortfall in domeﬆ ic capacities, the import of TBRs is eﬆ imated to have grown by 43 percent in 2010-11. (Courtesy: ICRA)

TECHNOLOGY

A painting treatment in process

Dürr to build green paint shop for SVW DÜRR is building a ﬆate-of-theart paint shop in Yizheng for SVW Shanghai, the joint venture between Volkswagen Group and Chinese SAIC Group (Shanghai Automotive Induﬆ ry Corporation). Following the current project realisation by Dürr in Nanjing, SVW will rely on the EcoDryScrubber in Yizheng. Th is technology uses air recirculation, which is an innovative dry separation method that reduces energy consumption by up to 60 percent in comparison to conventional spray booths. Also, since fresh water and coagulant chemicals are not needed, the suﬆainability of the painting process is signiﬁcantly increased. With the two lines in Yizheng, Dürr’s trendset-

ting EcoDryScrubber technology will already be in use in 40 applications on four diﬀerent continents.

EcoDryScrubber technology uses air recirculation, which is an innovative dry separation method that reduces energy consumption by up to 60 percent in comparison to conventional spray booths. The technology will be in use in 40 applications on four different continents

How It Works The rotating dip-coating syﬆem RoDip, with which, over 25 million vehicle bodies have already been painted worldwide, comes into play in the pretreatment and cataphoretic dip-coating. Through this, the rotation of the entire car body in the tank optimises the immersion, flooding and draining process. Before applying the base coat and clear coat, the exterior of the bodies are cleaned with sword brushes by two EcoRS 60 type robots. Thereafter, the line is separated due to capacity reasons and runs from the pre-treatment in two tracks. The 24 EcoRP L133 type painting robots in each of the two lines automatically take care of the interior and exterior painting. Even the opening of hoods and doors for interior painting, as well as the measuring of fi lm thickness in the topcoat, is fully automated with robots from Dürr. The EcoLCC linear colour changer used in the basecoat minimises paint loss considerably when changing colours. The UBS lines are each equipped with four Dürr robot ﬆ ations which include a total of 28 EcoRS robots and the application technology for automatic seam sealing, underbody protect ion and rocker panel coating. One such robot also completes the inﬆallation of roof reinforcement dampings in a gluing ﬆation. In addition, an automatic cavity flood syﬆem for the preservation of body cavities is included in the scope of delivery. In order to meet capacity, this equipment is conﬆ ructed in two tracks. The new paint shop—designed for a primerless process and the use of waterbased paint—has a capacity of 62 units per hour. This paint shop, issued by SVW in the firﬆ quarter of 2010 and dedicated to suﬆainability will go into operation in the summer of 2012. Then vehicles from both Volkswagen and Skoda will be painted there.

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

PRODUCTS

In-car entertainment system Automobile gears AVANI TV Solutions has launched avaniTV, a fi rﬆ of its kind in-car entertainment syﬆem that combines Live TV channels, movies, internet videos and live radio—all at the click of a button. Now your TV will go wherever you do, with premium quality entertainment service in your car. The avaniTV offers major Indian TV channels live. Presently, avaniTV subscribers can watch over 40 live channels from the comfort of their car. While ﬆ uck in a traffic jam, avaniTV offers a basket of movies to watch from its Movie Library, making daily commute ﬆ ress-free. What’s more, the product also enables subscribers to seamlessly browse the internet and liﬆen to live radio ﬆations from around the world sitting in the back seat of the car. It uses a cloud-based video diﬆ ribution infraﬆ ruct ure to seamlessly deliver entertainment class experience on the move inside the passenger car. The car kit is available in all major Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin, Pune and eaﬆern UP among others. One needs to only purchase the avaniTV Car Kit which coﬆs `19,990 and the LCD Screen (free firﬆ year subscription). The inﬆallation process does not require any alternations in the car interiors and is carried out by trained personnel.

BAJRANG Engineering Works manufact ures and oﬀers automobile gears. The company has a fully equipped plant with lateﬆ CNC machines to manufact ure automobile gears and shafts for a variety of vehicles. Both prototype and production lots for these gears are undertaken. The range of these gears include: spur gears, helical gears, bevel gears, spiral bevel gears, mitre gears, timing gears, ﬂywheel ring gears, etc, along with axle shafts, annulus carriers, carrier assemblies, spline shafts, chain sprockets, couplings, dog clutches, and a variety of other transmission components.

Bajrang Engineering Works, New Delhi 110 033 Tel: 011-2713 2640, Fax: 011-2745 9563, Mob: 09810024875 Email: info@bajranggear.com, Website: www.bajranggears.com, Certiﬁcation: An ISO 9001:2000 certiﬁed company

Automobile tyres

AvaniTV, Mumbai/Pune Tel: 1800 102 8009 Email: info@avanitv.com Website: www.avanitv.com

Spacers WAVE Current Precision Parts oﬀers superior range of spacers that are made using beﬆ quality raw materials in compliance with induﬆ ry ﬆandards. These spacers are available in various dimensions and widely used in automobile induﬆ ries. The range is widely appreciated by clients for its durability, performance, easy inﬆallation and dimensional accurate characteriﬆ ics.

