With an increasing vehicle base, the demand for alternate after-sales service is growing — Mridu Mahendra Das, Automovill

In a conversation with Mridu Mahendra Das, the Co-founder and CEO of Automovill, we get to know the reason why Automovill started, its presence in India, and the types of services offered in the B2B space.

The automotive industry in India is diverse. Many startups are offering after-sales services, taking the quality a notch higher than OEMs. Most of these startups began their journey out of the lack of quality service stations. One such brand making a mark in the after-sales field is Automovill, a startup founded in 2016 by two techies from Assam, Mridhu Mahendra Das and Chinmay Baruah.

Since its inception, Automovill has expanded its footprint to 12 cities and has served over 1 lakh cars, and has raised over ₹3.7 crores in a bridge round from NEDFi Venture Capital and Mumbai Angels Network. To know Automovill’s story better, Express Mobility spoke to Mridu Mahendra Das, the Co-founder and CEO of Automovill.

Speaking about how the idea came about, Mridu said, “Like most entrepreneurs, it struck from a real-life problem when I had an issue with the car’s AC. After making multiple rounds and stop-gap solutions, it didn’t help, and I decided to approach a local mechanic. He not only solved but also explained the issue and it could have been fixed under warranty. Later on, I went on to do some research on this subject and realised the disconnect between the huge talent pool in the unorganised sector and consumers who are looking for an alternative solution.”

The competition in the market is huge, with multiple competitors. Speaking about strategies to overcome competition, Mridu states, “Automovill offers dedicated technicians on the product, maintaining transparency, genuine parts, and clear pricing. Also, the brand has tied up with all the major insurance providers for all accidental repairs. Further, we provide 6 months or 5000 km (whichever is earlier) warranty for any part which is replaced by the brand.”

He added, “The current market is very huge for only 1 or 2 players to sustain and maintain. With an increase in the number of vehicles and scarcity of service networks, the demand for an alternative option is increasing.” Automovill currently caters to cars only and offers services such as car general service, car repair, denting and painting, car battery and tyre replacement, and more.

Taking it a step further, Automovill recently launched a Management Learning platform for skilled and semi-skilled mechanics and technicians across India to upskill themselves. “There are nearly 5million semi-skilled and skilled technicians working across 547 districts with about 100000+ workshops and garages (multibrand). This platform will not only upskill the technicians but will also help them get leads for business through the Automovill platform,” said Mridu.

Automovill caters to used car selling platforms, ride-hailing services, corporate and individual leasing services. “We have a strong portfolio of enterprise clients, including a few of the unicorns in the space and emerging platforms like PumPumPum in leasing space,” said Mridu. He added, “we offer refurbishment of the vehicles before selling, ensuring thorough inspection before and after buying or selling, post selling warranty and handling complaints and single point of contact across multiple cities.”

The company offers B2B and B2C services in six cities, Bangalore, NCR, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, and Guwahati, while it caters to B2B, B2B2C and insurance lead in Chennai, Mumbai, Jaipur, Patna, Ranchi, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and few other Tier 2 cities. Mridu adds, “Due to Pan-India B2B and Insurance tie-ups Automovill has been able to get customers, and due to its stronghold in ground operations, Automovill can find the right technician whenever it is needed.”

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