MyTVS all set to go national  ( November '21,2005, HBL)

T V Sundaram Iyengar and Sons, which launched the `MyTVS' brand in the South three years ago, is now gearing up to take the brand nationally.

While the expansion plans for Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have been finalised, its plans for the rest of the country "is still in the drawing board stage", Mr R. Srivatchan, Vice-President, Customer Centric Business, MyTVS, said.

MyTVS incidentally is not a product, but an integrated car business solution, catering three initiatives such as multi-brand service facility, the 24x7 emergency breakdown service and pre-owned car business. It is contemplating a fourth initiative, which is to be announced soon.

Speaking on the expansion plan, Mr Srivatchan said the division proposed to establish the MyTVS stamp across seven or eight States in three years.

"We are contemplating a phased expansion. We have finalised our plans for entering the Hyderabad and Bangalore markets. Today, the MyTVS brand is visible only in Tamil Nadu and Kerala," he added.

It is looking at growing from 65 service centres in Tamil Nadu and Kerala to 450 across eight states by 2008.

There are 11 MyTVS Quality Used Car centres today. It is expected to rise to 60 and double the customer base to 12000-plus.

The growth is expected to add to the turnover of the company significantly. Mr Srivatchan is confident of a ten-fold increase in the division's turnover from the present level of Rs 75 crore to Rs 750 crore in 2008.

When asked if these drivers would compel the company to hive off MyTVS as a separate entity, he did not rule out the possibility, but merely said "not in the near term".

The parent company, he said had invested close to Rs 5 crore in building the franchisee model service centres. "Towards working capital and brand building, the investment would not be less than Rs 10 crore," he said.

The division is planning to close the current fiscal with 85 MyTVS All Car Service workshops and 15 Quality Used Car centres. "We are currently dealing with 150 cars a month," he said.