Charting a strong growth path, Randhawa Motors is nurturing relationships that it has built over time.
Story and photos by Ashish Bhatia
Winning the ‘Outstanding Retail Performance During FY2019-20 Festive Season’ award from its principal, Mahindra & Mahindra, Panvel-based Randhawa Motors has been charting a strong growth path for itself. It is nurturing relationships that it has built over time as a CV body builder since 1998. Entering the dealership business 21 months ago with a facility at Panvel, Randhawa Motors has made a mark for itself at a time when the CV industry is reeling under a prolonged slowdown.
Stating that the knowledge acquired in the process of building CV bodies has helped them to understand the psyche of CV buyers and operators, M.S. Randhawa, Managing Director, Randhawa Motors, mentioned, “Our role as a reputed body builder helped us to build confidence in the minds of our customers.” Informing that they indulged in much innovation in their body building business to offer superior quality and build standards, Randhawa averred that the idea of entering the CV dealership business was born out of the ambition to better address the needs of CV buyers and operators. If the strategic location of the dealership at Panvel has proved to be of advantage, the ability to deliver high customer satisfaction has also helped Randhawa Motors to seek strong growth.
Explaining that the dealership achieved the highest number of sales across India within a year of commencing operations, GP Singh Randhawa, Director, Randhawa Automobile Engg. Pvt. Ltd., said that their focus on superior customer satisfaction paid off. He averred that their treatment of employees as their family has also helped them to instil discipline and high work ethics. Commenting that their work standards are in accordance with the Standard Operating Processes defined by their principle, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Randhawa quipped that they have been able to sell over 750 CVs till date, including over 550 units of the Blazo. Expressed GP Singh Randhawa, that they are seeing good traction for Mahindra buses, LCVs (Jayo and Optimo) and the new Furio ICV as well. 
Bagging orders from fleet operators like Reema Transport, Randhawa Motors has been offering its customers a experience. Its allied one-shop-stop business to build bodies has empowered it to offer customers the option of not just buying a vehicle, but also getting a body built on it from them. The body building business, informed GP Singh Randhawa, is in close proximity at Kalamboli. Of the opinion that the CV dealership calls for a different set of business acumen when compared to a passenger vehicle dealership (the Randhawas have just started a Mahindra passenger vehicle dealership at Mumbai), Randhawa expressed that their taking personal interest in every deal helped them grow.
Comprising of a two-storied structure, the dealership at Panvel includes a well-designed reception area, meeting area, a well-designed area for service where drivers and operators can reach out to the service advisors, discuss various issues and wait for their vehicle to be attended to. With CVs from the nearby industrial belts rolling in for service – four Blazo tippers from the JSW steel plant on the outskirts of Pen were spotted entering, the dealership is providing effective service to Mahindra M&HCV operators in the region. Mentioning that they could ensure good traction and chart out a strong growth trajectory only because of their involvement, Randhawa averred that the advantage they offer to their customers is about convenience and value. The CV bodies they build, include container bodies, reefer bodies, and special application bodies among various other types, he explained.
If the fact that the body building enterprise caters to CVs of Tata, Ashok Leyland, Eicher, Force, AMW and Isuzu make among others, and has helped the Randhawas to get a deeper understanding of the customers needs, Gurjit Singh Randhawa, Director, Randhawa Motors, said that their strong engineering background has been of much help. Our business relationships with fleet operators regarding body building assignments has, in turn, helped us as a dealership, he added. Graduating to deliver 80 vehicles per month from building 30 vehicles a month 15 years ago, the body building business of the Randhawas is operating as an approved vendor for CV brands like Daimler India, Isuzu, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland and Eicher. Bagging a big order of over 500 container trucks from DHL’s SmarTrucking initiative to be deployed across India on BharatBenz truck chassis, the body building business has proved to be of good support from day one.
The dealership at Panvel comprising of a secure inventory storage area, the service shop includes a washing area, an area to carry our regular service as well as to carry heavy repairs. Having a 24×7 service van, the dealership has a display area at the front. Dealing in used trucks and reconditioned aggregates, the dealership is well-stocked with spares and consumables. Drawing attention to the need to use the funds judiciously in order to sustain and be agile, GP Singh Randhawa informed that they closely monitor the stock levels. Doing so helps to better rotate the inventory, he added. Employing skilled technicians and treating them to periodic training and refresher sessions (a Mahindra van for powertrain training was visiting the dealership at the time), Randhawa Motors has 10 invested in service bays. It has accounted for the creation of six additional bays as per the need.
Providing support to customers who would like to avail of additional or allied services like vehicle tracking systems, driver training, and on-site service, the dealership, taking into account the changing trends in the industry where operators are selling their older vehicles and utilising the money had to invest in their business rather than to add new vehicles to the fleet, is pursuing a vision to grow by practising superior efficiency. constantly adding to its efficiency levels. Taking pride in conducting safety and training workshops on a regular basis, Randhawa Motors has been approaching fleet managers and operators, many of which have come to have their own truck terminals. These terminals have a service area and a warehouse as well. Also conducting day long camps on a quarterly basis, on a case-to-case basis, and as per the need of the operator to ensure awareness about technologies onboard Mahindra CVs, the dealership also trains drivers. It does so for the drivers to utilise technologies onboard the CV to their advantage, and to ensure an efficient and sustainable operation.
Turning to this business venture once they noticed that their three-wheeler dealership would not entirely support their hunger for growth, the Randhawas turned to Mahindra & Mahindra as they could identify with the ‘rise’ philosophy of their principal. Easily approachable, the Randhawa trio are wasting no opportunity (they recently built a palanquin on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji on the Mahindra Furio) to grow. Leveraging every opportunity, however small or niche (they are also doing special application CVs for the Government), Randhawa Motors is dealing with the changing perspectives as well as the expectations of operators and drivers.
Finding good support in Mahindra’s scheme to guarantee performance and various aspects of their CVs, Randhawa Motors is continuing to chart a strong growth path by understanding each and every need of its customers. It is addressing them with not just the high quality of service, but also by offering high quality consumables. These include Maximile Plus brand of AdBlue. Putting to good use the experience and knowledge it has gained from working with Japanese brands like Isuzu through its body building venture, the Randhawas are confident of scaling new heights.
