Auto Parts Asia — February 2018

28 | AutoPartsAsia | FEBRUARY 2018

LIS parts are available in 1,260 towns

in every district in the country. It also

provides service which for it is not

just repair. If a car breaks down, the

problem could be with the switch,

the starter, alternator, battery, cables

or simply because the driver did not

know how to use a clutch. LIS will solve

the problem with parts and technical

support; it is both parts and service, but

the preparation for such an approach

has been much deeper.

Digitisation Drive

“LIS has systematically entered the

world of digitisation. It is present in

some e-commerce sites like Amazon

and Flipkart, not because it gives

business (it doesn’t actually) but the

sheer presence helps. It has its own

Facebook page, is in LinkedIn and is

in touch with a set of professionals.

Besides, it has its own YouTube

page where a lot of training schemes

can be entered; This is also used

as a training tool. Training can be a

marketing differentiator because in a

market where nobody even likes to

talk to the small electrician, it trains,

on an average, 10 electricians daily on

some product, often in local languages

and most certainly in small towns. LIS

training may not be in Delhi but in less

known places like Jabalpur, may not be

in Kolkata but Rourkela. The small-town

reach is where LIS prepares itself and

the market by offering a differentiator

for the entire value chain,” he said.

Since the automotive industry is

becoming global, LIS has to deal with

many brands. It is not enough to have

one mega brand; the Indian customer

wants a choice even for repair or

service. Hence the company is always

multi-brand. Its portfolio has the LIS

brands and the products of the group

companies like Delphi-TVS, Lucas-TVS,

Sundram Fasteners and others. The

company also deals with global brands

like NSK, Gates and others as it wants

to offer wider choice to its consumers.

“When global companies come into

India, they will see in LIS a valuable

partner that has reach, knows the

market and can provide service.

Hence, an aftermarket tie-up would

be distinctly possible. We give them

an opportunity to reach the full market

without any scare of spurious parts,

false price, over-charging or any such

unwelcome practices. For us one

consistent advantage would be multi-

brand, deep reach, multi-product, and

multi-service. This combination with a

strong digitisation drive would possibly

see LIS through in the next several

years,” he said.

The disruptions that could affect

LIS, Muralidharan said, would be

technology, transformation to BS-

IV and BS-VI, alternate propulsion,

whether it is electric vehicle or any

other kind of fuel technology, and most

important of all is digitisation and its

impact on the vehicle owner through

e-commerce, portals or Apps. When

there are Apps in the car itself, it would

be a huge disruptor and an incredible

game changer. How the retail network,

semi-wholesalers, dealers, etc adapt to

it is the big question. If it takes effect,

the number of layers in the distribution

network would reduce.

“Consolidation would take place. I

don’t think automated cars will come

to this country; it’s too far off. The other

disruptor in the near future would be

the aggregators like the Ubers and

Olas; they don’t own car but they are in

the field. That is the greatest disruption

to happen in this decade. Here we do

not know whom to approach to service

COVER STORY

Training for Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation mechanics