[Aditya]

Toyota is planning to start online sale of spare parts for its models in India. This week, the company will start the pilot project of selling the spare parts online in Bengaluru. Other metro cities will be able to avail of this service by 2016, depending upon the success of the pilot project.



More than 400 parts such as fan belts, oil filters and wipers, which need to be changed frequently, will be available online. The company will also sell 30 accessories online. Apart from current models, parts for the Qualis MUV, which was stopped many years ago, will also be available.

The delivery model will be localised and when a customer purchases parts, the company's dealerships will take care of delivering them.

Toyota has a total of one million customers in India. With the online sale of spare parts, the company is aiming to make it easier for its customers to maintain their vehicles. It will allow customers to fix small parts through a local workshop instead of visiting an authorized service.

Source: ET Auto

[arunphilip]

Excellent, good to see more manufacturers getting in on this. This is also the best way to combat fake/spurious parts.

[Carpainter]

That's a really good news. Could have done this before but better late than never. The more these companies make their spares available openly, the more these service centers will refrain themselves from charging heavily. Kudos to them. I think Ford and Hyundai has already done this. Hope others will follow soon.

[Aditya]

Official statement from Toyota

Bangalore, 13 Aug 2015: Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited (TKM) today announced the launch of an online portal www.toyotapartsconnect.in to facilitate the distribution of its genuine spare parts and genuine accessories to the retail market. This channel will additionally support the regular distribution channel which was started as a pilot early this year in Bangalore. Toyota’s core competency of lean inventory management & Just in Time has been adopted while developing this channel to deliver Toyota Genuine Spare Parts & accessories at the customer’s doorstep. It gives Toyota the edge to reach out to more and more customers with best quality products. TKM currently supplies spare parts twice a day to all the metro cities with an efficient supply system & logistics network. Toyota is one of the best in the industry with around 98.5% supply rate of spare parts.

Initially around 400 Toyota genuine spare parts such as brake pads, clutch plates, wiper blades, oil filters, air filters in addition to around 30 Toyota genuine accessories will be sold through the online channel by the parts distributors. With www.toyotapartsconnect.in, Toyota aims to take its customer service to the next level facilitating the use of Toyota genuine spare parts anywhere and anytime at user’s own convenience. In the first phase of launch, this service will be available in Bangalore and later will be expanded to other cities.

Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Shekar Viswanathan – Vice Chairman & Whole-time Director said, “We are very keen to spearhead this unique initiative of launching the digital platform for our customers, which is a first of its kind in the industry. This additional distribution channel reinforces our commitment towards being the leader in customer satisfaction and safety therefore enhancing our customer delight. Indian digital commerce is growing at a fast pace with the rapid penetration of internet access and increasing shift to smartphones, tablets & laptops. Toyota strongly believes in bringing newness to its products & services continuously incorporating customer feedback and addressing the changing customer requirements. In the first phase, customers across Bangalore will now be able to shop for all their Toyota car and care needs with ease and convenience of the digital platform. We will be expanding this to the other cities in due course.”

The key USPs of this portal is ease of finding a part with varied & extensive search options, multiple check points to choose the right parts and selecting the nearest Toyota authorized dealer/distributor for delivery of spare parts or accessories. We have also incorporated the basic parts fitment instruction manual for key parts which can be viewed by customers who have purchased the spare parts. This is one of the key initiatives in fulfilling our commitment towards ensuring safety of our customers.

Now you can buy Toyota Genuine Spare Parts & Accessories with the click of a mouse and have it delivered at your doorstep from the nearest Toyota authorized dealer.

[RocketRaccoon]

This is great news. Pressure on ASC gets reduced and they can focus on quality, DIYers get their obsessive need for perfection fulfilled and deal hunters give business to their FNGs' without questioning the genuineness of spares used. I sure hope other manufacturers follow suit. This is like Toyota saying "If you want a premium hassle free service experience visit our ASC else here are the parts, get cracking on your own."

Originally Posted by Carpainter

I think Ford and Hyundai has already done this.

I own a 2010 i20 Asta CRDi but I am unaware about this. Even tried searching on Google and Hyundai's webpage. Are you sure about Hyundai because last I heard they were fined 420 Crore by CCI for not making their spares available in the market forcing users visit ASCs'.

