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Tag: Automotive Aftermarket

  • How Tesla Became the Biggest Name in the Automobile Industry?

    The Automobile Industry is one of the giants in the global economy. It has been around forever and has gone through its fair share of changes and innovations over the years, however, one of the most influential and sustainable innovations is that of Electric Vehicles.

    And although this concept floated since its invention by Robert Anderson in 1832, it was put into the mainstream spotlight by Tesla in 2008 with its first Electric Car, the Tesla Roadster. No major company thought of taking up this concept before it was in many ways made cool by Tesla despite it being incredibly sustainable and way ahead of its time.

    Many experts in the industry have speculated about the EV Concept and as a result, Automobile Industry as a whole would not have been such a hot topic if Tesla was not the driving force behind it.

    Although Tesla has not seen a profitable year yet, it has had many profitable quarters and sticks to its vision of making Electric Vehicles affordable for almost everyone.

    On 1 July 2020, exactly 17 years after its incorporation, Tesla became the world’s most valuable automaker with a market capitalization of $206 Billion, surpassing Toyota. But how did Tesla start? Who was behind it? What makes this futuristic company different from the rest? Where will it be after 10 years? Let us find the answer to these questions.

    History of Tesla
    Musk’s Four Round Investments
    Marketplace and Stocks of Tesla
    Different Strategies Implemented by Tesla
    Vehicle Models
    The Journey of Tesla to Emerge as the World’s Most Successful EV Brand
    How Tesla Is Dominating the Ev Industry?
    Problems With Tesla Models and the Future Ahead

    History of Tesla

    The founders of Tesla- Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning
    The founders of Tesla- Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning

    Originally known as Tesla Motors, Tesla was co-founded and incorporated on 1 July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. The influence behind Tesla was GM’s failed attempt at EVs in 2003 despite the vast potential and high efficiency of battery electric cars.

    The third employee was Tom Wright and in February 2004, Elon Musk whose name today is almost synonymous with Tesla contributed $6.5 Million and became the chairman of the BOD. Martin Eberhard was appointed as the CEO and JB Straubel joined in May 2004. After a lawsuit settlement in September 2009, all three original employees can call themselves co-founders.

    Tesla’s initial goal was to start the production of premium sports cars for early adopters and after securing a respectable customer base, move into the mainstream vehicles like sedans, Trucks, and luxury cars. The first car produced by Tesla was the Roadster in 2008.

    Musk’s Four Round Investments

    Elon Musk- the current CEO and the largest investor in Tesla
    Elon Musk- the current CEO and the largest investor in Tesla

    First Round

    The Series A Investment in February 2004 included Company Technology partners along with different ventures and private investors.

    Second Round

    The second round investment was worth $13 Million and it included the addition of Valor Equity Partners to the funding team.

    Third Round

    The third round investment was co-led by Musk and various technology partners. It consisted of $40 million in May 2006 along with Tech Partners. This round also included investments from Google, and eBay among others.

    Fourth Round

    The fourth round of investment included another $45 Million in internal investment and the total investment went up to $105 million through private financing.

    Marketplace and Stocks of Tesla

    Tesla launched its initial public offering (IPO) on NASDAQ, the second American car company after Ford Motor Company to do so.

    Tesla became the world’s second most valuable automaker with a market capitalization of $104 Billion and on 1st July 2020 the most valuable by reaching the milestone of $202 Billion.

    Despite the above milestones, Tesla has not seen an overall profit in any financial year. At the end of 2019, it posted a loss of $862 Million on revenue of $24.6 Billion.

    However, this fact is often overlooked as Tesla leans towards a societal concept rather than a profit-making one.

    Different Strategies Implemented by Tesla

    Business Strategy

    Tesla follows a typical business strategy like the technological sector, i.e, targeting early adopters with a high price and gradually lowering the price as they move on to the bigger markets. For example, Tesla’s First model, Roadster was of a lower volume and higher price compared to Model X and Model Y.

    Production Strategy

    Like Musk’s other projects, Tesla’s production strategy includes high degrees of Vertical Integration which is rare in the automobile industry, as companies outsource most of the components from their suppliers.