SHUBHYA International manufact ures and offers a wideﬆ range of ﬆeel radial and bias tyres to all user segments. Tyres, tubes, fl aps and re-treading products are renowned for their superior quality and durability with a ﬆ rong presence in international markets. The range covers categories, such as: floatation implement & trailer tyres; multi-purpose truck tyres; truck tyres; light commercial vehicle tyres; induﬆ rial & OTR tyres; farm tyres; car & jeep tyres; 2- & 3-wheeler tyres; butyl tubes; and tyre retreading materials.

Wave Current Precision Parts Ltd

Shubhya International, Sonepat 131 001

Tel: 044-6453 8981, Fax: 044-4504 8484, Mob: 09884487633 Email: wave@vsnl.com, Website: www.wavecurrent.com

Tel: 9466476610, 9812093453, Fax: 0130-2255462, Mob: 9466476610, 9812093453 Email: enquiry@shubhya.com, Website: No website

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

PRODUCTS

Automotive sprockets

Auto car scan tools

MALKAR Induﬆ ries offers a perfect range of automotive sprockets that are fabricated using highgrade raw materials and give long laﬆ ing performance. These sprockets are technically advanced and used in motorcycles, cars, bicycles, tanks, and other machinery to transmit rotary motion between two shafts or to impart linear motion to a track. The automotive sprockets are economical, reliable drive syﬆem that offers maximum absorption of shock and minimum torque load. These automotive sprockets are available in different sizes and diameters. These sprockets can also be cuﬆomised and are available at induﬆry leading prices (claims the company).

AMPRO Teﬆ ing Machines oﬀers super auto car scan tools (model X-431) the lateﬆ automotive diagnoﬆic product based on both automotive elect ronics and information technology. The open diagnoﬆ ic platform not only represents the world’s leading diagnoﬆ ic technology, but also the future tendency and the ultimate solution. Using an openplatform based on Linux syﬆem and with the help of a Smartbox platform and various onboard diagnoﬆ ic sockets, the scan tools can perform funct ions, like reading digital trouble code, erasing digital trouble code, reading data ﬆ ream teﬆs on automotive engines, automatic transmission, ABS, airbags and cruise control. Other functions include act uation teﬆ, communication with computer, etc. The scan tools provide a whole liﬆ of diﬆ inct ive functions including handwriting input, personal information management, language setting, bilingual dict ionary, calculator and games, making them useful tools as well as excellent gadgets for entertainment purpose. Technical speciﬁcations include: Linux operating syﬆem; I/O: ﬆandard parallel/serial interface main unit; power: DC 12 V, 9 W; printer: built-in mini-printer; screen: 320 mm x 240 mm colour screen; CF card: 128 MB; and CPU: 32 bit.

Malkar Industries, Mumbai 400 088 Tel: 022-2558 0727, Fax: 022-2558 1710, Mob: 09322274241 Email: info@malkargears.com, Website: www.malkargears.com

Automobile fuses SAHIL International oﬀers automobile fuses (Maxi series) from Jeanfeng of Taiwan. These fuses are available in a higher range of amperage rating of 20 A to 80 A in 32 V AC/ DC. The fuses are physically larger in size as compared to other ATO and Mini series automobile fuses. Jeanfeng has provided colour code in each fuse for easy ampere identiﬁcation. Larger fuses are widely used in automobile circuits for protect ion of wiring harness by replacing the fusible wire or fusible link, which is often a plain piece of small wire. The ATO series fuses are suitable for automobiles, trucks; whereas the Mini series fuses are suitable for buses, cars, etc.

Sahil International, New Delhi 110 092 Tel: 011-2246 4894, Fax: 011-2252 8193, Mob: 9899153952 Email: sahil2001@yahoo.com, Website: www.sahil-india.com

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

Ampro Testing Machines, New Delhi 110 028 Tel: 011-2577 5600, Fax: 011-4761 8444, Mob: 09811890900 Email: amproindia@gmail.com, Website: www.amproindia.com

Automotive engine oils JAY Bharat Lubricants offers automotive engine oils (Jaybrol), that are blended from highly refined base ﬆock containing detergent, anti-wear, antiruﬆ and antifoam additives for petrol, diesel cars and trucks, turbo charged diesel engines of heavy-duty vehicles, earth moving equipments, tractors and 2-ﬆ roke engine oils for mopeds, scooters, motorcycles and 3-wheelers, etc. These oils meet various levels of API service requirements and also meet JIS specifications for engine oils. The oils give higher service life to engines; with drain period is extended.

Jay Bharat Lubricants (I) Pvt Ltd Mumbai 400 071. Tel: 022-2529 9990, Fax: 022-2524 1895 Email: oﬃce@jaylube.com, Website: www.jaylube.com

PRODUCTS

Four-wheel alignment machines

Mobile cellular transmission systems

TECHNOMATIC India offers 3D four-wheel alignment machines, the moﬆ advance technology in fourwheel alignment. The 3D cameras alignment based on the car and not influenced by the platform. Measurement syﬆem is equipped with double digital cameras and four target disk, supplying revolutionary measurement mode. There is no electronic component, so the wheel alignment does not have a component failure problem. Once calibrated before delivery, it is workable immediately after inﬆallation as there is no need for periodic calibration. Also due to the measurement progress, there is no need to compensate for ﬆeel ring (rims). The precise eccentric compensation will be juﬆ once pulling or pushing the car back and front. Other features include: software syﬆem, easy to operate, complete conventional basic parameters within two minutes, significantly faﬆer than conventional aligners, online data download for new vehicles, need less maintenance in comparison to other machine, provide excellent accuracy, remarkable durability, etc.

