Manufacturers looking at taxi cab industry for boosting sales

Cars which have found favour from fleet operators and tourist vehicle owners have never been favourites of the buyers of private cars. Manufacturers too have always tried to do away with such a public perception and tried to woo more private car buyers. However, this is set to change. The taxi car market industry has a turnover of Rs.15,000 crore and a 20% growth rate per annum. This simply means that a large chunk of car sales comes and is to come from this industry and this also means that the manufacturers can’t be complaining about it. Manufacturers like Maruti and Toyota are developing models that suit the fleet and radio cab business.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd recently came out with the bare basic last gen Dzire after renaming it as the Dzire Tour. This car is for taxi operations only.

“Till a few years back manufacturers were hesitant to see their cars ply as taxis in India but now things have completely changed,” said Rajiv K Vij, managing director, Carzonrent. “I don’t think companies have a choice not to participate in this category anymore. They will have to look at it seriously and those who don’t, would lose out on a big growth opportunity.”

The number of car in the industry has increased from 150,000 to 500,000 in a matter of six years and going by the current scenario, things are set to get even better.

“This is a segment that holds tremendous promise and also gives us a steady stream of sales,” said Mayank Pareek, managing executive officer, marketing and sales, Maruti Suzuki India.

“We have a fleet of 1,700 cars that will go up to 7,000 by 2015,” said Sunil Gupta, CEO, Avis India.

Via HT

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