    Sales and Marketing Strategy

    Instead of a conventional dealer network, Tesla opts to sell its vehicles online through company-owned showrooms. It offers the customers an option to customize their desired vehicle. Tesla does not rely on a heavy advertising policy Elon Musk with his massive Twitter following is an unofficial marketing manager.

    Technological Strategies

    Tesla relies on heavy electrical technologies to get its production done. As a vertically integrated company, they design batteries, motors, glass, and innovative models like Autopilots.

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    Vehicle Models

    The first model of Tesla- Roadster
    The first model of Tesla- Roadster

    As of 2020, Tesla sells three car models, Model S, Model X, and Model Y.

    The Unveiled models include Roadster 2020 and the highly awaited Cybertruck. These products have different versions to them based on affordability. Musk said that there will be more innovative models down the road which would be more affordable than the current ones.

    Unfortunately, there will be no Tesla Motorbike.

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    The Journey of Tesla to Emerge as the World’s Most Successful EV Brand

    There are several car manufacturing companies found across different parts of the World. However, when we talk about Tesla, it does stand out from the rest of the companies due to the initiation of something different.

    Tesla is quite popular for its EV model cars which have created a path for Tesla to emerge as the World’s most successful brand.

    To achieve this tag, Tesla made every step resourceful. Tesla brand was started with a sample model featuring cars with a high cost and few models. This invention was to just ensure that myth revolving around the EV cars can find their dissolving points. For the start, Tesla manufactured just 500 units in a year and was responsible for many revolutionary programs.

    The next model introduced by Tesla was about changing the manufacturing units to a greater scale and on contrary, it decreased the price of the model. This model was a great way to give head-on competition to the other luxury brand models.

    Tesla also connects directly with its customers rather than depending upon the franchisee network. Tesla sells its products directly to customers and has a web-type global network to get it settled as a global brand.

    Tesla mainly focuses on the customer buying experience to get more recognition from people. Several showrooms and galleries are placed at multiple locations by Tesla to have a much-organized system.

    Tesla Showroom
    Tesla Showroom

    Apart from this, Tesla has a good marketing strategy and a well-developed plan to sell its brand. Tesla also has a good financing backup and a few well-known investors. All these things make it possible for Tesla to emerge as the World’s most successful EV brand.

    How Tesla Is Dominating the Ev Industry?

    We can assume that Tesla is dominating the EV industry based on the fact that the EV sales of Tesla are approximate 2.3 times higher than that of other brands as per Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas. The rate of growth observed by Tesla in the EV industry is almost double that of any rival brand.

    If we look at the Tesla market in the US, it is safe to say that the EV market in the US is highly dominated by Tesla for years now. For that instance, the EV cars of Tesla accounted for 79% of the overall rate of new cars registered in the US during 2020 and 69.95% of the newly registered car for the year 2021.

    If to believe the available facts and data, it can be estimated that Tesla will still keep on dominating the EV industry for a few more years but with the condition of increasing competition.

    US Electric Vehicle Sales
    US Electric Vehicle Sales

    Problems With Tesla Models and the Future Ahead

    A 2025 Tesla Model S
    A 2025 Tesla Model S 

    Despite having an innovative approach and putting customer satisfaction ahead of profits, Tesla has come up short on various aspects.

    The durability, handling, and repairs cost are some of the quality-related problems that come with a Tesla model. The repairs and maintenance costs are very high and as a result, so are the Insurance costs. Apart from this, Tesla repeatedly comes up short in meeting deadlines regarding production, but this can be attributed to their decision on Vertical Integration.

    Whatever the case may be, the company fixes some of its flaws with every new model and with its futuristic.

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    Conclusion

    Tesla is the first brand to introduce electric vehicles on the roads. The models designed by Tesla also stand out from others due to their characteristics. Tesla created a safe way for the EV models to run on roads and also made them available at cost-effective prices.

    With its uniqueness, Tesla is now dominating the EV industry and has successfully evolved as an EV brand across the world. The above article contains information like the history of Tesla, Investors and stock shares of Tesla, strategies planned by Tesla, the future of Tesla, and a few other basic information.

