Jatin Ahuja,
the Founder and Managing Director of Big Boy Toyz, articulates the fact to Anish
Malhotra, Market Research Associate at Ken Research Private Limited that pre-owned Mercedes Benz
tops the chart with a fair margin when it comes to volume sales. This is
followed by brands such as BMW and Audi, which experience cut throat
competition. Other brands in the market such as Jaguar & Land Rover and
Volvo are steadily increasing their penetration into market in terms of sales.
Question: What was the idea behind the inception
of BBT? What kind of growth has the company witnessed since its inception? What
future strategies does BBT have in the coming 5 years?
Jatin Ahuja-
Big Boy Toyz is a one stop destination for
pre-owned and new exotic cars under one roof.
Passion
and liking for cars since my childhood days along with the intent to do
something overtly different with it, is essentially the root cause of where you
see us today.
Having
started to work at the age of seventeen
was the big differentiating factor that enabled me to gain the extra
experiential edge and wisdom in the pursuit towards the business acumen
required for cars.
We
came up with Magus Cars Ltd in the year 2007 which was into importing high end
luxury cars into India. The concept was new because some of the models like
Porsche Panamera and BMW X6 made their arrival on our shores even before their
official launch.
The
practice gained traction and soon with a wide network of customers willing to
sell their four wheel possessions and upgrading to a new one,
Big Boy Toyz came into existence in the year 2009.
Housing
24 exotic brands such as Aston Martin,
Rolls Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati etc., BBT has close to 100
cars in its inventory at any given point of time spread across its three
locations at Gurgaon, New Delhi and
Mumbai.
All our customers have a 100% satisfaction rate and
we look to draw immense motivation from it.
For
the near future, BBT looks to have an expansive inventory of cars. Our entry
into the new car segment has brought us extra sales. This was a
well-articulated strategy on our part.
Having
set up a base in Mumbai, the next in line are the cities of Hyderabad and
Bangalore.
Question: Which specific reasons have
led to the growth of India’s Premium Pre-Owned Car market and what kind of
growth has the market observed over the previous five years?
Jatin Ahuja- Since 2013, India’s premium pre-owned car market
has witnessed a double digit growth rate and at present one can witness the
increase in sales units reaching to new level.
Major
factors which has led to the premium pre-owned car market of India to reach a
mature stage are the Rising Disposable Income, greater Product Acceptability,
better transparent mechanisms, easy access to finance because of total
financial inclusion initiatives taken by banks, nonbanks and captive financers
and Influx of western trends.
Question: What do you think is the current market shares
(in terms of Percentage) of Organized and Unorganized/Semi Organized Market in
terms of total volume sales of major premium pre-owned brands such as Audi,
BMW, Mercedes Benz, JLR, Volvo and several others?
Jatin Ahuja- As of 2018, the organized channel is supplying the
Indian premium pre-owned car market with 20-25% of the volumes. On the other
hand, the volumes of used premium cars in circulation with the
unorganized/semi-organized and C2C market is in the range of 75-80%.
However,
as per the current market trend, more unorganized dealers are upgrading
themselves in terms of robust aftersales service and in house certification
programs to meet the standards of organized channel, which is very crucial to
attract more customers.
Having
a genuine mechanism of assurance in terms of product quality qualifies to be
the underlying basis for the pull factor.
Question: As per the current industry trend, what must be
the split between the sales in Organized and Unorganized market via direct
dealership Walk-ins Vs Online channel. Furthermore, which all 3rd
party portals or online auto portals are mostly used by dealers in India?
Jatin Ahuja- Lately, it
has been observed that both organized and Unorganized market have heavy
dependence on the online channels for successful sale conversion of premium
pre-owned cars with a lion’s share in the range of 81-85%. Almost every
customer in search of a premium used car approaches the classified pages or
online auto portals making it the very first point of contact.
On the other
hand, there are very few customers who directly walk-in the dealership to
inquire/ purchase a used premium car.
The
Organized/ Semi Organized players have their own online portals, mobile
applications to market their fleet of vehicles, however the Unorganized dealers
resort to classified pages/ 3rd party auto portals such as
CarDekho.com, Carwale.com, Cars24, OLX and even Facebook pages/WhatsApp groups.
