It was Jagdish Khattar’s pet theme when he started True Value about 3 years back. Khattar, Maruti’s exuberant MD, could foresee that time may soon come when faced with onslaught of new models, people will prefer switching over to new cars selling off old ones that would still command fair value. [Image source left]
Today, in cities where True Value is present, Maruti sells nearly a quarter of all sales through car exchange. Analysts who track the development of auto sale in the country are of the opinion that used car market has grown almost as much as the total passenger car market.
Though Maruti enjoys the first-mover advantage in the car exchange market, still its scheme doesn’t attract more than 10% of used car sales. An overwhelming 60-65% of such sales happen directly between customers and owners, while another 30% cornered by brokers.
Close on Maruti’s heels, Hyundai, Toyota and Ford also have started their own used car ventures. Maruti has maximum True Value showrooms in the country, 229 by the latest count. Hyundai Advantage operates in 11 cities through 27 dealers.
And Toyota Kirloskar, which has just started its used car business, is seeing so phenomenal growth that its MD believes that the used car market is bigger than the current car market.
If you’re contemplating dumping your old Maruti in favor of that glitzy Logan or SX4, you know where to start. Head off to the nearest True Value outlet, or better still, visit their website here.
This story is collated from May 23 ET.
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