    FAQs

    Who are Tesla’s competitors?

    Tesla’s competitors are Rivian Automotive Inc. (RIVN), Lucid Group Inc. (LCID), XPeng Inc. (XPEV), Li Auto Inc. (LI), etc.

    Why is Tesla so famous?

    Tesla is majorly famous because of its cutting-edge technology involving battery technology and electric powertrain.

    Is Tesla the biggest car company?

    The company is the biggest in the world and can be defined in many aspects. If we talk about the profit, then yes, Tesla is counted among the eight largest car companies across the world.

    What is the rank of Tesla in the world?

    Tesla falls at the rank of 65 on the “Fortune 500” list for the year 2021.

  • Mini Case Study of Porsche: The Real Luxury Cars

    Porsche’s brand name indicates high-quality and expensive cars. Porsche entered the market and positioned itself as an innovative automobile manufacturer. It is specialized in the manufacturing of sports cars, sedans and SUVs. A typical Porsche customer will be wealthy and adventurous.

    The Story of Porsche

    Company Highlights

    Company Porsche
    Headquarters Stuttgart, Germany
    Industry Automotive
    Founders Ferdinand Porsche
    Founded 1931
    Website www.porsche.com

    Porsche still keeps its brand value in the automobile industry. It indicates the management strategies that they adopted over the years. Porsche offers quality customer services. The loyalty of Porsche among customers allowed them to make important decisions in business operations. It made Porsche a unique automotive brand in the world.

    Porsche – Latest News
    Porsche – Current Situation in the Market
    Porsche – History
    Porsche – SWOT Analysis
    Porsche – Products
    Porsche – Car Price
    Porsche – Conclusion
    Porsche – FAQs

    Porsche – Latest News

    24 September 2021 – Porsche is planning to stop selling the combustion-engine Macan model by 2024. However, it is planning to develop 718 Cayman, Boxster electric vehicles by 2025.

    23 September 2021 – Porsche gave a sneak preview of the next generation of electric motors with the mission R concept. The car giant will turn its 718 lineups fully electric by 2025 and its design has been previewed by the mission R concept car.

    Porsche – Current Situation in the Market

    Porsche India’s sales grow 52 per cent in first-quarter 2021, luxury automaker records best quarterly figures in 7 years. US retail deliveries in the first three months of 2021 totalled 17,368 up 44.8 per cent from the same period a year earlier. In the first quarter of 2020, Porsche delivered 53,125 cars. Deliveries fell 5% compared to 2019 due to the Covid-19 crisis. The Cayenne is the most outsold model in the first quarter of 2020 and the Porsche 911 in the year 2021. It has 18,417 deliveries. Macan took the 2nd position with 15,547 deliveries.

    The Porsche 911 model series has 8,482 deliveries. It also has 16% increases when compared to the same period in the last year. Taycan is the first all-electric sports car of Porsche. It reached the market in late 2019. Taycan has 1,391 deliveries in the first quarter of 2020. In the first quarter of 2020, 14,098 Porsche cars were delivered to Chinese customers.

    China became the top market of Porsche with the most number of deliveries. The United States bagged the second position with 11,994 deliveries. In Germany, Porsche delivered 5,214 cars to customers. In the European market, a total of 16,787 vehicles was delivered. A total of 22,031 vehicles were delivered in the Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East regions.

    Porsche – History

    Ferdinand Porsche founded the company in 1931 with main offices in the centre of Stuttgart, Germany. Initially, the company offered motor vehicle development work and consulting, but didn’t build any car under its own name. One of the first assignments the new company received was from the German government to design a car for the people; that is, a Volkswagen. This resulted in the Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful car designs of all time. The Porsche 64 was developed in 1939 using many components from the Beetle.

    On 15 December 1945, Ferdinand was arrested for war crimes. During his 20-month imprisonment, Ferdinand Porsche’s son, Ferry Porsche, decided to build his own car, because he could not find an existing one that he wanted to buy. He also had to steer the company through some of its most difficult days until his father’s release in August 1947. The first model of what was to become the 356 were built in a small sawmill in Gmünd, Austria. The prototype car was shown to German auto dealers, and when pre-orders reached a set threshold, production (with the aluminium body) was begun by Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH, founded by Ferry and Louise.

