Auto-biggies to boost-up used car business in India

In a bid to boost their new car sales in the Indian market, leading car makers like Toyota kirloskar Motors (TKM), Honda India, Hyundai Motors India and General Motors India are planning to enhance their used car business in the country. The aim is to tap the increasing number of buyers who are looking to exchange their old cars for brand new cars. The demand for new cars in exchange of the old cars is picking up as an array of new generation cars is attracting used car owners to exchange their vehicles and become a proud owner of a stylish and fully loaded new generation car.

Toyota Motors, that is all set to launch its much awaited premium hatchback Toyota Etios in the Indian market, is planning to sell as much as 25-30% of its Etios through its used car dealerships. At the same time, General Motors India is aiming to increase the sales at its pre-owned car outlets. With this, the other major car makers like Honda and Hyundai are aggressively working on enhancing the reach of their used car operations in the Indian market.

Mr Sandeep Singh, who is the deputy managing director (marketing) at TKM had recently said in a statement given to the leading business news daily that the company now has five outlets of 'Toyota You Trust' (used car arm of Toyota India). He added that, within the next three years, the company plans to have 50 outlets and its aim is to sell 25% of its new cars through Toyota You Trust. He also said that Toyota is already selling Innova and Altis through the used car exchange program and it is expanding its used car outlet footprint, keeping in mind the launch of its compact car, Etios, next year.

On the other hand, AutoTerrace a pre-owned venture of Honda Ciel has as much as 117 outlets in the Indian market. Till now, the company has exchanged about 4,300 pre-owned cars for new cars along with liquidating them through a number of channels.

The Chevy OK, a used car venture of General Motors India, has been registering a considerably high growth since last six months. The company has already exchanged more than 1200 units of its car from Chevy OK. The company aims to sell as much as 2,500 cars through this channel in the calender year 2010.

With this, the Hyundai Advantage, a pre-owned car venture of India's second largest car maker is performing quite well and expecting that its used car sales will grow at the same pace as the new cars.