Tata Motors introduces a slew of service offerings to entice customers

As part of ongoing efforts to revive its flagging four-wheeler business, Tata Motors is offering a bunch of services to existing and new customers with a promise of responsiveness, reliability and value.

Tata Motors's Ankush Arora, Ranjit Yadav and Dinesh Bhasin unveiling the Doorstep Service Van

"We want our service to make the difference in the passenger car market and we are aiming to score high on all parameters to measure customer satisfaction across all vehicle categories," said Dinesh Bhasin, Head (Customer Support), Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors.

Real-time vehicle tracking system at workshops

The company introduced biometric and RFID-based real-time tracking system of vehicles, called the 'Vehicle Tracking and Bay Scheduling' (V-TABS) system, to provide live information about the location and status of vehicles while at the workshop. This high-tech tool will enable customers to keep track of the progress on their vehicles through various stages at the workshop and also significantly improve workshop productivity. The company also introduced a dealer certification programme to help upgrade workshop quality at dealerships. The process is being piloted at the Concorde Motors workshops in Mumbai and Pune.

Doorstep Service Van

The company has also launched Doorstep Service Van, designed and developed on the Tata Super Ace platform, to respond quickly to emergency calls or even provide periodic maintenance to busy customers. The van has also been designed to meet minor repair requirements. It stocks spare parts to enable faster service, and can perform over 30 minor repairs. The company plans to introduce up to 20 Doorstep Service Vans in India by the end of 2013.

Quick, easy repairs

Tata Motors has also introduced an online service to enable customers to select a time, date and dealer of choice to service their vehicle. Further, the company has introduced 'Speed-O-Service' and 'Quick Repairs', which perform repair services in 90 minutes with two technicians and dedicated bays. Minor repairs such as bulb change, fuse repairs and flat tyre replacement can be done within 30 minutes.

Toll-free helpline for 24x7 on-road assistance

The '24x7 On-road Assistance' programme is available across their network of 2,700 authorised service providers, and accessible through a toll-free helpline. It offers quick turnaround time of 60 minutes within city limits and 120 minutes on highways and other places.

The company is looking to raise service quality levels by subjecting vehicles to standard quality checks to identify repair requirements not noticed or reported by the customer, ensuring that the complete health of the vehicle is assessed and attended to and customers are informed.

Additionally, the company is running a comprehensive three-month programme to equip 'diagnostic experts' with advanced technical skills. According to Bhasin, the key issue with service is that customers rarely see it as expensive or cheap, but whether it offers them any value.

Flexible payment options

As a part of value offering, the company is providing a customised maintenance plan for service, minor and major repairs including wear and tear with flexible payment options. The plan covers labour, parts, consumables, and guarantees substantial savings through price protection against inflation and ensures appropriate resale value for the vehicle at the time of exchange.

The company has also renewed its focus on making available its original parts with a one-year warranty and are trademarked as 'TOP' (Tata Motors Original Parts).

It has also extended warranty benefits to four years or 1,50,000 km, applicable to all passenger vehicles. This programme allows our customers to choose an extended warranty of 12 months/150,000 km or 24 months/ 1,50,000 km. Most services would be offered as a value addition without any extra charges to the customers.