Can Multibrand Car Showrooms Become a Reality? | An Insight

With the automotive industry in India taking a new direction each day with new cars being launched and big global names showing interest in the Indian audience, our automotive market is surely the next big thing in the global automotive scene. We have seen an evolution in every sector in the automotive industry. We have seen the used car industry go digital, we have ourselves made the car servicing industry have a new identity! The only aspect that still remains old-school is the new car buying experience. We have seen these car showrooms since childhood and the trend is still on!

In today’s featured, we are gonna talk about a new perspective of the new car industry that can prove to be a game-changer! Many countries have already seen huge success in this venture but India still doesn’t have it. We are talking about multibrand car showrooms. Yet to be a reality in India, we have a look at how these dealerships can prove to be good or bad to the automotive industry in India. But before digging deep inside the topic, let’s understand what multibrand car showrooms actually mean.

What are multibrand car dealerships?

Simple and easy! here is a picture of a used car dealership. You can see cars from various brands located in a single place. You can spot budget cars like Etios, mid-range cars like the XUV500 and some luxurious pieces like the Audi Q3 are also available. But this is a common scene in the used car market only. If you are looking for a new car to buy, we have dedicated brand showrooms for each car brand.

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Multibrand car showrooms are already a reality in many countries outside India and from their experience, we have drafted some pros and cons they face as an owner or a worker of the multibrand car dealership. Let’s have a look at how this concept can be the next big thing in the Indian Automotive Industry

Multibrand Car Dealerships | Pros

1. Wide Variety for the customer
   

   

   If we visit a car showroom, we see cars from only one brand. We are left with a very limited choice. If you want to experience another car, you need to visit another showroom which might be kms away. If a multi-brand car showroom would have been there you can experience multiple cars from different manufacturers under a single roof. This will help you have a live comparison between the two and won’t require you to remember what you experienced in a particular car in order to compare it to others.

2. Boost sales of underrated products
   

   

   While the competition is huge, some cars remain unsold only because they have a competitor which have a better brand name or a background in India. For example, if we compare Ford Figo to Maruti Suzuki Swift, Swift outsells the Figo because it has that Maruti Suzuki background. Just imagine if there was a multibrand car showroom, people who didn’t care to step into a Ford dealership would have got hands on the Ford Figo or maybe Tata Tiago and you never know how many people would prefer safety over mileage!

3. Cost-saving aspect for new entrants
   

   

   With new brands like Kia and MG coming to try their luck in India, they hit the market starting from the metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. All the people who have been to these cities know how space forms a big issue! Imagine a single car on display in such a big showroom which costs the owner a huge sum of money each month! Just imagine if they could place more cars in the empty space and increase sales and profit! Imagine if MG and Kia had opened a single dealership, how much would they save on the budget! I know its hard to digest at first but people get used to it once things become a reality. If brands like Tata and Fiat have done this in the past, why can’t new brands make it the new trend?

   Read How the Kia Seltos took India by storm? An Insight!

4. Service Centres
   

   

   While we are already transforming this space with our tech-enabled car servicing network, people have now started trusting the multibrand car service centres because of GoMechanic. With us, you get transparency in car servicing along with upto 40% cost savings! But there are still some people who prefer going to the authorised service centres for their car services because their car is relatively new or is under warranty. If new brands incorporate this practice, they can save even more costs on preparing individual service bays while most of them remain empty due to the limited number of customers.

Multibrand Car Showrooms | Cons

1. Confusion
   

   

   Multibrand car showrooms can be a challenge for those who have already decided to buy a particular car. For example, you were eagerly waiting for the new-gen Hyundai Creta and you like it very much too. Imagine Hyundai and Kia have a single dealership and you see Creta and Seltos standing along. This is where the real confusion begins. Believe me, you won’t be able to stick to what you may have decided earlier after visiting the showroom! (No we are not stating Seltos is better than the Creta)

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2. Profit-Driven Car Sales
   

   

   Considering the current situation, each dealership has a fixed margin which they get from their respective brand by selling a particular car. Imagine a multi-brand car showroom, where a new car brand is planning to launch soon. The easiest trick they can use to achieve sales is to provide the dealer with a better profit share than the existing brands! Who doesn’t like the money? We all do! In the name of choice and availability, multi-brand car showrooms can take a turn to form a profit-driven sale machine in no time!

The above picture is from Bangalore. A TeamBHP reader has captured this complex where multibrand cars are sold in one complex. This can be considered as a good start in India but it can’t be addressed as a multi-brand car showroom because the showrooms are still separate. This concept of adding multiple car brands under one roof can be a beautiful reality if executed properly in a country like ours where many new brands are still expected to come in the near future! What do you think?

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