    Ferdinand Porsche developed his sports car prototype in March 1948. At the end of the year, he started a small-scale production with the help of Swiss financiers. Ferdinand died in 1951. After that Ferry officially took in-charge of the company. Porsche went through a financial crisis in 2008. Because of this, it was sold to Volkswagen.

    Porsche – SWOT Analysis

    Strengths of Porsche

    The strength of a company is what makes it stand alone in the crowd. Some of the strengths of Porsche are:

    • Reputation and Brand Image: Porsche developed a strong brand name which is one of their main strengths. The company has worked hard since its inception to ensure that all of its products have the highest quality. It is known for its heritage sports and luxury cars along with the automotive representation. The cars are preferred by high-end customers not only because of the price range but the machine power as well.
    • Brand Extension: Porsche offers 6 car models in India, including 2 cars in the SUV category, 1 car in the Sedan category, 3 cars in the Coupe category. The number of variations they offer makes them the brand with the highest brand extension opportunities.
    • Sports Base: Porsche is famous for its sports cars, like the 911. The 911 is a world-known machine that is on sale for the longest time because of the machine it consists of. Their base in the motor racing world is the strongest out of all the other brands because of the quality of the products they use.
    • Loyalty: Porsche’s biggest strength is its strong and loyal fan base. Apart from being a brand for high-end customers or luxury-based cars, Porsche is in talks with the simplest of minds too. The loyalty base is very high which keeps the brands’ position on top always.
    • Interior: The interior of the vehicle is comfortable. Also, Porsche has a traditional style. It provides high technical and visual standards. Although people called the company the luxury market, it was flexible to respond to changes in the market. The company has developed some of the most successful SUVs on the market.
    • Research & Development: The company is strong in research and development. Initially, it invested heavily in the research. As a result, the company was able to become a market leader in many areas. The history of the company shows a commitment to quality and continuous improvement.

    Weaknesses of Porsche

    • Expensive for Middle Class: The company has mainly focused on the production of luxury vehicles. This gave a higher price to all products. It was expensive for ordinary consumers. Many consumers cannot afford the car because they sell it at high prices. Ordinary consumers view the product as a luxury item. So before they make the decision to buy a Porsche car, they will give precedence to other vehicles.
    • Vehicle Size: Most of Porsche’s cars are small. So they aren’t suitable for all operations. And also most of the assembling processes are done in Finland instead of Germany. The company uses a Japanese transmission system in its vehicles which are considered a weakness of Porsche.

    Opportunities of Porsche

    • Entering a new market: The development of electric and hybrid cars will make good opportunities for the company. The company already manufactured an electric car named “Porsche Taycan” in 2019. The development of automatic and intelligent cars is another option. Entering a new market will create more opportunities.
    • Technology Driven: Technology has enabled manufacturers to make smart products. It allows car manufacturers to add more options to their cars. These features can help to prevent accidents or reduce the impact of accidents. It is a great opportunity to reach new markets. Porsche has the potential to expand its presence in emerging markets.

    Threats of Porsche

    Threats are something that can harm the company’s reputation or market value. Some of the threats for Porsche are:

    • Government Policies: Government policies in some countries might result in a restriction for the selling or running of Porsche Cars. So, fixing their issues while they manage the policies is the better option for the company.
    • Recession: Increase in the recession has led to a decrease in the number of people being able to afford such high-range cars produced by Porsche. Launching cars that can be purchased by the greater mass is another solution to the threat of losing customers.
    • Competition: With the increasing competition in the market and their biggest competitors being “Tesla”, they need to come up with better products for their existing customer base.

    Porsche – Products

    Porsche has focused on producing sports cars since its inception. It started with the manufacturing of the Porsche 356 based on the Volkswagen Beetle design. Porsche built a car named “Porsche 911” in 1964. It was outsold well and loved by everyone. After the success of 911, Porsche introduced 912, 924 and 928, etc. They continued the manufacturing of new sports cars in the market.

