The car owners hereinafter need not panic for sparing their vehicles for servicing. Carnation comes to their premises for servicing with its ‘Workshop-on-Wheels”. There will be 150 mobile stations by 2010-11 said its CMD and will offer convenience and cost reduction. The service will taken care by 10 pilot vans in 6 cities; this will be increased to 50 by this fiscal end and to 150 by March 2011. For the company it is economical, relieved from infrastructure expenses, but will be more expensive by 10% than the auto hubs.
For the service, the tie-up is with 3M and Castrol for car care, preventive measures, car detailing, repairs in terms of electrical and mechanical.The company has proposed to have a multi-brand service outlets to be doubled by the end of this fiscal. The target group will be professionals, women and aged. For this service and multi-brand service outlets the company has sought the financial assistance from Punjab National Bank for Rs170crore.
The services offered in this Workstation on wheels will cover 60% of the service centers, said its CMD. Carnation is already in the automotive business with the sale of pre-owned cars from three units. One more is in the offing, said the CMD. In the last month, the company serviced 6500 cars which brought imminent success with the increase to 25-30% every month. Carnation is to expand its business to car insurance, and multi-brand dealership for new cars.