[paragsachania]

This is simply brilliant. The site is very well organized unlike the MGP (Maruti Genuine Parts Site). Secondly, one gets to know the price of the part as well which was never a case with MGP.

And the best of all - One can buy these parts online and get them delivered. In case of MGP, one cannot buy and get contacted by the nearest MGP (based on your Pin-Code/Address) who would take details of the parts from you.

Searching by Part Number is another awesome feature that enhances user experience.

Of course in case of Maruti, if one is not aware of the part number, you could simply visit the nearest MGP Dealer (Plenty all around), grab that parts catalog from the shop keeper based on Model, scan through the pages and zero-in on what you are looking for.

But in the end, the online store with delivery makes this one simply class apart coming from a manufacturer!!

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by RocketRaccoon

I own a 2010 i20 Asta CRDi but I am unaware about this. Even tried searching on Google and Hyundai's webpage. Are you sure about Hyundai because last I heard they were fined 420 Crore by CCI for not making their spares available in the market forcing users visit ASCs'.

It is correct that Hyundai now sells parts off the shelf. The Hyundai Mobis is the arm that deals with this business. Its another matter that the same guys who own the dealerships also now run this parts' business.

[RocketRaccoon]

Originally Posted by Zappo

The Hyundai Mobis is the arm that deals with this business.

I imagine it's not an eCommerce B2C model then like the Toyota one in question ? I suspect this because as you said it's "run by dealers". In essence Hyundai will have dealers for their spare parts which would in turn out to be the same entities who have Hyundai dealerships. If this is the case then Toyota's model of directly being in touch with their customers (through eCommerce) is much more better.
Even the webpage for Mobis India is nothing but a landing page for dealers to sort of apply for dealerships http://www.hyundaigenuineparts.co.in/index.html

[GrammarNazi]

As a business, this shows their good intent. In this day & age, this should mean a fair bit to the consumer.

Toyota heavily charges for their mediocre* product, but they've managed good control systems to keep service quality adequately high & experience, pleasant.

All such things put together are the reason they've garnered the clientele of well footed passenger customers who prefer peace of mind.

(*Edit : "mediocre" in terms of outright power & features, NOT mechanicals - those seem to be brilliantly long lasting)

[itwasntme]

Ladies and Gentlemen, please thank the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for this. Without them we'd still be paying authorized workshops to 'fit' a OEM wiper onto your car! Also note the official reaction from SIAM.

http://m.economictimes.com/industry/...w/40871116.cms

http://m.economictimes.com/industry/...w/42248961.cms

[AWD]

Good move, im happy with this because the for the last some visits I was really disappointed withe the monopoly dealerships behaviour/attitude. I also gave up plan of buying another Toyota, was considering Innova. This move, though a small one, will give many customers a chance to opt for the garage of their own choice & thus mounting pressure on the a.s.s. to improve customer satisfaction levels.

[Vid6639]

Really good move by Toyota. I got a chance to browse for parts prices for my car and got a shock.

Take a look:

[RocketRaccoon]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I got a chance to browse for parts prices for my car and got a shock.

I apologize but I just picked my jaw from the floor. 67k for a lamp. Boy ! And here I was thinking the Apple iPhone is overpriced ! if Toyota is going to price everything similarly then this whole exercise and getting excited over this news is a futile.

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by RocketRaccoon

I apologize but I just picked my jaw from the floor. 67k for a lamp. Boy ! And here I was thinking the Apple iPhone is overpriced ! if Toyota is going to price everything similarly then this whole exercise and getting excited over this news is a futile.

The pricing is high because they are HID lights not regular halogens that are a lot cheaper. The fully loaded models came with HIDs on the Altis other models had regular bulbs.

[ajaypjayaraj]

HID just for the low beams right? For that, with no projector or bi-xenon setup, a single side for this cost is not justifiable. 1 xenon bulb with ballast does not cost that much.

Toyota spares are cheap - is just a myth. Other day I met someone who payed for accident repair job of his current generation Innova. Damage was only to front bumper and grills. You should see the cost of the small plastic parts that form just part of the bumper and grills. Nothing among those is reasonably priced, even small cosmetic parts.