    Porsche 911 (1964) model
    Porsche 911 (1964) model

    The company presented a new model named “Boxster” in 1996. This was the first vehicle of Porsche that was designed as a roadster. After that, Porsche decided to manufacture other types of vehicles. It started with the manufacturing of an SUV. They manufactured an SUV named “Cayenne” in 2002. It was a luxury crossover SUV. It outsold more than the early models.

    They produced a model named “Carrera GT” in 2003. It has 8th position on the top sports cars of all time. They introduced Porsche Cayman in 2005. It was derived from 2nd and 3rd generation Boxter. They presented the Panamera sedan in 2009. It was their first four-door sedan.

    The Cayenne and Panamera models helped to expand the target market of the company. Both models attracted many female consumers who want the Porsche experience. In 2013, they introduced a model named “Porsche 918 Spyder”. It was a mid-engine plug-in hybrid supercar. In 2014, they manufactured a five-door luxury crossover SUV named “Porsche Macan”.

    In 2019, they released an electric vehicle named “Porsche Taycan”. The company has invested mainly in development and research to ensure all qualities. The models of Porsche were reliable and innovative. Also, it is one of the most luxurious brands in the world.

    Porsche – Car Price

    Porsche is a luxury car manufacturer serving specific customers. Porsche conducted a market study in 1946 to determine if consumers were willing to buy an expensive sports car. Since then, high expensive cars have been the focus of the company.

    Porsche continues to build high-quality and expensive cars for the people who are ready to pay for the brand name. Macan is the cheapest model of Porsche starts at Rs 69.98 Lakh and 911 is the most expensive model that starts at Rs 1.69 Crore.

    Porsche 911 is the most expensive model of Porsche.
    Porsche 911 is the most expensive model of Porsche.

    Porsche – Conclusion

    Porsche is a luxury car maker with high performance and the company focuses on continuous improvement of quality through technological advancement to maintain and improve the brand’s prestige. Having said that, the company maintains a focus on niche market segments and producing current models.

    Porsche – FAQs

    When it comes to luxury vehicles or sports cars, Porsche beats all other brands. It is popular because of its luxury, good driving experience, usability, and customer loyalty. It is built to be as good as they possibly can make it.

    Is Porsche the best car company?

    Porsche are incredible and reliable german cars. It shows the status and peak performance. It makes great cars that are well built, look good and drive well.

    Is Porsche better than Ferrari?

    Both are incredible machines but Ferrari is faster in speed, more luxurious and more expensive. Having said that, Porsche is more reliable, practical and has lower maintenance costs.

    Why is Porsche so expensive?

    The technical answer can be because of awesome performance, high quality, incredible driving experience, etc. but apart from that customer’s willingness to pay lets the company produces expensive cars.

  • RAMP: Garage Management Software

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by RAMP.

    The automotive aftermarket is a huge industry generating crazy money. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global automotive aftermarket was valued at USD 369.2 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.9% from 2019 to 2025. The Indian automotive aftermarket follows the same trend and is likely to be valued at INR 75000 crore by 2020. The stakeholders in this segment are many: exporters, importers, manufacturers, wholesalers, replacement parts distributors, suppliers, retailers, and automobile repair/maintenance franchises.

    Despite being a fast-growing sector, the Indian automotive aftermarket still remains unorganized. Many automobile repair facilities are far away from using technology to handle their day to day business. Seeing this, RAMP startup was founded with the mission to bridge the gap between car maintenance facilities and data driven decision-making. It provides one of best Automotive Garage Management Software.

