Online auto sales yet to rev up in India
Mumbai: Ravneesh Garg, the director of Forsche Fleet Services Pvt. Ltd in New Delhi, wants to add Tata Indigos and Maruti WagonRs to his fleet of 10 cars. Garg, 31, ideally, would like to buy the vehicles online comparing different models if car makers offered such a facility in India. Prospective buyers at the car showroom in New Delhi Forsche, a Mumbai taxi service for women with only women drivers, plans to extend its model to Delhi in November.
Eight months into operation, the Mumbai service has a fleet of 18 vehicles plying the port city. Time is essence for Garg and the old world, offline mode of buying cars is irksome for the tech-savvy Forsche director. Garg is one of growing tribe of Indians who use the Internet for purchases—some even big one—but finds it frustrating as the trend is yet to extend to auto buying, especially new ones.
According to a joint report of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), an industry body, and market research firm IMRB International, the size of the business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce industry is expected to grow by 30% to Rs9,210 crore by the end of fiscal 2008. Over three-fourths of such business will be in the online travel industry—air, rail and hotel reservations, car rentals and tour packages.
No independent study is yet available on the size of the online B2B or B2C automotive market. Two major firms operating in the B2B space are eBay Motors India and mjunction services Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture of Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India Ltd, which sells used or second-hand vehicles to dealers, workshops and garage owners. There are several other online portals that auction used vehicles.