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Our Bureau

Chennai , Aug. 25

Automobile sales would treble by 2015, according to Mr Binod Agarwal, President, Federation of Automobile Dealers Association.

Speaking at an open house session organised by the federation here today, he said that the vehicle sales in the country was about 10 million units now and the number projected for 2015 was 30 million.

Used cars market

Though this bodes well for the industry there are still some untapped opportunities such as the used cars market. In the US, automobile manufacturers make a 15 per cent margin on new cars and 27 per cent margin on used cars. But in India, the used cars segment is almost entirely run by local players and not by the dealers, he said.

Mr Arvind Mathew, President and Managing Director, Ford India, added that that despite the growth in the industry, there are some pitfalls along the way for dealers.

Retention of talent is a big problem especially now that a lot of sales personnel in the dealer segment are not just selling cars but also loans and car insurance, which make them potential employees in financial institutions.

After sales market

He said that the after sales market is another opportunity for increasing revenues. Mr Anthony Jacob, Managing Director, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company, pointed out another window of opportunity - cross selling insurance through automobile dealers. Sales persons have expertise in selling car insurance, it should be possible for them to sell other types of insurance as well.

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