KOTKAR Energy Dynamics oﬀers mobile BTS or the Cellon-Wheels (COW) mobile cellular transmission syﬆems that are mounted on a truck chassis or trailer. The telescopic antenna tower is inﬆalled on a truck platform, and can be lifted, extended and positioned at desired location. It can be retracted, folded, turned even and transported. Designed to be mobile the towers are properly reinforced to withﬆand vagaries during transit, erect ion and deployment. COW incorporates an insulated shelter for housing the BTS and batteries, a diesel-generator set, a precision type airconditioner, RF and MW cable winding and holder drum, counter-weights for ﬆability, special winches to wind up and pre-load the ﬆeel guys, a jacking syﬆem to level platform and lift the vehicle chassis for wheel-free support, rooted to ground while deployed. Advantages are: rapid roll-out; coverage of special events; emergent laﬆ minute deployment; ﬆand-by for maintenance; teﬆ marketing in virgin areas; optional where permanent inﬆallation is not feasible; and easy retreat & redeployment.

Technomatic India, Faridabad 121 001 Tel: 0129-4002222 Fax: 0129-4003333 Email: info@technomatic.in Website: www.technomatic.in

Truck weighbridges TULSI Trading Company oﬀers truck weighbridges that are large scales to measure the entire weight of the vehicles and their content. These weighbridges are used in various induﬆ ries that manufact ure or transport items in bulk items, such as in mines or quarries, garbage dumps/ recycling centres, and bulk liquid & powder movement, and even household goods. The weighbridges are available in two types. One is pit-mounted and the other is surface-mounted. All ﬆandards in designing and manufact uring are followed, which ensures performance and quality.

Kotkar Energy Dynamics Pvt Ltd, Pune 411020 Tel: 020-2581 5315, Mob: 09822012465 Email: info@kotkar.com

Tractor parts TRACTORS (including also the earthmoving machines) components encounter low speedhigh torque loading for longer periods of time. These are subjected to intense variations in loading, poor engine cooling due to low travel speeds and frequent ﬆop-ﬆart conditions. This induces extreme thermal and mechanical ﬆ resses in tractor engine parts, and only the proper foundry and machining pract ices can produce a tractor part that is robuﬆ enough to survive the elements and the harsh ﬁeld operating conditions. Garima Global does it with guaranteed precision.

Garima Global Pvt Ltd, Mumbai 400 053 Tulsi Trading Company, Kolkata 700 019 Tel: 033-4001 0701, Fax: 033-4001 0706, Mob: 09331152608 Email: ttcatlas@cal.vsnl.net.in Website: www.tulsiweigh.com

Tel: 022-4037 8888, Fax: 022-6756 8999 Email: email@garimaglobal.com Website: www.garimaglobal.com Certiﬁcation: An ISO 9001:2008 Certiﬁed Company

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

PRODUCTS

Vehicle washers

Hydraulic dock levellers

ESKAY Engineering Syﬆems oﬀers all kinds of vehicle washers, such as single plunger washers, triple plunger washers, etc. Bulk requirements of clients are also met. Some of the technical speciﬁcations of model SKWSP-03 include: reciprocating type; single plunger; plunger diameter of 40 mm x ﬆroke length of 60 mm; speed of 360 RPM; output 12.5 LPM; working pressure 25 kg/cm² maximum; crankcase oil capacity of minimum 300 ml & maximum 400 ml; 3 HP motor; and branded motor make.

BESTO Handling Syﬆem Company offers high efficiency hydraulic dock levellers that are used for loading and unloading heavy loads. These are ideal equipment for use where there is a difference in the levels of ﬆorage and level where goods are to be transferred. Known for their efficiency and safety, the dock levellers are available in a variety of cuﬆomised versions to suit the requirements of cuﬆomers. Also manufact ured are dock levellers using high-grade raw materials. The dock levellers make work easier by act ing as bridges between the two levels. Further, the dock levellers also work with loads that are unevenly diﬆ ributed. Controlled by a hydraulic operating syﬆem, the dock levellers raise and lower the load using elect ro-hydraulic pressure. The dock levellers are characterised by features, such as: faﬆer & economical; easy-to-operate, quite & smooth cycling; reﬆ ricted free fall through a hydraulic velocity fuse; and power pack mounted underneath the deck.

Eskay Engineering Systems, Coimbatore 641 004 Tel: 0422-6532890, Fax: 0422-2564565, Mob: 09442113911 Email: info@eskayengg.in, Website: www.eskayserviceﬆationequipments.com

Auto bearings COSMO Teck offers bearings in all shapes and sizes. These include deep groove, self-aligning, thruﬆ, cylindrical roller, tapered roller, thruﬆ spherical roller, clutch, needle and roller bearings. Also offered is a comprehensive range of automotive engine parts, automotive elect rical parts, automotive clutches, trailer parts, fuel Inject ion parts, automotive brake linings, automotive brake shoes, fi lters, suspension parts, auto lights, mirrors, etc.

