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Informist, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – Aftermarket local garages are hurting automobile dealers' service business, but generation-Z customers are likely to visit dealer workshops for service and repairs, Viplav Shah, senior vice-president and head of light commercial vehicles business at Ashok Leyland Ltd., said at the 8th Auto Retail Conclave hosted by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association Tuesday.

 

According to Shah, Indian customers opt for local garages for repairs of older generation vehicles, which takes revenues away from authorised company dealers. With advanced electric vehicles featuring new technologies, he expects consumers, especially generation-Z, to visit official centres because of its ability to handle complicated technology.

 

"...with the coming of Gen Z, and now Gen Alpha, they will not go to local garages. They will come back to dealer workshops, they want their warranties, they understand it's complicated technology which cannot be handled (by local repairmen), and it may not just be the electronics which may not make money, but they will come back for the suspension work, they will come back for a host of issues, and that is where we believe that the service model is not going to shake up in the EV industry," Shah said. "...we are working with our dealer partners to ensure that we get more customers back," he added.

 

Speaking on the servicing of vehicles eight to 10 years old, Shah said the industry waits to see if the customer comes back to them or not. This entire effort is called no-show recovery and companies lose out on potential revenues from servicing such vehicles. "We go back to the customers and say, come back to us."

 

Shah emphasised that dealers should give good service and good experience to customers, saying, "...you have resale opportunities, you have extension in the family, you have a second vehicle, third vehicle, referrals. All of that comes in (to build customer relations)."  End

 

Reported by Pratyush Kumar and Sagar Sen

Edited by Shubhayan Bhattacharya

 

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