Mahindra’s used-car business, which includes Mahindra First Choice Wheels and Mahindra First Choice Services, is all set to expand to international markets after seeing exponential growth locally.
“We are in a situation of exponential growth. That will include going beyond Indian boundaries. We can enter new countries without opening outlets and having physical presence. We have products to sell. There is a lot of interest in Africa and many Asian geographies,” Rajeev Dubey, CEO of the After Market Sector and Group President - HR & Corporate Services, Mahindra Group, told BusinessLine .
The division has already signed MoUs in some of these countries and could soon begin operations.
“Our people have gone and visited the countries, there are MoUs in place. We would go out first with our products, not the cars,” Dubey said. The company, which acts as a start-up within the Mahindra group and has received a funding of $25 million so far, is one of the fastest growing units within Mahindra.
Dubey said the company will double its revenues to ₹100 crore this fiscal, with nearly half of it coming from its online platforms for auto auction and car price comparison.
The company has also set up 101 franchisee outlets in September alone, which is highest by any used-car firm in India.
Used tractors First Choice is now looking at used tractors as part of its expansion plans within India.
“We are already seeing increasing demand for tractor auction on our e-auction platform eDiig. Expanding First Choice to tractor sales would therefore be a natural extension for us,” Dubey said.
In terms of value of vehicles sold, Dubey said the company expects transactions worth ₹7,000 crore this year, despite slowdown and demonetisation impact.
“This year, we'll be able to do trade 210,000 cars, which translates into roughly ₹7,000 crore in transaction value. This excludes 1.2 million inspections that we are doing, which gives us additional revenue,” Dubey said.
“This excludes 1.2 million inspections that we are doing, which gives us additional revenue.” First Choice also offers 60 different services to auto OEMs.
“We are working with all OEMs, providing them with all kinds of services based on data analytics and inspection. Therefore, buying and selling of cars is only a component of it. Very soon, on the ground revenue would be just 50 per cent. Rest will be generated on the cloud. Cloud part will soon cross 50 per cent,” Dubey said.