EAST Auto's niche approach fast-gaining OEM acceptance

Emerging Auto Solutions & Technik (EAST) Auto has taken rapid strides in becoming a one-stop solution provider for automotive workshops across the country. Marching ahead with its three-pronged strategy of ‘Consulting’, ‘Training’ & ‘Equipment’, EAST Auto is looking to make a difference in the highly-competitive workshop equipment market in the country. Apart from recording decent volume sales for its well-recognized brands, namely, GYS, Snap-On and FESTOOL, the company is continuing its focus on the largely ignored aspect of training personnel in body and paint shop repair.

- N. Balasubramanian and Avishek Banerjee

General Motors was the first OEM to sign an agreement for using EAST Auto’s training academy in Kolkata to empower its body and paint technicians with the state-of-the-art training program. Now, Tata Motors’ passenger car division has agreed to join hands with EAST Auto for a similar training partnership for enhancing the skills of its body and paint technicians.

We interacted with Mr. Rishikesh Sahay, CEO and Founder, EAST Auto, to gain further insights about the progress it has made on working with OEMs and its plans for the future. Says Mr. Sahay: “We intend to be the ultimate service solutions provider for the OEMs and have established the infrastructure for providing state-of-the-art training and equipping their personnel with the requisite skillsets. In line with our aim of sharing our knowledge on body shop and paint shop repair, we have tied up with another OEM in the passenger vehicle segment - Tata Motors. We have been officially authorized by Tata Motors to train their PV dealers in EAST India and will be training their manpower on all aspects of body and paint shop repair techniques.”

Talking about the response from OEMs for its training initiatives, he said: “It has been well appreciated by car manufacturers across the country. We are focused and are concentrating on the training aspect very religiously and that has been bearing results. We are also open to offering customized training for a specific batch of technicians at the dealership level.”

It was mentioned in the previous report that EAST Auto was already working with GM for similar workshop training and with some insurance companies for orientation. Of late, a handful of paint and insurance companies have approached it to utilize its training academy for paint process training.