Since 1930, Lucas Indian Service (LIS) has been serving the Indian automotive after market, manufacturing its own ignition coils and solenoid switches, and distributing a wide range of auto-electrical parts, fuel injection parts, automotive batteries, radiator fan motor assemblies, glow plugs, synthetic lubricants, engine coolants and a complete range of filters. From being just a parts supplier in the replacement market, the company has emerged a complete after mark et solutions provider for a full range of vehicles – two-wheelers, three-wheelers, cars, commercial vehicles, tractors and off highway vehicles.
True to a company that leads the way with foresight, LIS sees the challenges ahead as opportunities for growth and finds no reason to be adversely concerned about developments in the market. Mr. S. Muralidharan, President, Lucas Indian Service, talks about various issues including demonetization, sweeping changes taking place in the aftermarket, company plans & focus areas, and more, in an exclusive interview with MOTORINDIA.
Excerpts:
Considering the changes taking place in the auto industry, what do you see as the main challenges and opportunities ahead for the aftermarket sector?
The aftermarket as a whole is clearly undergoing a great structural change. We have a lot of new vehicle models on road, the number of part numbers needed to service these models is increasing significantly and the quality of the parts is improving; so the rate of potential growth is not equal to the rate of vehicle population growth. Put all these together and we will have a rather confused state of affairs in terms of market potential; but that’s what makes our business exciting.
Competition is increasing significantly from the organized sector but it’s not just the organized and less organized players, we have all the OEMs wanting to enter the aftermarket.
The number of geographical locations where the after market potential exists is also increasing. Let’s say, earlier we had 10 top cities with a large population of cars and some 50 to 60 towns with many two-wheelers; now we have over 800 to 1,000 towns which have a huge vehicle population, so overall we have a very widely dispersed geographic spread of vehicles which calls for suitable aftermarket support.
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