    StartupTalky interviewed the RAMP co-founder Amit Kumar to learn more about the RAMP Business Model, Revenue, Growth, History etc.,

    RAMP- Company Highlights

    Startup Name RAMP
    Headquarters Hyderabad
    Founders Amit Kumar, Praveen Yalla, and Rakesh Biswal
    Sector Automotive Aftermarket
    Founded 2016
    Website [RAMP]
    Parent Organization Shanrohi Technologies Private Limited

    RAMP – About
    RAMP – Industry Details
    RAMP – Founders And Team
    RAMP – How was it started?
    RAMP – Name And Logo
    RAMP – Product And Services
    RAMP – Launch
    RAMP – Revenue Model
    RAMP – Startup Challenges
    RAMP – Competitors
    RAMP – Advisors And Mentors
    RAMP – Growth
    RAMP – FAQs

    RAMP – About

    RAMP is an integrated service center management software that helps auto repair shop owners and managers to mediate administrative tasks with ease. RAMP has numerous features useful for day-to-day auto service management processes. On RAMP’s platform, the garages act as an interface for all the stakeholders involved.

    “We are creating an integrated online community of stakeholders from the highly unorganized automotive aftermarket industry and facilitating seamless business transactions between them by digitizing their business processes and linking each other through one platform called RAMP,” says Amit while explaining the idea behind his startup.

    The company aims to be a global leader in automotive post-sales life cycle management through an integrated digital ecosystem.

    RAMP – Industry Details

    Several studies from McKinsey, Frost and Sullivan, and the GOI indicate that the automotive aftermarket in India alone accounted for approximately USD 9 billion in 2017. The aftermarket industry is likely to expand at a CAGR of 7.6% over the forecast period i.e. 2017-2025.

    Explaining the condition of the automotive aftermarket in India, Amit says, “ Our primary focus concentrates on vehicle service and maintenance outside dealer network workshops. Our team has personally visited almost 10000 multi-brand workshops across the country today. Considering it as a good sample size, there is a clear understanding that at least 15% of the market size is easily addressable. With over 7 lakhs workshops in the unorganized space in India, the sailing opportunity is huge and we believe the timing for us has just been right!”

    The businesses in the automotive aftermarket segment traditionally have remained independent, unorganized, owner-driven, and devoid of proper systems and processes; this increases the scope for wastage of capital, time, manpower, and other resources. With growing competition and recent changes in automobile technologies, there is an immediate need for these owners to get organized and gain more control over their businesses to stay relevant. RAMP aims to digitize this segment and bring in more revenue-generating opportunities for their customers apart from optimizing their existing business management processes and help improve profitability.

    Besides the inherent challenges, the good thing is that the market is virgin and the early signs of adoption primarily driven by the growing awareness of digitization is extremely promising!

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    RAMP – Founders And Team

    RAMP was founded in 2016 by Amit Kumar, Praveen Yalla and Rakesh Biswal.

    Amit Kumar, Praveen Yalla, Rakesh Biswal.
    RAMP Founders

    Prior to starting RAMP, Amit set up a couple of companies which helped him learn from successes and failures. These endeavors also gave him solid knowledge of execution, business development, finance, and strategy. He also supported several startups in the environment, infrastructure, and e-commerce domains, assisting them with fundraising, business strategies, and execution.

    Praveen and Rakesh held key management positions in multiple MNCs on product development. In their stints, they formulated, designed, and developed fairly large enterprise applications that are used by Fortune 100 companies today for daily operations. The wide-ranging skillset coupled with significant experience that the founders possess has enabled them to develop RAMP as a flexible, accommodating, and robust product with high-performance delivery.

    Currently, Amit takes care of tasks like execution, strategy, business development, investor relations, fundraising, etc. Praveen takes care of the most important part of the show—the product! Rakesh is the backbone behind operations, human resources, processes, and systems.

    RAMP – Founders and Team

    The company has a size of 50 employees. There are senior personnel in the role of directors who own the operations and sales segments while fulfilling the most important responsibility of building a team and work culture.

    At the epicenter of our ideology of creating a work culture to cherish, lies our efforts to create enough growth and learning opportunities for all the people who join our journey of creating tremendous value for this industry. The objective is to build leaders from within the team and make them ready to take up bigger responsibilities during our growth and expansion. Being a startup, we have been able to create a good work-life balance apart from having great learning and great relationships among our people. The team members have their say in almost everything we do and are provided ample opportunities to add value to the system.

    RAMP – How was it Started?

    “In our continuous efforts of identifying an unaddressed problem statement in the market we had by then burnt our hands with a couple of failures before RAMP,” Amit recalls.

