Madhus Garage guns for speedier growth

Bangalore-based Madhus Garage Equipments is looking at significant growth in the next three years. The company has been engaged in the business of importing and selling a wide range of garage equipment for passenger cars and commercial vehicles for the last 24 years.

Madhus represents seven multinational garage equipment manufacturers including Hunter of the US, Car-O-Liner of Sweden, Telwin, Ravaglioli and Protech of Italy and Nussbaum and Romess of Germany. Director K Narasimhan says the company is optimistic about recording 20 percent CAGR in the next three years as a result of the significant growth in the passenger car industry. Besides, with a host of new-generation cars being launched by various car makers in India, demand for garage equipment will surge.

Furthermore, with most OEMs looking for faster service turnaround periods, demand for the latest equipment which facilitates this has grown. Madhus has recently introduced some new products. To support the tyre changing process on premium cars, its special tyre-changing equipment helps do the job without the use of a mounting lever. As these cars have a low-aspect ratio, changing their tyres using conventional machines is not only difficult but also run the risk of damaging the wheel rim. Another recent introduction is the ‘Smart weight-saving Wheel Balancer’ machine. Speaking about the product's highlights, Narasimhan says the equipment works on axial and radial forces eventually providing optimal counter weight, which reduces the balancing weight up to 40 percent.

This ensures better and smoother rotation of wheels and in turn improved fuel efficiency. Since zinc bits are used as counter weights, reduction in weight up to 40 percent also helps the operator save operating costs. For instance, a service centre which handles about 200 cars a day can amortise the entire cost of the equipment in about a year, he says.

Focus on new products Madhus caters to both the organised segment like OEM-authorised service centres as well as unorganised garages. Both these segments are currently seeing significant growth as a result of the burgeoning vehicle sales. Furthermore, the complexity of the technologies in these cars is driving used car owners to seek service from organised or multi-brand service centres. It is these trends that are propelling growth for new-generation garage equipment and in line with this growth the company is gearing up to gradually introduce a slew of products, Narasimhan says. Madhus’ product portfolio is segmented into four verticals – wheel service, workshop equipment, body shop and equipment for servicing CVs. It sells a range of products including tyre changers, wheel aligners, wheel balancers, lifts, brake testers, brake lathes, air-conditioning service, diagnostics tools, crash repair systems and some special equipment. Recently, the company has received product approval from Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors and Volvo India for its wheel alignment systems.

For every piece of equipment in its 40-product portfolio, the company says it has products of three different price points to support the requirements of entry, mid- and top-level customers. As part of its initiative to capitalise growth, Madhus also plans to add about five sales and service outlets during the next couple of years. It is looking at new places like Rajkot and Vadodara besides strengthening its existing network. The expansion will be predominantly in north India, says Narasimhan. Currently the mean time between a breakdown and attending to it is about 24 hours in A-class cities, 48 hours in B-class cities and 72 hours in C-class cities. Madhus is working on reducing this time further to support its customers better, says vice-president S Ramprasad.

Eyeing the CV segment Madhus is also now leveraging its expertise to the commercial vehicle segment where accident repair systems are yet to match that of passenger cars. Besides, the prohibitive cost of equipment, which is about four to five times the cost of crash repair systems of cars, is a deterrent for service centres. However, “we hope that the CV segment will catch up soon,” says Narasimhan.

Overall, the company is confident that it will be able to cater to the burgeoning demand for modern hi-tech garage equipment in the country. And thanks to its tie-ups with various MNCs in the field, it is assured that it will get the latest products and tech in the field.