[Aditya]

Toyota has today announced the introduction of T-Serv, a pilot project, in partnership with multi-brand service outlets. Under the first phase, the company launched the pilot project in Bangalore at five workshops owned by independent entities. The T-Serv brand has been established exclusively in India.



Toyota claims that the shift to multi-brand workshops results from extended car usage and subsequent ownership change. The T-Serv outlets will cater to Toyota customers who have migrated to multi-brand garages.

At T-Serv outlets, customers can avail periodic maintenance and general repair jobs along with body and paint repairs. Toyota will supply genuine spare parts and support the franchisees in upgrading their staff’s technical skills through training.

T-Serv outlets will also offer an exclusive T-Serv smartphone app, which will enable a digital connect with the customers. It will help the workshop owners to closely track their operations and enable them to stay in close touch with their customers. The customer app will be available to all customers currently servicing their cars at these service centers. Another offering for customers will be the Do-It-Yourself accessories line up and car care products.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

[SideView]

Is this thowing existing ASC under the bus? ( Toyota had no major issues as ASC were good)

Why advantage remains for people to use ASC after extended warranty is over?

[landcruiser123]

Guess the revenue from servicing & spare parts sales is drying up. Toyota might make garages buy parts from the OEM channel (rather than directly from the supplier like Nippon Denso for example) in exchange for training for mechanics.

My guess is Toyota is targeting a few service centers where cabbies get their regular maintenance done. The Japanese sure pay a lot of attention to customer satisfaction.

Originally Posted by SideView

Why advantage remains for people to use ASC after extended warranty is over?

Toyota might resolve your dissatisfaction very quickly compared to an independent garage.

[speedmiester]

It is a good move by Toyota.
It ensures customers still get access to genuine spares and consumables from Toyota with a benefit of a FNG.

Most cab drivers avoid ASCs post warranty to save on costs. One way to ensure an additional revenue stream for Toyota.

[arjab]

So, Toyota has taken another leaf out of Maruti - Suzuki's books!
Maruti had a similar approach with Maruti Authorised Service Stations, wherein they allowed independents to operate Maruti service stations not necessarily linked to dealerships, to service their range of vehicles.

Often Maruti gave these affiliations to petrol pumps owners as well who, apart from selling fuel, used to utilise their servicing area / ramp to service and do minor repairs / oil changes to Maruti vehicles.
In fact these were / are quite popular for free services & minor jobs.
Maruti had also categorised the independents based on their infrastructure and the capabiity into Grade A/B/C workshops.

Initially Maruti was very adamant that the independent has to deal in Maruti alone - but as competition became stronger, there is an "unwritten nod" that independents can service other vehicles too - but not drown out Maruti.

Hyundai also did this. Hyundai Authorised Service Centre. One of my close friend who owns an independent multi - brand workshop ran an HASC, without sacrificing his multibrand status.

This is a realistic approach. OEM's, blinkered by decades of their "badge/logo" snobbishness & ego, now realise that singular existence is becoming extremely difficult. With vehicles becoming more and more reliable, with mechanical failures a rare feature, it is becoming impossible for a single brand workshop to make ends meet and recoup the investments made in land, labour and workshop equipment. In fact, the biggest income for a car workshop is not from mechanical repairs, but from the bodyshop/paint shop. Mechanical repairs gives a profit margin of max 10-15% whereas you can make a good 40% margin on painting an average small hatchback.

Another benefit of this is, work processes improve. A multi-brand independent who has taken a Toyota franchise will definitely learn, (hopefully), a lot of new work methods which he can implement as an overall process improvement exercise in his workshop, which in turn should streamline his working methods leading to better profitability.

[GTO]

Man, this sure is one company focused on 'customer satisfaction'. Toyota's after-sales is anyway famous for reasonable upkeep costs & good service quality. Now this! So, any owner of a 6-year old Etios or Innova can go to a non-dealer workshop affiliated with Toyota that will for sure be cheaper.

My question is, how the heck did Toyota dealerships agree to this?

From the press release, what stood out to me:

TKM has observed that the shift to multi-brand workshops results from extended car usage and subsequent ownership change.

Not really. It's the cheaper maintenance & repair at outside workshops.

At T-Serv outlets, customers can avail periodic maintenance and general repair jobs along with body and paint repairs. The service centres will gain from TKM’s experience in car servicing and supply of parts and Toyota certified technicians ensuring quality workmanship and convenience.

Further, TKM will supply genuine spare parts from Toyota besides supporting the franchisees in upgrading their staff’s technical skills through training

Waiting for BHPians to try this & update us on the cost + experience.

[chinmaypillay]

Good move I would say, the major advantage would be Toyota being able to reach out in areas where it is not feasible to have a full fledged service center. Giving out franchise to Multi-brand workshops would give more access and reach for people, developing more customers in the long-term.

[NaXal]

They must have learnt this from Maruti Suzuki after their partnership.

