Bajaj Tempo dealer changes tack, to hawk Telco's Safari now
Gouri Agtey Athale
Pune, Dec 28: Bu Bhandari, the largest dealer of Bajaj Tempo in the state, has severed its 28-year-old relationship with the company.
A 30 per cent drop in the sales of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in the first eight months of 1997-98 and a perception that Telco's passenger vehicles make for a better business prospect has led to the decision.
Bhandari said it had been a "hard decision" but they had to look to the future and better prospects. Bhandari has also given up its Cielo car dealership.
The surrendering of the dealerships has been effected from December 1, 1997, Bhandari said. Bhandari will now take up the Telco dealership, showcasing the Safari at its Cielo showroom, opposite the Poona Club while the Wakdewadi showroom, which had been dedicated to the BTL LCV line, will have the Telco 207 series: the Estate, Sierra and Sumo.Bhandari is creating a new showroom for the Telco small car at Pashan, on a corner plot of Abhimanshree Society. The 4,000-square-foot showroom will also have the Safari, since both vehicles are seen by Telco as having a similar customer profile. The new showroom will involve an initial investment of about Rs 3 crore, which will be supplemented over a four-year period.
The Safari, according to Telco officials, is to be dispatched to dealers by January 1 and bookings to be accepted from January 15, when it is formally launched at the Auto Expo in Delhi, which means Bhandari's Bund Garden road dealership becomes effective from January 15.
For Bhandari, the changeover will involve a large investment in upgrading facilities and creating new ones.
Bhandari said he would upgrade the Wakdewadi workshop facilities to service the Telco passenger vehicles there while setting up new ones at Dapodi for the car.
The Dapodi facility would also be a "mini" showroom for the car to cater to the Pimpri Chinchwad market. Sales of the Cielo had fallen by 50 per cent in 1997 over the first year, Bhandari said. They sold 30 cars in 1996-97 while in the eight-month period April-December 1997, only 10 cars were sold.
He admitted the Cielo had been hit hardest by the Ford Escort, also a di- esel model, which had made inroads into the Cielo market.
With Cielo set to bring its small car, it would clash with the Telco small car for which BUB has a dealership. The advantage of Telco, Bhandari said was that it would offer a full range of vehicles while Cielo had only one.
BTL has two other dealers in Pune, appointed in 1995, with Siddharth Motors offering the full range, including the six seater Minidor.
Gaikwad & Girme, the other dealer, also stocks tractors, BTL's new offering.
Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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