Big Boy Toyz (BBT), a bootstrapped start-up that buys and sells pre-owned luxury car brands such as Mercedes, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Audi, Porsche, Range Rover, Maserati and Bentley, has sold 140 cars in the first half of this fiscal year across metros, Tier-II and -III cities. Since its inception in 2009, the start-up has sold over 2,000 pre-owned luxury cars at prices ranging from ₹50 lakh-4 crore.
“The luxury market across sectors has not been doing very well in the last three-four years. However, we sold 140 cars, registering a 48 per cent y-o-y growth from April-September. Maximum demand came for pre-owned luxury cars in the ₹50 lakh-1.5 crore bracket and 33 per cent of the demand came from Tier-II and -III cities like Kolhapur, Lucknow, Indore, Coimbatore, Bhopal, among others. We expect to cater to a 50 per cent demand spike in the current October-December quarter,” said Jatin Ahuja, founder and MD of Big Boy Toyz.
Asked what led to the demand spike, Ahuja said: “We expected a lot of people to sell their luxury cars after the outbreak of the pandemic, with not many wanting to buy; instead, the opposite happened, much to our surprise and delight. We had to work very aggressively to buy luxury cars that we then refurbish and sell to our customers, in order to meet demand. While it is very difficult to pin down the reasons for this huge demand spike, I think, after the pandemic people realised that life is unpredictable and decided to prioritise themselves by fulfilling their topmost desires.”
Virtual walkthrough
What made it much easier for people to buy was the launch of an app and a virtual walkthrough of the company’s virtual showroom that houses 75-100 cars of 24 pre-owned luxury brands. The start-up has three showrooms in Gurugram, Hyderabad and Mumbai. “In pre-Covid times, 40 per cent of my customers would see the car only after it is delivered to them. Post-Covid, that has gone up to 75 per cent,” said Ahuja, who expects to exit fiscal 2021 with ₹300-plus crore in sales.
Growing customer demand has prompted the start-up to add a one-stop solution for new luxury car enthusiasts on its website, which has all the luxury automobile brands from around the world. Customers can now have a quick variant comparison of every product offered by every manufacturer listed on the website with the automated recommendation feature.
“Our new luxury car portal is just like an encyclopedia for the automobile sector. Users can check out 220-plus features list of every model on the website as well as Indian prices of international car models inclusive of their import duties. We have carefully customised the add-on content to give maximum utility and information to the end user. This is our first step towards making BBT a globally acclaimed brand in the automobile industry.”