Ex-Hyundai Chief to set up car service chain

By Swati Khandelwal, CNBC-TV18

Your local mechanic will soon have competition. The former Hyundai India boss, BVR Subbu wants to set up a chain of car repair and service shops. Servicing the used car market seems to be the latest business trend. After former Maruti Suzuki MD Jagdish Khattar, another auto industry chief has thrown his hat into the retail service and spares space.

Hyundai's former President BVR Subbu's Altius will sell, refurbish and provide spare parts of high-end luxury cars, heavy commercial vehicles and construction equipment. Altius is a JV with Japanese company Gulliver International, one of the top three used car sales and service providers in the world. Gulliver will bring its expertise in training manpower to able to service high-end luxury cars, and will import spare parts from countries like Thailand, China, Japan and US at what they claim will be "competitive rates".

The JV will put in Rs 300 crore initially and eventually scale up to Rs 1,000 crore over the next five years. 300 outlets over 12 states will be put up, with the first coming up in Mumbai by the end of the year. Subbu is considering listing Altius in the future.