Cosmo Teck, Mumbai 400 050 Tel: 022-2640 3687, Fax: 022-2651 5420, Mob: 09833811406 Email: asif_fakih@yahoo.com, Website: www.cosmoteck.com

Besto Handling System Company, Chennai 600 098 Tel: 044-2624 2623 Fax: 044-2624 2623 Mob: 09840779778 Email: sales@beﬆohandling.com Website: www.beﬆohandling.com

Automotive parts

MEDIUM power automotive relays (models 3501/3531, 3521 & 3541) offered by O/E/N India are used for resiﬆive/inductive loads, indicator lamp loads and head lamp loads. Salient features of these automotive relays include direct PCB mountable, coﬆeffective, suitable for various loads, miniature size, etc. Applications are in turn signal & hazard warning lights, flashers, wiper controls, head lamp control, ﬆarter motor, security syﬆems, etc. Special contacts for higher contact rating, extra braided wire, high temperature winding wire, special coil resiﬆance & pick-up, etc, are available on requeﬆ.

AHUJASONS manufactures and oﬀers highly funct ional automotive parts that enhance the eﬃciency of automobiles. These automobile parts are precisely designed and engineered in order to ensure high durability and ﬆ rength. The range comprises of gears, crack shafts, cross, shifter forks, and clutch collars. High durability, excellent performance and low maintenance of the range are some of their features for which the automobile parts are widely appreciated (claims the company).

O/E/N India Ltd, Cochin 682 019

Ahujasons, New Delhi 110 005

Tel: 0484-2301132, Fax: 0484-2302211 Email: sales@oenindia.com, Website: www.oenindia.com

Tel: 011-2394 3349, Fax: 011-4505 6211 Mob: 09990469999

Automotive relays

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

PRODUCTS

Hydraulic car lifts BHARDWAJ Cranes & Elevators offers hydraulic car lifts that have extensive applications in vehicle and axle inspections, mechanical repairs, service work and repairs. These car lifts are highly suitable for small cars as well as light commercial vehicles. They have smooth operation which ensures faﬆ lifting time. A major feature of the hydraulic car lifts is that their hydraulic drive is filled with biodegradable oil. This enables complete organisation and durability. The car lifts provide complete safety, and are equipped with dual hydraulic cylinders, automatic arm reﬆraints and automatic safety locks. Dual controls allow operation from either column and come with multi position electronic locking syﬆem. This ensures full protection. The high-pressure cylinders in each column provide maximum lifting force and even procedure. Adjuﬆable height makes the car lifts flexible enough for all kinds of vehicles. The hydraulic car lifts are available in a variety of platform rises, capacities and widths to serve the requirements of cuﬆomers.

Bhardwaj Cranes & Elevators, Ludhiana 141 120 Tel: 0161-6531429, Fax: 0161-2844084, Mob: 09815177061 Email: bhardwajcompany@yahoo.com Website: www.bhardwajeotcranes.com

Auto electrical parts

Automotive springs

SHALIMAR Precision Enterprises oﬀers a wide range of auto elect rical parts that are made to serve the automobile induﬆ ry. These elect rical parts are made employing premium quality raw materials. The auto elect rical parts are of international ﬆandards. They are appreciated by a large number of clients. The products are available in the market at moﬆ economical rates (claims the company).

PUNJAB Ball Bearing & Machinery Corpn oﬀers superior quality automotive springs that are manufact ured from good quality raw materials. Durability and high performance are the chief characteriﬆ ics of these springs that make them broadly demanded by cuﬆomers.

Shalimar Precision Enterprises Pvt Ltd, New Delhi 110 028

Punjab Ball Bearing & Machinery Corporation New Delhi 110 005

Tel: 011-4500 3000, Fax: 011-2589 2131 Mob: 09810131949 Email: shalimar@shalimarexport.com, Website: www.shalimarexport.com

Tel: 011-2875 0836 Fax: 011-2875 0836 Mob: 09810005773 Email: ykobearings@yahoo.co.in, Website: www.ykobearings.com

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

PRODUCTS

Rubber auto parts

Automotive batteries

GENEXT Auto Induﬆ ries oﬀers a wide range of specially fabricated automotive parts that are manufact ured in compliance with quality ﬆandards. These automotive parts are specially manufact ured using quality materials. Also oﬀered are automotive components, rubber auto components, auto mould parts, automotive rubber parts, automotive parts & components, etc.

BHATIA Battery House oﬀers a wide range of automotive batteries. The range of these automotive batteries consiﬆs of Tata green batteries, Exide green batteries and Amaron green batteries. These batteries are widely used in automobiles, such as cars, jeeps, tractors, two-wheelers, etc. The automotive batteries are available in diﬀerent sizes and shapes as per diverse requirements of clients.

Genext Auto Industries443 201

Bhatia Battery House , Ghaziabad 201 010

Mob: 09822271701, Email: genext_2007@rediﬀmail.com

Tel: 0120-4337837, Mob: 09212430899 Email: bbhmrt@gmail.com

Brake uids LEO Lubricants manufactures and offers DOT-3 high-grade and heavy-duty brake fluids. High in performance, these brake fluids are fully synthetic and contain anti-oxidants & corrosion inhibitor, which ensure long service life. The brake fluids have a high boiling point, which eliminates any possibilities of vapor lock problem under severe working conditions. They have low pour point characteriﬆics and can be easily used for vehicles running at low temperature. Some of the important properties of the brake fluids are: density @ 15°C: 1.050; viscosity CST @ 100°C: 1.5; dry ERBP min 205°C; wet ERBP 140°C; and flash point PMCC 120°C.