    Amit, Praveen, and Rakesh wanted to create something that could add some real value to the market. But they weren’t sure of which sector to concentrate on, and kept creating software for solving the issues of different startups. It was one afternoon in January 2016 when Amit received a phone call from a friend who owned vehicle workshops. He needed assistance in designing a solution to help him manage his business. In order to understand the business and its problems, Amit visited a couple of workshops on the same day to get some real-time feedback. This led Amit to discover an unorganized sector which was in dire need of solid solutions.

    Amit adds, “Surprisingly when I told them about my intentions to build a garage management software,  they immediately responded stating that they too need a similar product to manage their business and there is where I had the initial few cheques in my hand on that very same day. These cheques to us were enough of validation about the need for a solution which could help organize this industry”

    The co-founders picked up the idea from there and then spent a lot of time with workshops to understand their problem statements and find out solutions. The team then translated the solutions into software modules and got them consistently validated from customers by incorporating the smallest of nuances in this industry.

    For example, the employees in the workshops generally have thick, worn out, and greasy fingers. Thus, RAMP is designed such that it can be easily used by the workshop workers.

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    RAMP stands for “Reliable Automobile Maintenance Partners”.

    The intention initially was to have a name that could be easily remembered and related to the industry. RAMP was chosen because it was a tool with which the automotive aftermarket could ‘ramp up’ their businesses with.

    Ramp Logo

    The icon was chosen based on the most commonly used parts, and the color conventions reflect the most prominent colors used in the aftermarket industry. The color green represents positivity while grey and black proudly reflect the color of the hands of the employees in this industry. It attests the hard work these individuals put in every single day.

    RAMP – Product And Services

    RAMP automotive is amongst the first to bring various stakeholders of the automotive aftermarket onto a single platform. On this platform, the garages form the nucleus and act as an interfacing point with all the stakeholders.

    The product takes care and automates most of the complex manual activities which happen in the automotive business. Right from customer registration, job card preparation, and billing & invoicing, to inventory management, communication and CRM, purchase management, reporting and decision making, RAMP takes care of them all.

    With a highly digitized way of working, RAMP captures data in structured formats and derives relevant information for stakeholders to help in decision making. The confluence of business intelligence and the artificial intelligence which RAMP brings supports effortless business management.

    Apart from the garages, other stakeholders who are a part of the system can seamlessly transact with various entities while maintaining their business processes on RAMP.

    The industry lacks skilled professionals who can use complex software solutions. The attrition level in this industry is also very high which limits the patience of  business owners to train employees as training becomes a never-ending process. For example, they have new computer operators coming in every other month and it is a tedious task to train these new operators each time the old one leaves. Hence, there was a need for an easy to use and operate solution.

    The idea is to be able to train anyone in a couple of minutes. And this exactly is RAMP’s USP. Apart from having features covering every business case, RAMP is one of the most appreciated products amongst its users as far as the ease of operation is concerned. The company also provides 24×7 support for the users.

    The support team handholds the users for everything that’s required until they are proficient with the product. The whole focus of RAMP is towards organizing the businesses, helping them do more with less, and increase business and overall profitability.

    “We are proud that our existing customers identify the contribution of RAMP as partners and not a service provider only,” says Amit.

    When we started off, none of us in the team was from an automotive background. Hence, the only way we could have created a product which creates very high value for the customers was by listening to the customers, and continuously! After a successful MVP, it was our customers who started giving us inputs on how the product should function to create maximum value for them. Our strong technology team headed by two of the co-founders with a robust feedback loop process continued to enhance the product with a primary focus on must-have needs of the market while making sure that the USP of the product, i.e, ease of use, remains intact.

    RAMP – Launch

    RAMP began in Hyderabad with a team of 4 people including the founders. In the initial stages, it was Amit who solely was responsible for sales and the remaining team members were into product development. Eventually, the company ventured into other cities by identifying clients online.

    RAMP – Revenue Model

    The RAMP revenue model is that of an annual subscription charged to the users. A lot of cross-sale and up-sale opportunities have been enabled which currently forms the backbone of the revenues generated.

