Over-the-counter sales for Ford

Ford India will now begin over-the-counter sales of its vehicle spare parts for easier availability and better serviceability.

Ford claims that in their research it was noticed that customers prefer to service their cars locally at a garage which is relatively cheaper than the authorised workshop. Providing over-the-counter sale will allow customers to get their car serviced at a relatively cheaper cost and along with original spares.

Also, sometime back there was an investigation by Competition Commission of India (CCI) on automotive companies which were guilty of anti-competitive policies by not allowing sale of spare parts in the open market and selling them at a higher price at their authorised workshop. No order has been passed about this, although the investigation is now complete. Because of Ford’s plan to start over-the-counter sales, it will get CCI of their back.

But the downside to this is that Ford dealers will lose out a lot on the margins recovered during servicing. Easy availability in the market will directly reflect on the number of cars reducing to be serviced at the authorised workshops.

Do you prefer this, or is going to an authorised workshop is what suits you best?

Source – Autocar