Leo Lubricants Pvt Ltd, Mumbai 400 004 Tel: 022-2364 1588, Fax: 022-2364 1590, Mob: 09892531235 Email: info@leolubes.com, Website: www.leolubricants.com, Certiﬁcation: An ISO 9001:2008 Certiﬁed Company

Engine oils MAHATHOL 2T Super from Mahatha Petroleum is a two-ﬆ roke engine oil developed with suitable base oil and select additives to minimise spark plug fouling and pre-ignition. These oils prevent ruﬆ ing, minimise deposit formation and provides protect ion againﬆ seizure, scuﬃng and wear. The oils also have advantage of lower oil consumption and contain diluents for easy mixing with petrol. These oils are recommended for all types of two ﬆ roke engines of mopeds, scooters, motorcycles and three wheelers. The recommended dosage of Mahathol 2T Super is 20 ml per litre of petrol.

Car seat covers ORCHIS manufact ures genuine and composite leather car seat covers. Materials used by are of thickness ranging from 0.9 mm to 1.2 mm, with a printed grain ﬆruct ure made on imported sophiﬆ icated machines. The materials are naturally flexible enabling them to be draped around different shapes and ﬆ ruct ures. Besides being hard-wearing tough and durable, these are soft and supple. The seat covers come with the inside having bonded foam of 8 mm to 15 mm thickness with 28 density. Stitching is done on imported machines with special imported nylon threads. A range of 20 colours and 19 patterns are available for customers to select from. Both the options in the seat covers (loose & fi xed type) are offered.

Orchis, Mumbai 400 079 Tel: 022-6539 5042, Mob: 09870203580 Email: orchis@sify.com, Website: www.orchis.in

Tractor components JAIN Induﬆ rial Products manufact ures components for tractor induﬆ ry in India, which includes lock nuts, ring nuts, special screws, screws, pin lever diﬆ control, sleeve shaft driving wheel, valve cover cap, washers, thruﬆ washers, retention plates, spacers, bushing front wheel spindles, pins, dowel pins, etc.

Mahatha Petroleum Pvt Ltd, Chennai 600 117

Jain Industrial Products, Rohtak 124 001

Tel: 044-2247 1542, Fax: 044-2247 3800, Mob: 09444065754 Email: mahathapetroleum@dataone.in, Website: www.mahathapetroleum.com, Certiﬁcation: An ISO 9001:2000 Certiﬁed Company

Tel: 01262-249490, Fax: 01262-249489 Mob: 09896349490 Email: jaininduﬆ rialproducts@yahoo.com Website: www.jipr.co.in

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

PRODUCTS

Automotive silicone hoses WESTERN Rubbers & Seals manufact ures and offers automotive silicone hoses. The ﬆandard conﬆ ruct ion hoses have a 70 Sh natural translucent silicone rubber inner hose, a braided polyeﬆer multi-fi lament yarn or fiberglass reinforced a 70 Sh A silicone rubber coating (natural translucent). These hoses are suitable for continuous operation at temperature from –60°C to 150°C and for intermittent exposure up to 180°C. They have no harmful toxic or physiological effects. The hoses are chemically extremely ﬆable and suitable for use with many acids and alkalis. They are resiﬆant to ozone and UV to ozone & corona discharge. The elaﬆomers used for ﬆandard translucent hoses comply with FDA 21 CFR 177.2600. Typical applications include: coolant hoses for induﬆ rial machinery & equipments; pipes & connect ing hoses for food & beverage processing; medical equipments; and chemical & adhesive fi lling syﬆems.

Western Rubbers India Pvt Ltd, Mumbai 400 104 Tel: 022-2676 0203/0274, Fax: 022-2676 0280 Email: info@weﬆernrubbers.com Website: www.weﬆernrubbers-india.com

Epoxy oorings & coatings TAJ Hi-Tech offers epoxy floorings and epoxy coatings, polyurethane floorings/ coating that are used on floors and wall surfaces. These coatings give higher abrasion-resiﬆant to the surface. The coatings are very easy to clean and wash. Benefits include: provide cleaner, healthier & more pleasant place for employees to work in; protect the concrete from wear, making it laﬆ longer; control concrete duﬆing; protect the subﬆrate from chemical & physical degradation; cut down on amount of lighting needed in plant; make the plant more appealing to potential cuﬆomers; help keep finished parts clean before shipping; define certain areas, or designate the presence of hazards; reduce the maintenance & cleaning coﬆs; uplift in aeﬆhetics; and easy washability. Application areas are: automobile induﬆries, electronics induﬆries, automobile showrooms & workshops, pharmaceutical induﬆries, food processing induﬆries, health care centers, chemical induﬆries, fertilizer induﬆries, IT induﬆries, engineering induﬆries, etc.

Automobile battery chargers TANTRA International offers automobile battery chargers that are available in capacities covering a wide range of voltage from 0 V DC to 300 volts DC and current ranging from 10 A to 200 A. The battery chargers effect ively control the variation in the flow of current. Available in different technical specifications, the range is widely used in automobile induﬆ ry. Salient features include: maintain conﬆant current at the load; no effect of voltage variation on output current; maintain the quality of plates & saves time period; controls overloading of elect rical supply syﬆem; reduct ion in failure rate of elect rical equipments up to 80 per cent; energy saving up to 10 to 15 per cent possible; and uniform quality of end products. An automotive battery is a type of rechargeable battery that supplies elect ric energy to an automobile. Battery recycling of automotive batteries reduces resources required for manufact ure of new batteries and diverts toxic lead from landfi lls or improper disposal.

