Automart India is aiming to more than quadruple its business by selling 45,000 cars by 2010, from about 12,000-13,000 it expects to sell this year.
Wants to quadruple sales by 2010 from under 13,000 now
MUMBAI: Automart India, the used car business of utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra, is aiming to more than quadruple its business by selling 45,000 cars by 2010, from about 12,000-13,000 it expects to sell this year, chief executive Vinay Sanghi said on Thursday.
The company on Thursday threw open the first of its six used car superstores in Mumbai. Spread over 40,000 square feet, it is the largest used car store in the country and is expected to sell 200 cars a month.
Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Delhi are the other centres where superstores would come up over the next 12-18 months.
These superstores, which require investments of abut Rs 10 crore, are proposed to be owned by the company. Otherwise, of its 80 outlets, only about eight are company-owned, with the rest operated by franchisees.
The company has meanwhile undertaken a change of branding and would now operate its used car trading business under the brand name FirstChoice.
DNA Money had reported in May that the company planned to set up a chain of used car superstores across the country.
Automart is 74% owned by M&M, with mortgage lender HDFC (15%) and car retailer Sah & Sanghi owning the rest.
At about 1.1 million cars, the country’s used car market is almost as big as the new car market (1.2 million) and its growth rate (about 20%) also mirrors the new car market. In matured markets, due to shortening of product life cycle, the used car market is 2-3 times the size of the new car market.
“In the US, the new car market is 17 million units annually and the used car market is 44 million units. In Europe it is at least twice the new car market. As newer car models keep getting launched, the Indian used car market would also grow,” Sanghi said.
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