The Hindu Business Line : Castrol, at your service

MOST two-wheeler owners would have at some time felt the absence of an efficient, manufacturer authorised service centre near their locality. In many cases, even when there are workshops or service centres nearby, the lack of transparency would have often left them vexed and yearning for an alternative.

The market for two-wheelers is booming like never before and this is throwing up its ownchallenges for most manufacturers.

Stepping up production capacities at their manufacturing plants and adding new dealerships have been easier for most of them compared to increasing the number of franchisee workshops and vehicle servicing outlets.

Further, the user base of two-wheelers and the number of vehicles on the roads have risen significantly in the last five years, particularly in the bikes segment, which has seen a boom during this period. With the large base of two-wheelers, estimated at 48 million units on road, servicing capacities are unprecedentedly overloaded.

Consider the numbers: India is the second largest market for bikes globally. A total of five million bikes were sold last year, another six million is expected to be sold this year and by 2010, the total annual volume is estimated at nine million. The exponential growth in two-wheeler sales has not lead to a similar expansion of the after-market support network.

This represents an obvious business opportunity for franchisees who may want to associate themselves with either the manufacturer or who may want to set up independent two-wheeler servicing networks. More are likely to join this race, but one of the first off the block is Castrol India. The company has set the ball rolling by setting up Castrol BikeZone outlets. The company feels that there are a few compelling reasons — the large base of two-wheelers apart — for this initiative.

The current lot of bikes is getting technologically more complicated and, hence, may be beyond the capabilities of the ubiquitous road-side mechanic, and the product-to-service transition which is sweeping every segment will now also become de rigueur in the two-wheeler servicing space.

Castrol's model that sticks to a franchisee-only servicing network also revolves around the assumption that the current, poorly organised franchisee network does not offer personalised, transparent service and, more important, most of them lack sophisticated equipment required for running a reliable workshop.

So, the BikeZone initiative seems to have been born out of an insight into a perceived need amongst bike owners for high quality, transparent and customer friendly motorcycle servicing. Castrol is already a well-known name among two-wheeler owners because of its lubricants that are supplied both in the original equipment and after-market segments. The company has a dominant retail market share in the automotive lubricants segment. The new BikeZone initiative is expected to enable the company further strengthen its relationship with customers, beyond lubricants.

Castrol BikeZone is distinguished by the key benefits of personalised attention and transparency, while guaranteeing high quality technical service. Castrol officials involved with the new initiative point out that the company understands bikes well, thanks to its long years in the lubricants business.

Also, since vehicle maintenance and wear and tear are areas of expertise that Castrol has been working on, the BikeZone venture seemed like a logical extension.

The BikeZone franchisee outlets are equipped with hi-tech servicing equipment recommended by Castrol. The company offers technical advice, and standardised procedures, best practices and prices that the outlets are expected to adopt. Besides personalised attention and the flexibility of servicing bikes and scooters of most manufacturers, the BikeZone outlets are also designed to be completely transparent regarding the kind of service being offered and the prices of components.

With a positive response to the pilot in Bangalore, the company is now embarking on expanding its network. Ten BikeZones are operational in Bangalore and six in Chennai, and Castrol is planning more in the next couple of months. It plans to stick with the franchisee model for expanding the BikeZone network, but says that the service quality will be monitored and maintained.

While maintaining that the BikeZones are not expected to take on the manufacturer-owned servicing outlets and workshops, Castrol feels that its new initiative will prove to be a professional, high quality alternative to customers who either live in crowded areas (where manufacturer outlets are overburdened) or away from the city.

The BikeZone outlets also offer a whole range of services, from parts replacement, engine overhaul and tuning, and spark plug cleaning to the more cosmetic wax polishing type of jobs.

A new concept in motorcycle servicing, Castrol BikeZone will give two-wheeler owners the benefit of high levels of technical advice and customer service with the full backing of the Castrol brand.

Castrol India is a public limited company in which Castrol Ltd, UK, holds 70.92 per cent of the paid-up capital; Castrol UK is a part of BP group of companies worldwide. Castrol India is acknowledged as the technology leader in the Indian lubricants industry.