An adoring story of aspirations to a committed success! Arvind Verma, Co-Founder, VehicleCare in an exclusive interview shares his journey to forming a unique company named VehicleCare. Today the company catering all-around vehicle services has expanded across 20+ cities with 220+ workshops. Here we bring the immaculate story of this company underlining its future plans and strategies.
TimesTech: What Led you to start this venture?
Arvind: So one day, me and my friend Amit, who is also a co-founder of VehicleCare were travelling to a hill station and unfortunately, our vehicle was damaged. We tried to find a good mechanic to get our vehicle repaired. We tried multiple websites to find OEM service stations, third party service stations etc. but could not find anything good. This led to the thought that there might be many others like us who must be facing the same issues while travelling. The same issues could be faced by people in smaller towns and micro-cities as well. So, typically the only options these consumers have are local mechanics or the OEM service stations which may or may not be available in their location. The local mechanics can get the job done; however, it is not of the best quality. That’s when we thought about starting a chain of multi-brand service workshops that will offer services that are cheaper than the authorised service centre but do not compromise on the quality of service. These workshops would be equipped like any other authorised service centre but will offer services at a 40% lower cost.
TimesTech: How is VehicleCare different from its competitors?
Arvind: Unlike other competitors and aggregators, VehicleCare does not target only the B2C market. We specialize in offering services to the after-market industry, insurance companies, fleet owners and operators, etc. We are working with companies like Car24, Zoom Car, Avis India, etc. Not only this, we also cater to two-wheeler owners and provide two-wheeler services as well.
TimesTech: What is the current network of VehicleCare and what are your future plans?
Arvind: Currently, VehicleCare has 220+ workshops spread across 20+ cities in India. We plan to ramp up to 500+ workshops by the end of this year across 30+ cities including tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Also, in the coming years, we plan to set up a supply chain for spare parts. We will also be introducing doorstep services for consumers who do not want to bring their vehicles to the workshops. This is already being piloted in the Delhi NCR region.
TimesTech: In terms of costing, how are you placed against your competitors?
Arvind: We are very competitive when it comes to cost. If you will see our costs are as much as 10%-20% lower than some of the third-party multi-brand service providers in most cities. If not less, we always keep our cost at par with the competition.
TimesTech: What has been the impact of Covid19 on business?
Arvind: During Covid-19 pandemic people started prioritizing their health and preferred to commute through their own personal vehicles. The used car sales, vehicle service and repair, manufacturing and supplying of branded parts, contactless booking for car servicing etc. are some such business opportunities that the new crisis has promoted, Arvind says. During this pandemic, Vehicle Care started opting for local workshops and skipping those of the OEM dealers. Pre-pandemic, the company used to generate Rs 20-30 lakhs revenue per month but post-pandemic, the figure has risen to Rs 5-6 crore a month.
