Oct. 9, 2009 (The Hindu Business Line) --

After a successful pilot, the company, part of Reliance Retail Ltd., today hinted at playing a bigger role in the used car business.
Services

The Chief Executive of Reliance Autozone (NYSE:AZO) , Mr Arun Dey, said that the focus of these stores initially has been to garner about 10 per cent share where such stores are set up and gradually step up the offering not just accessories but insurance and related services.

Inaugurating its sixth Autozone, Mr Dey said “we expect to set up four more before the fiscal end.

Of them, three will come up in the South in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.”
Store-in-store

He said that the store-in-store formats too are doing well.
unorganised sector

The market for auto accessories was quite fragmented with most of the business currently handled by the unorganised sector.

Discerning buyers prefer large format stores wherein they would pick and choose from a wide range of quality offerings
growth

According to industry estimates, the car accessories business is growing in double digits each passing year.

The market size is estimated around Rs 4,200 crore.

This is poised to get much bigger as the automotive sales volumes grow, he said.

Referring to the proposed foray into the used car business, Mr Dey said “the pilot project has been very successful and we now want to play a larger role.

The idea is to offer one-stop solution to a customer.

This includes sale and purchase of used cars.”