MFC Services forays into two-wheeler spare parts business, plans service
Mahindra First Choice Services (MFC Services), India’s multi-brand car service workshops, has forayed into branded generic two-wheeler spare parts business. It will now expand its existing portfolio of four-wheeler spares to include a comprehensive list of fastmoving two-wheeler parts like filters, horns, oil and electrical relays, among others, with its branded spare parts label – MFC Spares. MFC Services also plan to begin service of two-wheelers shortly.
YVS Vijay Kumar, CEO, MFC Services told AutoComponentsIndia, “The reason to enter the two-wheeler spare parts segment is customer demand. To build trust, we provide our customers branded generic spare parts of two-wheelers. Currently we handle only four-wheeler spares, but we are foraying into the two-wheeler segment. We will supply all brands of spares but not of high-end motorcycles. We are creating a strong base for the customers in this segment before leaping into two-wheeler service.”
With this new product-line, MFC Services plans to increase its footprint to 200 distributors by 2020. Commenting on the spare parts warehouses, Kumar said, “We have 35 warehouses and will provide assistance to the customers in the twowheeler segment with the same. We are focused on maximising profit and output of all in the value chain, MFC Services operates on a unique sales and supply chain model – M-PRO.”
The company has 340 multi-brand car workshops in more than 250 towns across 24 states. It has been offering branded generic auto spares, sourced from quality suppliers, at competitive rates, through its country-wide network of 60 distributors
in 25 states. It is currently engaged with 3000 retailers and 8000 mechanics across the country, and plans to establish a country-wide network of over 1000 workshops.
“MFC Spares was set up to address the challenge of availability of high-quality auto-spares at competitive prices and with faster delivery timelines. These parts are very popular in our 340-workshop strong four-wheeler franchisee service network, as well as with our bazaar distribution channel. Our foray into the two-wheeler spares segment was a natural progression, on the back of the success of the four-wheeler spares business over the last 3 years. This new foray marks yet another step that will take us closer to our vision of creating a transparent and trust-worthy eco-system for the vehicle aftermarket in India,” he added.
MFC Spares will offer spare parts of leading two-wheeler brands like Yamaha, Hero, Honda, Bajaj, Suzuki, Royal Enfield, TVS, among others. Spare parts will be available for scooters (non-geared) as well as geared two-wheelers.
“Currently, we are looking at tier-2 and tier-3 regions where the requirements are more from the customers. We will provide the parts taken from our nearest warehouses with in 4 to 5 hours. We aim at customer satisfaction and build their trust in Mahindra First Choice services. As providing digital assistance to our customers in car segment, we will also launch digital initiatives for the two-wheeler service. The overall market size of the aftermarket spares business is Rs 50,000 crore of which four-wheelers comprise 25%, three-wheelers 25% and the majority 50% comes from twowheelers,” he said. The company focuses on natural demand generation and pull rather than the push method, which is the traditional model. It ensures very high RoI for its distributors and retailers by keeping low inventories but increased availability so that the material turns around much faster. The MFC Spares brand stands for smart replacement and is targeted at customers who want quality and value for money spares for their cars. MFC Services entered the business of private label spare parts for all brands of cars under the ‘MFC’ brand name.
MFC Services has also launched a unique digital initiative, Carworkz, an innovative car servicing workshop aggregator. Targeted at all car owners, this mobile and webbased platform, enables them to find the best and nearest workshops for servicing their car. They can get service estimates through the innovative service estimator.
MFC Services supports its franchisees nation-wide with a robust supply chain for spare parts through its cluster warehouse network. Each cluster warehouse supplies parts as per the daily requirements of the franchiseeowned and operated workshops, thus reducing the need to maintain huge inventories.
Mahindra First Choice Spares has seen its business grow 100% year-on-year for 5 years in a row. It is making inroads into the Indian car service market, which has been shared by OEM dealers and independent garages.