Castrol India to invest in Indian automotive digital platform
Castrol India Limited (CIL), one of India’s most valued lubricant players, and Ki Mobility Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (KMS), a leading Indian player in the independent automobile aftermarket business, have announced a collaboration to leverage each other’s strengths and expand the country’s automotive aftermarket ecosystem via ‘myTVS’, KMS’s digitally integrated multi-brand service platform for two- and four-wheelers.
Castrol India Limited will acquire a 7.09% stake in KMS with a planned investment of up to INR487.5 crores (USD59.7 million), marking CIL’s largest all-cash deal to date. With this strategic investment, Castrol India aims to expand its presence in service and maintenance for both internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric vehicles (EV) and leverage myTVS’ digital and operational capabilities. This alliance will also offer potential for Castrol India and KMS to collaborate and partner in select markets beyond India.
Vehicle owners will benefit from this strategic alliance through easy access to differentiated, digitally enabled service and maintenance offered by the myTVS platform whose reach includes three million customers across 1,000 garages in India. myTVS’ online-to-offline digital platform already offers quality, standardized and cost-effective services and parts to B2B and B2C customers through its owned outlets, franchise network, at-home services and road-side assistance.
Castrol India’s existing presence in service and maintenance includes its rapidly expanding network of 220 Castrol Auto Service passenger car workshops in 110 cities across India and 42 Castrol Express Oil Change outlets that offer two-wheeler consumers swift and reliable oil change.
“KMS has a leading automotive digital platform, myTVS which is disrupting the Indian aftermarket. Castrol’s established brand equity and nation-wide footprint in India, combined with myTVS’ digital strength will bring structure to the currently fragmented automotive service sector and also accelerate business growth for KMS. In addition, Castrol will explore business and technology collaborations with KMS to enable readiness for transition to electric mobility. Indian consumers will reap the dual benefits of trusted brands and reliable services,” said Sandeep Sangwan, managing director, Castrol India Limited.
“This investment by Castrol India Limited is testimony to the success of our unique online-to-offline business model. Our partnership with Castrol will significantly enhance the ownership experience for customers across the lifecycle of their vehicles. Besides, the coming together of two leading players will offer numerous synergy options like scaling-up of business offerings to electric vehicles, and the potential to expand our footprint beyond India,” said G. Srinivasa Raghavan, managing director, ki Mobility Solutions.