    RAMP – Startup Challenges

    Most of the products in this industry were designed as per the understanding of the developers/ designers of the respective companies and not necessarily as per the market feedback. This approach produced complex products which in turn created a a general perception amongst people that software is a very confusing entity to use and is not meant for semi-literate or illiterate users who constitute the majority of the workforce.

    In addition to this, the inclination was towards generally available accounting packages in the market that essentially addressed nothing more than billing and inventory management. It was no less than a challenge for the RAMP team to create awareness that such packages did not address business process management where actual loss occurs.

    On top of that, the team had to maintain speed and agility as the requirements of the market were unending and the time to market had to be quick since the customers were short on patience. Again, the company had to multiply its productivity with limited resources.

    “To increase productivity, the team started working around the clock! On a lighter note, our army of people were owls at night and spartans during the day !. I feel blessed to have a team like this!” Amit says recounting the initial challenges the company faced.

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    RAMP – Competitors

    Being an early mover, there is no Major Competition for RAMP.

    Amit chimes in, “The market we are operating has a huge potential and the pie is very big. Assuming that there would be only one player who can capture the complete market will not be wise. Today RAMP is one of the most prominent players in the market apart from being one of the earliest movers in this space. Apart from some industry majors who are trying to work in the same space, we have seen some startups coming up in a couple of other locations with products being in very nascent stages. This space offers many opportunities along with the problems and it would be very interesting to see how all these players get along and address the problem of this industry as a whole.”

    This probably is a business which cannot be executed from an air-conditioned board room! You have to be out there in the scorching sun, looking out for customers, understanding their problems and offering solutions. Getting your hands dirty is the only way to do justice to the opportunity!

    RAMP – Advisors And Mentors

    Mr.Viiveck Verma has been an advisor and mentor since the beginning. He brings vast experience of corporate management along with expertise of nurturing, guiding, and advising startups. Apart from serving at the executive level of many MNCs, Viiveck is a member of Hyderabad Angels and several other startup communities.

    Mr. Ravi Sadh joined Shanrohi Technologies’ advisory board in 2018 and has been in this industry from the past 35 years. Starting his career as a mechanic, he today serves as the director in several companies that are into the automotive aftermarket and services. He also serves as an Executive Member of the All India Automobile Workshops of India (AIAWA) and has been an active part of making the RAMP team aware of the ground realities of this industry.

    RAMP – Growth

    Amit says, “The company has been doing good but there is a lot that has to be achieved!”

    The company has grown 200% each year and has customers in over 100 cities globally with its team established in eight of these cities. Shanrohi Technologies is working to onboard another 3000 customers this financial year.

    With each passing day, the company’s sales team is getting stronger.  Shanrohi Technologies’ mission is to have RAMP partnered garages in every 3 km on an average.

    He ends on a positive note, “The future is very promising as we work on some of the path-breaking ideas currently getting ready for roll out in the coming quarters. The moment these ideas comes to fruition, only for good, I am sure we shall be on our way to completely change the way this industry has been working for ages!”

    RAMP is FOR the customer, BY the customer & FROM the customer. We have listened to our customers and have tried to come up with solutions that work for them. We are only a medium for them to find solutions for their problems.  And I believe this approach is the thing that has always worked for us.

    RAMP – FAQs

    What is Garage Management Software?

    Garage management software bridges the gap between car maintenance facilities and data driven decision-making. It helps to achieve auto shop goals by automating procedures, tracking customer vehicle history, and maintaining a database of other stakeholders.

    What is RAMP software?

    RAMP is an integrated service center management software that helps auto repair shop owners and managers to mediate administrative tasks with ease. On RAMP’s platform, the garages act as an interface for all the stakeholders involved.

    What are the main features of Ramp Garage Management?

    The key features of Ramp Garage Management are as follows: CRM, Vendor Management, Employee Management, Order Management, MIS Reports, Parts Management, Purchasing, Receipt Printing, Service History, Taxation Reports, Sales Management, Client Management etc.,

    Who are the typical users of Ramp Garage Management?

    It has the following typical customers: Startups, SMEs, Agencies, Enterprises etc.,