Toyota may be advertising this move but Maruti is quietly practicing the core idea of this move since decades. Often they train and equip local mechanics with tools & knowledge about their vehicles. Mechanics are actively encouraged to source genuine parts by sharing some % (discount) of the price.

In two wheeler industry, Hero does it and for commercial vehicles, TATA does it too.

Recently my bike's local mechanic attended one such workshop arranged by Yamaha and he purchased a Rs. 3999/- Fi Diagnostic tool from such workshop to work on BS6 Fuel Injected bikes.

[InControl]

Had got my Ritz's minor body work done via Acko insurance from Fix My Cars in Horamavu, Bangalore. The work done was satisfactory. Received the below messages from them over the last week

Good initiative from Toyota!

[MunnabhaiMBBS]

The partnership is a result of and a fantastic answer to DSK Toyota alike scenarios. Toyota owners from Pune, Satara etc. were hanging out to dry for considerable time after DSK, the sole dealer in the region, went bankrupt and shut shops.

[steadfast]

This seems to be more of expansion by outsourcing of after sales service and save on costs of setup and risks of break even than reduce costs of service for customers.

But let's wait to hear from Bhpians who utilise this service and share their insights.

[sanchari]

Good move by Toyota. I wonder if many auto companies start doing it, will shift to online selling marketplace might becomes easier? Someone books online and gets delivery at say some centralized depot or even nearest authorized service station, and get servicing done wherever they want to among the authorized service stations. Will change the whole dealership model. Of course, there will always be a need to check out the car in flesh and take test drives etc. But if they have a big lot someplace, and someone brings the car to the customer's doorstep for TD and checking out, that might solve one problem. Major issue might be cross-shopping, where someone comes in for one model and after looking at all cars, decides to upgrade to higher model.

I hope we slowly move to online direct selling which will get rid of many dealership woes people report. A mixed model where people can go through dealership, or order the same online with optional items like insurance, accessories, AMCs/extended warranties etc left to customer will be beneficial in the long run. In the US, Tesla tried to do direct marketing, but many states have laws which says cars need to be sold through dealerships, that made it difficult for them. In India where things are still evolving, direct sales/marketing should be encouraged, if servicing is taken care of with multiple such authorized dealerships. Will also help sales in tier-II/III cities which might not have dealerships.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by MunnabhaiMBBS

The partnership is a result of and a fantastic answer to DSK Toyota alike scenarios. Toyota owners from Pune, Satara etc. were hanging out to dry for considerable time after DSK, the sole dealer in the region, went bankrupt and shut shops.

I think TKM is covering their bases in case some dealerships go out of business as DSK Toyota did in Pune or, less likely, shift loyalties to another brand. In my experience TKM holds customer satisfaction very high in their list of priorities and extending their outreach to Toyota owners can only mean better car ownership satisfaction.

Originally Posted by SideView

Is this thowing existing ASC under the bus? ( Toyota had no major issues as ASC were good) Why advantage remains for people to use ASC after extended warranty is over?

I think you need to own a Toyota to experience the difference between a TKM dealership and other dealerships. In my case it's 15 years and counting. The gist of it is:

a) Very cooperative. I use my own brand of engine oil every time without a bit of resistance from the dealer. Even purchased some minor spares for my car. All they need is the VIN and some proof of ownership.
b) Reasonable labour charges
c) Reasonable consumable spare prices
d) TKM smacks a dealer with a baseball bat in case of any complaint.
e) Dealers are honest, no hanky panky. However they push small 'value added' services like 3M coatings etc to enhance earnings which you can turn down and they comply.
f) Near perfect job on the car, seriously. In this decade and a half I've had to complain only twice to the service manager and it was set right immediately.

Will I go to these independent workshops? Only in case I have no choice and possibly for urgent repairs. After DSK-T's failure in Pune TKM set up 3 dealerships in this city i.e. Kothari, Shaw and Sharayu making it unlikely Toyota owners will ever be stranded again.

[Carpainter]

Excellent move from Toyota and it shows that they want to earn the lost revenue from customers of older cars who have shifted to independent garages. In turn Toyota owners will be able to service their cars in cheaper prices as well and this will give already happy customers even more satisfaction.

Only if their product development and RnD department showed more importance to our market and offered more cars other than only Innovas and overpriced Fortuners. Hopefully we'll see more mass market cars from Toyota that are not Suzuki in Toyota's clothing.

[Wanderers]

While this is good idea on paper, being a Toyota owner for 4 years can say that this is not going to work. Toyota service is best and reasonably priced. Moreover they train SA quite well. I wish Tata focus on understanding their car better and servicing them like Toyota rather than servicing Toyota car like theirs. Can’t imagine Tata SA trying to figure out Toyota error code through OBD when they take 4-5 days and visit of Tata engineer to understand the problem at hand. This is based on frustrating experience on Safari in recent time and Indigo long time ago.
Advise to Toyota owner, please consider only Toyota ASC unless you are in Pune (I understand Pune have new dealers now) and places where service is not available but still consider it only in emergency scenario.