Bosch, a leading provider of technology and services in automobile sector, has acquired a minority stake of 26 per cent in Autozilla Solutions to participate in a digital B2B-marketplace for the independent aftermarket (IAM) in India.

This transaction will strengthen Bosch’s market pull through its Bosch Car Service outlets and through the independent garages that are enrolled under the “Extra” Loyalty Program.

The collaboration will improve the platform’s acceptability in the market, expand its product portfolio and scale up operations pan India, the company said in a release. The companies did not disclose the price at which the stake has been picked up by Bosch.

Under this engagement, Bosch will integrate Autozilla’s e-commerce platform with its digital platforms to improve the quality of catalogue search, streamline ordering of spare parts from workshops to distributors and address availability of spares with shorter lead times.

Speaking on the collaboration, Soumitra Bhattacharya, Managing Director, Bosch Limited & President, Bosch Group in India said, “Bosch is actively shaping the change of the online markets in India to meet the expectations of our customers in this region for more online services in the B2B sector. We assume that there will be stable growth especially in this area in future. To reach our goals, we are collaborating with the Indian B2B E-Marketplace Autozilla and intend to develop this market potential together.”

Current system inefficient

Currently, Independent Garages (IG) in India procure spare parts primarily offline– either they place order on the phone or visit the sellers in-person to pick up the parts. The entire process of spares procurement starting with identification of the right part, estimation, availability but the delivery is highly error prone, non-transparent, iterative and inefficient.

Connecting manufacturers, distributors, retailers

The Autozilla platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to enable efficient spares discovery, establish availability and pricing and matching of IGs with sellers to ensure timely procurement of the right part at the right price. The platform further enables digitisation and quick e-commerce readiness of the auto components supply chain by connecting parts manufacturers, distributors, retailers thus becoming the common platform for procurement, supply, product tracking and promotion across the various participants.

Cost effective

Vijay Gummadi, Founder, of Autozilla said, “We are excited to partner with Bosch to drive our common vision of digitization of the Indian auto aftermarket. The majority of the $12bn worth of spares procurement in India is B2B, driven by workshops and happens offline. By deploying standards-based e-catalogues and intelligent technology, we are positioned to solve the key problems of discoverability, availability, easy payment options and cost-effective doorstep delivery. This enables workshops to focus on what they do best – car repair while driving increased business, better margins and cash flow to Sellers.”

“We welcome suppliers, logistics and finance partners to come on board our open platform. By leveraging our access to thousands of qualified garages across India, we are keen to collaborate with auto component manufacturers and distribution networks to drive higher sales and provide them valuable, data driven insights,” he added.