Tantra International, Mumbai 400 064 Tel: 022-2808 2384 Mob: 09967571636 Email: sales.tantrainter@gmail.com Website: www.tantrainter.com

Automotive wiring harnesses BALAJI Cable manufacturers and exports superior wiring harness for automobile, elect ronic & electrical, telecommunications, railways and several other induﬆ ries. High-grade automotive wiring harnesses are available that ﬁnd application for multiple purposes. These automotive wiring harnesses are fabricated by using ﬁneﬆ grade of materials and ﬆ ringently teﬆed on each ﬆage of fabrication to ensure that they are free from any kind of defect. They are used for ignition syﬆem, battery cables.

Taj Hi-Tech, New Delhi 110 024

Balaji Cable & Auto Components, Hosur 635 109

Tel: 011-6515 1780, Fax: 011-2621 4016 Email: hafeez@tajhitech.com, Website: www.tajhitech.com

Tel: 04344-225417, Fax: 04344-225417, Mob: 09865166841 Email: balajicable@rediﬀ mail.com

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

PRODUCTS

Painting booths

Bolts & set screws

AMI Induﬆries offers side draft, nonpressurised painting booths that are totally compact and suitable for small and medium size component painting. These painting booths are suitable for conventional or electroﬆatic hand guns with no addition or modification. Adequate exhauﬆ results in effective removal of overspray paint particles and thus eliminates its setting on wet painted surface. They also provide clean air to the operator. Washing action minimises escape of paint along with exhauﬆ air and thus eliminates surrounding pollution and also the risk of fire. The air flows have been so designed so as to offer total comfort to operator and in accordance with safety ﬆandards applicable. They find applications in automobile parts, control panels, pumps, valves, cycle parts, caﬆings, fans, non-ﬆick cookware, ball pens, air pins, refrigerators, etc.

ABC Induﬆrial Faﬆeners manufact ures and offers bolts and set screws, such as square head, T-head, taper head, rectangular head, T-bolts, square head set screws, flash point, plain cup point, half, full and extra dog point, flanged or collar head, square T-bolts (6 mm to 48 mm, ¼” to 2” diameter), rectangular T-head bolts and also with square neck T-bolts. These faﬆeners are made as per IS, BIS, JIS, GOST, ASTM, ISO and BSW, BSF, UNC, UNF threads. Materials of conﬆruction include: MS 4.6 grade, EN-8, 6.6, 8.8 grade, EN-19, 10.9 grade or 10K, EN-24, 12.9 grade or 12K, brass, SS304/316, R, S, T, V grades, etc. These are also supplied with sursulf, liquid nitriding and nitrocar bruising process. Applications are in machine tools, light and heavy induﬆries, textile, automobile, tractor, cement, chemical and sugar plants and other service induﬆ ries.

Ami Industries, Mumbai 400 063. Tel: 022-2686 3120, Fax: 022-2873 4753 Email: oven@bom5.vsnl.net.in Website: www.amiinduﬆ ries.com

ABC Industrial Fasteners, Mumbai 400 072

Pneumatic impact wrenches

Tel: 022-2847 0806 Fax: 022-2847 0705 Email: response@abcfaﬆeners.com Website: www.abcfaﬆeners.com

CHICAGO Pneumatic offers CP7749 ½-inch pneumatic impact wrench to feature side-to-side (S2S®) forward/reverse funct ionality. Th is wrench is well-balanced, lightweight at only 1.98 kg (4.37 pounds), and packs a punch with 980 Nm (725 ft lbs) of torque. This is a tool that reduces the ﬆ rain on wriﬆ and forearm common with the use of typical impact wrenches when changing direct ion of rotation. The exclusive S2S technology allows user to effortlessly change between forward and reverse with one hand in any position. The three-position power regulator in forward provides control and helps to prevent over-tightening, while full power remains conﬆ ant in reverse to ensure technicians have maximum power to remove faﬆeners without changing the setting in the forward position. The CP7749 is also available with a two-inch anvil (CP7749-2) for tyre removal applications when accessibility is an issue or the use of ‘fl ip’ sockets. In continuation to S2S series, Chicago Pneumatic plans to launch more variants in 3/8”, ½”, ¾” and 1” square drive categories.

Nuts & bolts

Chicago Pneumatic, Thane (W) 400 610 Tel: 022-3998 2731, Fax: 022-3998 2725, Mob: 09833489164 Email: ashish.malhotra@cp.com Website: www.chicagopneumatic.co.in

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

FRIENDS Engineering Works manufact ures and offers nuts and bolts in all sizes suitable for a varied number of equipments and tools, primarily elect rical, elect ronic, automobile and hardware. Speciality has been achieved in fi ne threading. Quality control is at its beﬆ . Each and every piece undergoes ﬆ ringent quality control checking before dispatch. Nuts and bolts of all sizes and specifications and for usage in all type of equipment, gadgets, switches and tools are available. Nuts and bolts of following specifications are being manufact ured, such as nuts 3 to 16 mm, 1/8” to 5/16”, 6 to 2 BA; and bolts –6 mm to 5/16” in all sizes. Also manufact ured are nuts and bolts as per customised requirements virtually for each and every kind of induﬆ ry elect rical gadgets, switches, telecommunication equipment, elect ronic equipment, machinery, automobiles and hardware.

