Mahindra First Choice launches app that estimates repair charges for car damage

Chandigarh: Mahindra First Choice Services (MFCS), a multi-brand car workshop company from the Mahindra & Mahindra stable, has launched ‘Dent Estimator’, a first-of-its kind product in the country for getting instant repair estimate for car damage.

“We have just launched this interesting catchy product called the dent estimator. Whether a customer comes to us or not is not the determinant of whether one can use that application. It is really about empowering the customer,” M&M president for corporate services and after-market and group HR Rajeev Dubey said here.

He said this product means no more waiting to get an estimate from an evaluator.

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“All a car owner has to do for this instant estimate is, visit the ‘Dent estimator’ website and enter the damage details of his/her vehicle dent. This feature is especially suited for people who would like to get a repair estimate immediately on the go, and thus has an interface designed specifically for smart phone users.

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“This comprehensive tool can give a repair estimate for most car makes and models,” he informed.

Dubey along with YVS Vijay Kumar, CEO of the MFCS, was here in connection with launching of two car workshops of MFCS at Panchkula and Mohali, to serve the needs of the Chandigarh market. Chandigarh has the highest car population density in the country.

Speaking on the sidelines of the workshop launching function, Dubey said the dent estimator tool is simple to use and covers most damage types ranging from hairline scratches to tear.

“It takes into account the age of the car, the paint type, the paint colour, dents on multiple panels and also multiple dents on a single panel,” he informed.

Vijay Kumar said “this innovative tool is set to revolutionise the face of the industry. Given the ever
increasing car population on Indian roads most car owners at some point or the other experience scratches or dent on their cars…the ‘dent estimator’ can also be a great tool for insurance companies by giving them a reliable estimate for multiple makes and models.”

“Users can not just avail these services at MFCS workshops but can also visit the website to buy products and do service bookings,” he added.

Dwelling upon the MFCS plans, Dubey said the company is leading multi-brand car service workshop chain with 28 operational workshops across the country in 18 key cities currently.

“The company aims to achieve a revenue of Rs 100 crore for the year 2014-15 with the help of 100 operational workshops (a mix of company owned and franchisee workshops).

“We are targeting to open 450 outlets by 2018 (company plus franchisee outlets), with Rs 850 crore turnover, which includes the spare parts and the franchisee network,” he said, adding 20 outlets would come up in Punjab alone during the next fiscal.

Touching upon how they intend to facilitate customers, he said beyond the warranty time, the owner of the car looks for other alternatives. In this scenario, the company provides infrastructure, quality which in cases even betters the dealer, economical service, availability of genuine spare parts, skill level and on-time delivery.

Dubey said that for out-of-warranty cars, customers were having real angst with respect to kind of customer experience they were getting. “We are addressing this through slew of services, roadside assistance, annual maintenance contract, then warranty beyond the warranty period. Then there is one product which combines all three,” he added.

Kumar said the readily availability of spare parts is also going to give peace of mind to the customers. “For the franchisees, the value proposition is hugely dependent on the spares supply chain we have created, that is the critical part, both from point of view the franchisees as well as from the point of value proposition to the customer, it is important,” he said.

He also informed that the company is setting up regional warehouses where central purchasing will be done directly from the spare parts manufacturers and then these will be supplied to the customers, cutting down middle men.

First such regional warehouse will come up in Chennai region and later on another one will come up at Chandigarh for the Punjab region.

PTI