Question: What is the general customer journey when it
comes to purchase of premium used cars from organized and unorganized channels
in India? Also enlighten us on how does each process create a distinction for
the customer?
Jatin
Ahuja- Buying the best value for money product from a trustworthy
source has always been at the back of the mind of the customer as and when they
explore certain organized/ Unorganized dealers for their next purchase.
Next comes the process where
the buyer shortlists the available participants in the market. One thing which
is very important here is to have a presence. Somehow or the other, your brand
has to be highlighted before the prospective individuals and this is
accomplished via a strong social media
platform followed by outdoor advertising & events and to some extent even
words of praise. It does add up to the recalling effect.
Having a professional touch to
the website gives you a distinct advantage because the ease of browsing makes
the customers aware of who you are and what you do.
The very fact that a potential
buyer engages with you on an “online call
to action” button signifies that the basics are correct and
things are on track.
Relying immensely on a one to
one informal relationship with the buyers has played a key success role for the
unorganized channel.
And since times are changing,
they too are seeing a definite improvisation in ensuring an exemplary buying
and ownership experience.
Question: What is the certification
process followed by Big Boy Toyz, being a semi Organized player? Also, how is
the certification process offered by BBT different from that of other organized
players such as Audi Approved Plus, Mercedes Benz Certified, Jaguar Land Rover
Approved and BMW Premium Selection in the premium used car market of India?
Jatin
Ahuja- The organized players
have truly raised the bar and set an example for India’s pre owned used car
industry owing to their stringent checkpoints list.
Since a used car is in
question, getting the basics right in terms of a comprehensive verification
makes all the difference.
As mentioned earlier, Big Boy Toyz looks out for
niche and rare exotic cars which have a clean history and have clocked less
than 25000 km.
Our 151 checkpoints are like a rigorous test which decides our
future course of action related to procurement. Once passed, the experts then
proceed to prepare the certification for the particular model.
This being a mandatory process
because BBT strives for quality always.
Question-After reaching out to
both Organized and Unorganized players, we have observed that the sourcing of
premium used cars varies in terms of trade-ins and buy sell/park sell concept.Dealership
walk-ins and association with unorganized dealers helps the organized dealers
to source vehicles. As per your understanding of the market, is there any other
sourcing mode for organized players and how does it get distinguished with
unorganized players?
Jatin
Ahuja-
The
sourcing process for the organized players goes through a predefined evaluation
process where even the seller (customer) is guaranteed of a satisfactory and
adequate return.
BBT’s
modus operandi is to pick cars from the best and trustable sources across
India. Many of them include our customers too. We do get many walk-ins also on
a daily basis wanting to get the best quote for their cars.
At times, due to a specific
need and demand for a particular make and model of a car from a client, the
sourcing team at Big Boy Toyz
searches for appropriate references from the customers’ database to complete
the task within the stipulated time.
For the new cars, BBT does bulk sourcing directly from
the company to get a competitive price advantage.
As far as the unorganized
domain is concerned, the shift towards ensuring a reliable procurement
methodology has seen light in recent times which has definitely raised the bar
in their forte.
Question: What kind of competition
did India’s certified premium pre-owned car market observe in the previous
decade?
Jatin Ahuja- It’s the trust which people have on a Mercedes
Benz. So be it even a pre-owned three pointed star from the authorized
franchisee outlets, customers are willing to go in for the purchase.So that is
why it tops the chart by a fair margin.
BMW
and Audi have a cut throat competition amongst themselves while Jaguar/Land
Rover and Volvo are steadily entering into the frame in terms of sales. The
market is at very young stage and is slowly moving towards a mature phase as
more and more dealers are entering the market, thereby signifying immense
potential for the Pre-Owned: New premium car ratio to surge to 1.5 times in
medium run.
To find more Used
Car Market Research Reports, refer to this link:-
Contact Us:-
Ken Research
Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing & Communications
Sales@kenresearch.com
+91-9015378249
Ken Research
Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing & Communications
Sales@kenresearch.com
+91-9015378249
