Sameer Malhotra, CEO, Shriram Automall is counted as a veteran in the infrastructure/ construction equipment and commercial vehicle industry. Bagging a deep depth experience of over 25 years, he has been showing his expertise in Shriram Automall ever since its establishment in 2011.
Shirmam Automall: PreOwned Automobile Industry growing by 15%
- Team Estrade: Tell us about Shriram Automall from its inception and how has your journey been with Shriram Automall so far?
Sameer Malhotra: Shriram Automall India Limited (SAMIL) is a first of a kind facility in the history of Indian Automobile Industry to offer a complete transparent process for exchange of used vehicles & equipment. Before Shriram Automall the age-old pre-owned Automobile Industry in India was highly dominated by conservative and unreliable trade practices. People used to acquire and dispose used vehicles & equipment through dealers or personal sources. We stepped in as an organised player to serve our customers in a hassle-free and efficient manner. We gave our customers four unique bidding platforms which they can trust upon. It’s been just 4 years since the launch of first Automall in Chennai in 2011; today Shriram Automall possesses 55 Automalls across the country. Over the time, Shriram Automall has become the undisputed market leader in Physical Bidding platform.
The journey with Shriram Automall has been very inspiring & motivating at the same time. As the concept was new in the country it took us a significant amount of time to educate people & train our staff to perform better. Building a team of around 1,000 trained people & establishing 55+ well structured Automalls across the country are some of major highlights of the journey. Now we are moving in the right direction & we see a bright future ahead.
- Team Estrade: Walk us through your business model? What is the USP of Shriram Automall?
Sameer Malhotra: As the market was unorganized our focus was mainly to remove every layer of opaque system in pre-owned vehicles & equipment industry which was occupied by small dealers. We presented the industry with a process that is 100% transparent & effective. We serve as a platform that helps customer to acquire or dispose used vehicles & equipment in a safe & organized fashion.
Our four unique bidding platforms include – Physical bidding – a one-of-its-kind facility where a wide range of used vehicles & equipment are ramped, customers are free to bid on vehicles they like, Online bidding (bids.samil.in), One Stop Classified Kiosk (12000+ vehicles listed) and Private Treaty.
We take pride in deriving a customer-base of 50 lakh through Shriram Group, the only company to offer 24×7 secured parking facility. Currently, it conducts more than 200 physical bidding events every month across India. Our presence at every nook & corner of the country with our 150+ Bidding locations, including over 50 Well-Structured Automalls. We cater to all segments of the industry that includes Commercial Vehicles, Construction Equipment, Cars, Two & Three Wheelers, and Tractors etc & provide our professional services to Banks, NBFC’s, Dealer, Fleet Owners, Individuals etc.
“Indian Automobile Industry is moving towards a positive note. Stalled projects are rolling out, so there is a scope of growth in both Commercial Vehicles and Construction equipments”
- Team Estrade: Geographically speaking where is the demand for such Automall the most?
Sameer Malhotra: Shriram Automall has over 150+ bidding locations covering the entire country which includes over 55 well structured Automalls. Our major contributing Automalls are from South India that tender highest share to total turnover as and when compared to other zones as it has recorded the highest demand. Commercial and Passenger vehicles have the highest demand in all the Automalls of South India and is responsible for 60% of the overall transactions for the company.
Major contributing locations of South Zone are Chennai, Tirunelveli, Chengalpet, Madurai, Trichy in Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Warrangal, Kurnool, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Visakapatnam & Nellore Andhra & Telangana, Calicut, Kollam, Ernakulam in Kerala & Davangere and Mangalore in Karnataka.
Other regions namely, Eastern, Western and North zone have significant demand of vehicles and contribute a noteworthy share in Shriram Automall’s total Revenue.
Major contributing locations in West Zone include Maharashtra (Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Vidarbha), Madhya Pradesh (Indore), Gujarat (Baroda). Delhi, Manesar, Jaipur and Kanpur in the North Zone where highest demand of commercial and passenger vehicles has been observed, Odisha and West Bengal are our major contributing locations of the East Zone.
- Team Estrade: What are the challenges in catering such unorganised market and how do you strategically overcome them?
Sameer Malhotra: Yes, there are quite a few challenges. The biggest among them is that of understanding the market. Being the first of a kind in the organized sector we took the responsibility to educate people about our transparent & unique platforms. Hiring people with specific skill set & again train them to be well equipped with the process & platforms. All the above mentioned required a huge investment of both time & money in training & development of people to make them ready to serve the people with a better & transparent way to acquire & dispose used vehicles & equipment.
“Over the time, we would like to be a household name in the pre-owned automobile industry”
- Team Estrade: Which are your key targeting segments? Which segment is the highest revenue stream for Shriram Automall currently?
Sameer Malhotra: In 2011 when we started, we were just dealing with commercial vehicles. Then we slowly entered the agriculture segment in 2012 and Construction Equipment segment in 2013. And then we subsequently added two-wheelers, passenger vehicles, three-wheelers & construction equipment over the time. Now we have expanded our horizon in all segments & we see growth in all. Shriram Automall’s wide spectrum of segment has attracted customers, no matter what role of the customer is.
About 50% of our sales are incurred through commercial vehicle segment while 20% from passenger cars, Tractors, Construction Equipment, Three Wheeler and Two Wheeler account for the remaining business. Yearly growth has been recorded as, from about 700 Cr businesses in 2011-12 company resolved to 1000 Cr in 2012-13 followed by 1500 Cr in 2013-14 & 1750 Cr in 2014-15. Further, Shriram Automall is looking forward to growth filled coming year.
- Team Estrade: How do you foresee Indian automobile market?
Sameer Malhotra: After challenging last couple of years, Indian Automobile Industry is moving towards a positive note. Stalled projects are rolling out, so there is a scope of growth in both Commercial Vehicles and Construction equipments. At the same time, Passenger vehicle segment has witnessed growth during last few months. However, Indian pre-owned Automobile industry is still in nascent stage comparing to other developing nations. So, the pre-owned Automobile industry is likely to grow at 15-20% in the next five years. In the same time, emergence of more players will organize the unorganized pre-owned Automobile industry the way we are already making it.
- Team Estrade: What is the road map for Shriram Automall for next 5 year?
Sameer Malhotra: Shriram Automall is moving ahead with great momentum and plans to capture a larger share of the industry. With pre-owned vehicle and equipment industry growing rapidly, Shriram Automall is also determined for the 15-20 % growth for next 5 years.
With every new initiative and services, Shriram Automall sincerely offers complete business opportunities, creating a platform of trust, reliability and value addition among the most valued customers. It’s only inevitable that by providing the buyers and sellers with world class facilities in every term, they are bound to knock on the door again. Emphasizing on building a more strong relationship with customers, Shriram Automall is further planning to expand its geographical horizons. By the End of this financial year, Shriram Automall will roll out more Automalls making the figures of established Automalls 60 & further to 100 in near future. We are also looking into city locations also for the setting up Automalls as we are majorly located on the outskirts of the cities. Over the time, we would like to be a household name in the pre-owned automobile industry.
Shriram Automall: PreOwned Automobile Industry growing by 15%