Friends Engineering Works, Ludhiana 141 010 Tel: 0161-2673622, Fax: 0161-2673623, Mob: 09872464194 Email: few@sify.com, Website: www.fewnuts.com Certiﬁcation: An ISO 9001:2000 Certiﬁed Company

PRODUCTS

Automotive cables Q-FLX Wires & Cables (a div of Cybele Induﬆries Ltd) oﬀers a wide range of quality automotive cables to wiring harness manufacturers for their supplies to heavy-duty vehicles, like buses, trucks, tractors, earthmovers, etc; and all four-wheelers and two-wheelers for the purpose of lighting, igniting, wiping, battery charging, ﬆarter, ﬆeering column, horn, signaling, motor antenna, motorised outside rear view mirror, power windows, ﬆereo syﬆems, communication, etc. Automotive cables are manufactured to reference ﬆandards BS:6862, JIS:3406 and IS:2465 with bright annealed high conductive electrolytic copper conductor conforming to the requirements of IS:8130/BS:6360 and insulated with specially designed dielectric grade Q-Flx brand PVC compound as per IS:5831/BS:6746, which is impervious to water, oil, petrol, acid and greases. The automotive cables are also manufactured as per conventional sizes prevailing in the market where the copper and the PVC insulation meets the above ﬆandards requirements and impervious to water, oil, petrol, acid and greases.

Q-Flx Wires & Cables, Chennai 600 098 Tel: 044-2625 0549, Fax: 044-2625 7580, Mob: 09884522777 Email: inveﬆor@qflexcable.com , Website: www.qflexcable.com, Certification: An ISO 9001:2000 Certified Company

Nuts/bolts & industrial fasteners ZENITH Induﬆ rial Products oﬀers nuts, bolts and induﬆ rial faﬆeners by cold forging, hot forging, turned & machined process, etc, as per IS, BS, DIN, ISO ﬆandards and also non-ﬆandard items as per drawings & samples provided by cuﬆomers. Th reads are of METRIC MM, BSW, BSF, UNC, UNF, BSP, BSPT, NPT, 4-12 NC/NF, self-tapping 2-14 types. Material & grades include: mild ﬆeel, 4.6 grade, HTS, EN 8, 8.8 grade, EN 19, 10.9 grade, EN 24, 12.9 grade, spring ﬆeel & sheet metal, SS410, 303, 304, 316, 304L & 316L, brass, copper, aluminium, titanium, PB, etc. Finishes available are: natural ﬁnish, self colour, phosphating, blackodising, zinc platting, blue/yellow/olive green/copper/black passivation, nickel & nickel chrome platting, trivalent zinc platting and heat-treatment on requeﬆ. The nuts, bolts and induﬆ rial faﬆeners are used in various induﬆ ries, like machine tools, textile, elect rical & elect ronics, automobiles and other engineering induﬆ ries.

Zenith Industrial Products, Mumbai 400 072

Tyre in ators DIGITAL automatic tyre inflators (model SetAir-201S) offered by Inﬆrument Research Associates are fully automatic, safe, electronically controlled closed loop syﬆems to inflate tyres accurately to a preset pressure level by adjuﬆing the filling rate automatically after sensing the size and type of the tyre. These equipments automatically decide to inflate or deflate a tyre depending on the under-/over-pressure of the tyre. A single equipment can inflate and deflate tyres of all types of vehicles including mopeds, scooters, mobikes, cars, vans, buses, trucks and tractors. The equipments offer utmoﬆ ease of operation to users who are not well versed in English. Features include: exhauﬆive facility for faﬆ inflation of flat tyres; convert function to show the desired and actual tyre pressure in kg/cm³ and PSI; confirm/backlight functions combined in one switch; LCD specially designed with icons to indicate the select units of pressure reading kg/cm, PSI, etc; and waterproof integrated keypad with positions of inc, dec, flat tyre, convert and confirm/ backlight functions.

Instrument Research Associates Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru 560 100 Tel: 080-2852 0590/2/4, Fax: 080-2852 1525 Email: winira@airtelbroadband.in Website: www.irainﬆ rumentation.com

Tel: 022 2847 8806, Fax: 022-2856 0705Email: zenith@zipindia.com, Website: www.zip-india.com

Torque screwdrivers SUMMIT Engineering offers torque screwdrivers with interchangeable tips to overcome such problems. The torque screwdrivers are available in two-piece conﬆ ruct ion, an ergonomically refined handle with exchangeable blades (insert) for greateﬆ flexibility in all areas of use. Present ranges available are 0.6 to 1.5 Nm, 1.5 to 3.0 Nm, 3.0 to 5.4 Nm. Torque can be very easily adjuﬆed with the help of Allen key. Set torque achieved is indicated by acouﬆic and mechanic signal. No over-torquing is possible as after achieving set torque it ﬆarts to slip. Various screwdriver blades suitable for slotted heads, PH, PZ, TORX and TORX Plus (IP) are available. These exchangeable blades are manufact ured from chromemolybdenum-vanadium ﬆeel with superior hardness, which exceeds DIN and ISO requirements by up to 100 per cent and have black tips for precise fitment.

