Inter Cars SA, the biggest distributor of spare parts for passenger cars and trucks in Central and Eastern Europe holds the patronage of garage chains associating over 1,000 garages in Poland. The identity of each and every entity being a part of one of five garage chains has always been put first in this business model. We do not launch our own garages, so we do not cause market shrinking - is the motto of the organizer.
We have been talking to Tomasz Ładosz, Garage Chains Department Manager in Inter Cars SA. about garage chains under logos of Perfect Service, Q-Service, Q-Service Premium, Q-Service Moto and Q-Service Truck.
A year ago our interlocutors – participants and organizers of garage chains, argued that the most interesting argument for increasing competitiveness of such entities will be delivering guarantee for repair services. Is such a solution a philosophy of independent garages associated in garage chains of Inter Cars SA?
Drivers - at least for the time of holidays, prefer this type of garages. Using a chain garage, they are given a service book with repair documentation. Thanks to this they can hit the road with no worry. Within our chain there are rules of claim settlement described in the contract with a garage. Thanks to this and the use of premium brand parts we can ensure safety of travel. In case on a non-associated garage the customer does not have such a guarantee. Surely a perfect solution will be “zipping” all the participants with one uniform program for garage management with uniform database of repaired vehicles. Thanks to such a solution the information on a vehicle will be widely available, just like it is nowadays in OE garages. It is of course a long-term project, as the chain is based on independent garages, and the repairs are on a wide variety of different vehicles.
By now, as our main principle is respecting the freedom of each and every garage, the procedure of settling repairs as a part of claim process is being settled in two ways. When the value of the parts and service charge is not too big, the garage - the one which issued a service book and where the vehicle appeared - communicate with each other and agree themselves on a solution satisfactory for both parties. When expected cost is high and there are some doubts, we play the role of a mediator. The chief philosophy must be customer satisfaction and this actually is, as conflict situations happen really seldom.
Such a transparent communication platform seems to be the Motointegrator - created for garages in the time of omnipresent Internet...
That is why we are constantly developing the platform allowing to meet the expectations of both parties, i.e. by offering possibility of convenient arranging garage services on-line. Motointegrator explicitly support cooperating garages. They become a part of distribution chain composed of 185 branches of Inter Cars SA and take advantage of additional system of gaining customers. We are working on a solution which allows, after a free of charge registration on Motointegrator.pl, to obtain an electronic repair book for the vehicle. Thanks to this the whole repair history of the car will be made available to all garages cooperating within the chain and after each and every repair it is being filled in with suitable information.
Are the drivers really sure of the right to repair their vehicles using independent aftermarket garages?
The changes are visible, as cost conscious customers more and more often take their vehicles to the independent sector. This does not favour OE garages, which are trying to fight for their business and convince customers that only servicing vehicles with them is a 100-percent guarantee. Effect? Part of the drivers already share maintenance of their cars between OEM and aftermarket, realizing in OEM only the minimum scope of services of vehicles under a guarantee, and after that moving immediately to the aftermarket. By the way, the fleet of motor vehicles we are to repair in our garages is getting younger. And in this context it is worth mentioning one fact. According to Euro 5 regulations (Decree 715/2007) „manufacturers must ensure that independent operators have easy, restriction-free and standardised access via the internet to information on the repair and upkeep of vehicles, without discrimination in favour of dealerships and official repair workshops”. This is how it should be. Meanwhile the independent operators meet huge obstacles in access to such data. Most often they complain on lack of one, defined, unified access platform, available on-line, paid for e.g. in a form of subscription or “per information”.
Inter Cars, and an organizer of the most numerous chains helps the “independent” in their daily work? Is it not that your advantage is in your size, as it is easier to share substantial cost of obtaining the know-how, gaining from the effect of the scale, what can be impossible to reach by a single garage?
We benefit from the fact that leading five chain organizations, we can count also on our distributors. They deliver a wide range of technical trainings or access to diagnostic tools which make it possible to work with the most modern solutions. Undeniable advantage is here being a part of the chain. The scope of services and comprehensiveness of repaired fleet of motor vehicles allows gathering such knowledge by the members, and we, as organizers, integrate the information to make it available for all of them. As regards trainings, still the most popular are conventional methods. There is no problem with access to such, as Inter Cars SA. has organized its trainings to get as close to garages as possible and direct contact with a trainer and work on “live environment” allows deeper understanding of the issue.
Undoubtedly there is still much to do to make Polish drivers more aware of their rights to free choice of a repair garage. Together with SCDM we are working on wider access to a procedures and information on repair and maintenance of vehicles. We still remember the nasty case with one of carmakers, when the case was lasting for three years. The litigation was important, as the critic was aimed at the OEM. The customer finally won. But... in the meantime he got rid of the vehicle which was the object of the trial.
What is today the leading motive for consolidation of independent garages understood as becoming a part of new form of organization called chain enterprises?
Despite numerous difficulties, chain garages have been rendering mechanical services on the highest level, not worse than OE garages. Changing market and experience taken by customers of OE garages enforce garages to change their attitude to customer care. In this area, during the past few years there has been a huge change for the better. Today in a garage chain we can find customer service bureau, waiting room, and coffee or Wi-Fi Internet access. A modern chain garage will look after customer’s vehicle and the customer himself on a very high level.
When talking about perspectives of further consolidation, we can notice a kind of stabilization of the situation. Q-Service and Perfect Service chains have similar number of participants and they are surely represented the strongest. We are currently working on development of „red chain”, which is Q-Service Premium. Q-Service Moto benefit from liberalization of traffic law regulations on driving motorbikes with engine capacity of up to 125 ccm. What is important, 29 such garages are profitable, despite the fact that 1-track vehicles in our country are just seasonal vehicles. There is still place for new players on our market, although rather booked only for professionals, as the basic requirement for becoming a part of our chain is servicing all makes of motorbikes in full range!
Truck market is served by elite group of 71 Q-Service Truck garages. These are garages with wide scope of authorization. It is worth to mention that besides four cases, all of over 1,000 garages associated in Inter Cars SA. chains belong only to one of five chains. Exceptions to this rule are those with Q-Service and at the same time Q-Service Truck logo, specializing in servicing trucks, and only servicing passenger cars “by the way”.
Is this the competence of garage chains department of Inter Cars SA to set forth the „maximum plan” of the expansion?
The market regulates the saturation with garages in particular region itself - we are talking here about garages offering a wide scope of services and high standards. When setting the minimum criteria for the candidate to the chain, we choose only the best ones. We do not launch our own garages, so we do not cause market shrinking. I also wish to add that the percentage of garages quitting from our chain is minimal, but the generation changes are strong. The younger generation, brought up in free market realities, taking over the companies from their parents, willingly seize an opportunity of promoting their own business activities. Active customer gaining is more and more often used practise. With the generation change in view, we have prepared a pioneering programme for auditing. These type of solutions work in OE, whilst in the aftermarket; they were seen till not long ago. The passion results in professionalism, and professionalism results in quality - such a philosophy we are trying to teach the garages. Wishing to change this passion into quality, very often one needs some hints and suggestions. Looking at the market, we have prepared a tool which allows the garage owner to look at operations of his garage with the eyes of a customer. Thanks to this one can see the strengths and weaknesses and also elements to be improved. This is an added value for everyone who decides to get involved in the programme, as it allows building a competitive advantage over garages not being a part of the chain.
Source: Modern Garage
2016-02-01