Maruti Suzuki India will soon open standalone service outlets for its premium retail chain Nexa and plans to set up 300 of these by 2019-20.
The company is also revamping its traditional sales outlets incorporating learnings from its Nexa experience to cater to the demands of its ever increasing young buyers.
As part a transformation to reinvent its corporate brand across all channels, MSI will also open standalone showrooms for its pre-owned car chain, True Value with 150 such outlets set to be operational by next March.
For all these initiative, the company will be leveraging heavily on digital technology to provide more transparency and enhanced customer experience. "We have been always been looking at how to enhance our customer experience. Last year we started preparing for the new service outlets concept for Nexa," MSI Managing Director & CEO Kenichi Ayukawa told PTI.
He said that after opening Nexa showrooms in 2015, the company has received feedback from customers appreciating the idea, and is now extending a similar experience to them when they come for servicing their cars.
Till date, Nexa car buyers have been servicing their vehicles at service centres of traditional retail channels. Sharing the company's plans for the new initiative, Ayukawa said: "It is not so easy to open service outlets but we are looking at similar number of Nexa showrooms and service outlets in the few years."
The company plans to have 60-70 Nexa service outlets in the current fiscal and the number will go up to 300 by 2019- 20. Currently, the company has 250 Nexa showrooms and is looking at 400 such outlets by 2020. On revamping of the traditional Maruti Suzuki showrooms, Ayukawa said the aim is to be dynamic and build an everlasting relationship with customers, who are getting younger.
"The average age of Maruti Suzuki customers is getting lower. Around 10 years ago, Maruti was known as a father's car," he said, adding today the company's products appeal to consumers across different age groups. By August this year, the company plans to have 40 refurbished traditional outlets, which will go up to 80 by March 2018.
With the younger customers more tech savvy, the company is looking to leverage on digital medium to offer information easily, he added. "Transparency in system is what everybody expects and that is what we will implement. We will simplify the process as much as possible," Ayukawa said, adding that "the learning we had in Nexa will also be used in our traditional showrooms". Likewise, he said, transparency is sought to be brought in the company's pre-owned car business True Value.
"Pre-owned car itself is complicated and difficult to understand. So we are trying to develop a system which is transparent and easy to understand for customers who can evaluate vehicles easily," Ayukawa said. By March 2018, MSI plans to have 150 standalone True Value showrooms, which will also leverage on digital technology with a view to provide new purchase experience to prospective buyers.
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