Summit Engineering Technology Pvt Ltd, Navi Mumbai 400 708 Tel: 022-2764 2776, 2769 9667 Fax: 022-2760 0819, Mob: 9821150858 Email: summit2@vsnl.com Website: www.summitengg.com

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

ADVERTISERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; LIST

Pg No. Advertiser...........................................Tel................................. E-mail ............................................Website

B2 ...... ADEA Awards........................................+91-22-30034650...........prachi.mutha@infomedia18.in ...... www.adea.in

FIC ...... Anand Automotive Ltd .........................+91-11-26564542 ...........arpita.bhatia@anandgroupindia.com.. www.@anandgroupindia.com

17 ....... Bosch Limited ......................................+91-80-22999269 ..........sanjay.chakravarty@in.bosch.com www.boschindia.com

51 ....... Confederation Of Indian Industry .......+91-124-4013871 ........... rachna.jindal@cii.in ..................... www.autoexpo.in

4......... Engineering Expo .................................+91-9819552270 ............engexpo@infomedia18.in .............. www.engg-expo.com

13 ....... KYB Asia Co Ltd ....................................+91-9871687888 ...........anup73@sify.com ........................... www.kyba.co.th

BIC ..... Lubrizol Advanced Materials India Pvt. Ltd. .+91-22-66027800 .........Estane-SA@lubrizol.com .............. www.lubrizol.com/engineeredpolymers

BC ...... Madhus Garage Eqpts ..........................+91-80-26660656 ..........madhus@madhusindia.com .......... www.madhusindia.com

Q Our consistent advertisers

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

PRODUCT INDEX

Product ................................................................................Pg No.

A/C service equipment.......................................................... BC

Four-wheel alignment machines .......................................... 53

ADEA - Automotive Dealership Excellence Awards ............... 2

Gas analysers ........................................................................ BC

Alternatives........................................................................... 17

Gasoline systems .................................................................. 17

Auto bearings ....................................................................... 54

Gear pumps .......................................................................... 17

Auto car scan tools ............................................................... 52

Horns .................................................................................... 17

Auto electrical parts ............................................................. 55

Hydraulic car lifts ................................................................. 55

AutoExpo-2012 exhibition .................................................... 51

Hydraulic dock levellers ....................................................... 54 ...

Automobile battery chargers ................................................ 57

In-car entertainment systems............................................... 50

Automobile fuses .................................................................. 52

Lighting ................................................................................ 17

Automobile gears ................................................................. 50

Lubricants............................................................................. 17

Automobile tyres .................................................................. 50

Mobile cellular transmission systems ................................... 53

Automotive batteries ............................................................ 56

Nuts & bolts.......................................................................... 58

Automotive cables ................................................................ 59

Nuts/bolts & industrial fasteners.......................................... 59

Automotive engine oils ......................................................... 52

Painting booths .................................................................... 58

Automotive parts .................................................................. 54

Pneumatic impact wrenches ................................................ 58

Automotive products ............................................................ FIC

Relays ................................................................................... 17

Automotive relays ................................................................. 54

Rubber auto parts ................................................................ 56

Automotive silicone hoses .................................................... 57

Shock absorbers ................................................................... 13

Automotive springs............................................................... 55

Spacers ................................................................................. 50

Automotive sprockets ........................................................... 52

Spark plugs ........................................................................... 17

Automotive wiring harnesses ............................................... 57

Spot welding equipment ...................................................... BC

Batteries ............................................................................... 17

Starter motors ...................................................................... 17

Bolts & set screws ................................................................. 58

Thermoplastic polyurethanes............................................... BIC

Brake ﬂuids .......................................................................... 56

Torque screwdrivers ............................................................. 59

Brake pads ............................................................................ 17

Tractor components ............................................................. 56

Brake testing equipment ...................................................... BC

Tractor parts ......................................................................... 53

Car seat covers ...................................................................... 56

Truck weighbridges............................................................... 53

Clutch plates & cover assemblies .......................................... 17

Tyre changers ....................................................................... BC

Collision repair systems ........................................................ BC

Tyre inﬂation equipment ...................................................... BC

Engine oils ............................................................................ 56

Tyre inﬂators......................................................................... 59

Engineering Expo exhibitions ............................................... 4

Vehicle washers .................................................................... 54

Epoxy ﬂoorings & coatings ................................................... 57

Wheel aligners ...................................................................... BC

Exhibitions ............................................................................ 4, 51

Wheel balancers ................................................................... BC

Filters.................................................................................... 17

Wiper blades ......................................................................... 17

FIC : Front Inside Cover BIC : Back Inside Cover BC: Back cover

OCTOBER 2011 AFTERMARKET

AFTERMARKET OCTOBER 2011

1237230

JULY 2010

Over Apr.-July (10-11)

Apr.-July (11-12)

% Change

11%

2039815

1249955

Avg. Mthly. Prdn. (4 Months) in F.Y.

2010-11 Apr.-July

2258337

1360935

2157151

2295288

Passenger Car

Avg. Mthly. Prdn. (4 Months) in F.Y. 2010-11 Apr.-July

July 10 (Prodn.)

July 11 over

10%

1360003

JULY 2011

% Change

Truck/Bus