One of the oldest and largest dealerships in the central and southern region of Tamil Nadu, the legacy of the Jayaraj Group lies in its unmatched service and superior customer engagement.
“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom” goes a popular Bible proverb. If at all I have to find a living testimony to the aforesaid saying in the automotive business world of my native region, it´s got be The Jayaraj Group. For this nearly 100 years old family-owned business conglomerate, humility is all it takes to stay virtuous and successful. Founded by Mr. S.G. Jayaraj, the Jayaraj Group started as a bus transporter in the Madurai region of Tamil Nadu alongside TVS Group in the early twentieth century, later also marching on to dealerships of Chevrolet Bedford trucks, Hillman, Sunbeam-Talbot cars in the 1950s, Hindustan Motors and Lambretta in the 1960s and Escorts and Ford Tractor dealership in 1981. Amid a range of businesses, Jayaraj is now a strong dealership house in the region dealing with CE (Construction Equipment) OEM JCB (Jayaraj Automobile Agency) and CV OEMs – SML Isuzu Trucks and Buses (Deepthi Agencies) for decades, along with MAN Trucks (Jayaraj Automobiles) and BharatBenz Trucks and Buses and Mercedes-Benz Buses (Jayaraj Trucking).
Director and Chief Executive Officer of the group today, Mr. Ajay Jayaraj is the fourth-generation entrepreneur, who is perhaps the epitome of the group´s humility. Dressed in a typical Jayaraj employee uniform, it must have been a dream to follow in the footsteps of his father Mr. Jeyasuresh Jayaraj and his great-grandfather Mr. S.G. Jayaraj to strive for excellence in the CV and CE dealership businesses, setting new benchmarks of automotive service in the entire region. “Service drives our entire growth and success, as long as we provide unmatched service to our customers we will be around & we will be relevant” he says. He attributes Jayaraj’s sustenance with the affinity and integrity of its people. “Our team of passionate and knowledgeable people is our biggest strength, we cultivate relationships as a family since ages”, says Mr. Ajay. No wonder, his modest attire as his staff says it all!
Asked on the existing state of affairs of CV dealership business, Mr. Ajay says that a customer buys a truck or a bus with a vision of expanding his / her business. “We as a dealer and service provider facilitate our customers’ efforts by taking care of their vehicles, a prime input for their businesses. Our team puts customer satisfaction in top priority, as every hour of vehicle breakdown has an impact on our customer’s profitability. For instance, we have JCB service workshops for every 60 kilometres in our territory, while our BharatBenz service network is much more responsive when compared to any other established CV brand”, he cites. “That way, we grow with our clientele many of whom are with us for decades, share their success stories and establish trust among them”, he adds.
The Director of Jayaraj is quick to highlight the role of OEMs they work with in their endeavors. “We are dealers for world-class brands known for their product quality and reliability. So in the coming decades, even if disruptive megatrends like alternative fuels and electro-mobility takes up the entire automotive scene, our OEM partners will adopt and bring out the technologies, thus we can still stay relevant as before”, he observes.
Asked on the impacts of GST on his business, the Director comments that the scheme has resulted in a big-time cost saver for the CV industry due to input off-setting for the trucking and logistics businesses, resulting in an all-time highest monthly sale post-GST with 96 units of BharatBenz trucks and over 200 JCB units in August this year. Yet, he warns that frequent tweaking of GST rates and cess on new vehicles will result in market instability. On future expansion plans and growth vision, Mr. Ajay said that the Jayaraj Group has achieved a turnover of around Rs. 600 crores cumulatively in the dealership business, while the vision is to achieve the target of Rs. 1,000 crores by 2020. The group is constantly expanding and consolidating the service networks in the region, he says, including the latest addition of Ajax Fiori concrete mixing applications in the CE category & FCA in the PV category.
Association with JCB, SML Isuzu, and MAN
Jayaraj Group took up the JCB Earthmoving and Construction Equipment dealership in 1990. “JCB contributes to a major share of business of the group for the last 27 years, starting with the sale of just one unit in the first year with over 1,000 units in the last year”, says Mr. Ajay. His network enjoys market leadership with a 75 per cent market share in sales in the CE segment in the region, while pointing out to a two-fold reason for this impressive feat. Firstly, JCB products are always 2-3 years ahead of the industry standards in terms of technology and productivity, and that´s why none of its rivals can match its performance. This is complemented by our superior service and customer satisfaction with eleven workshops, the largest network of workshops in India, he adds. Secondly, more than 60 per cent of our JCB buyers are individual entrepreneurs and start-ups, who are bestowed with better returns and lower TCO. Even finance providers are quite comfortable in funding them for JCB products, thus promoting sales and helping them grow up with their businesses, he comments.
The Swaraj Mazda dealership is, in fact, the longest serving business for the Jayaraj Group since 1986, with five outlets in the region. SML is now the market leader in the school bus segment in the region, while the sales numbers of LCV trucks are also notable, reckons Mr. Ajay. “The Japanese heritage of lower maintenance and high reliability are its growth enablers”, he says.
On its association with MAN Trucks, Director of Jayaraj quotes a popular local saying “Once a MAN buyer, always a MAN buyer”. These trucks are not for everyone, but for those who want to push the vehicle to its limits in heavy-duty applications. There are over 150 clients in our region who can afford a MAN, and they are quite happy with us, he observes. The group acquired MAN Trucks dealership in 2012, and now caters to the region from Pudukkottai to Kanyakumari with four outlets.
The Daimler connection
Taking up the franchise for BharatBenz in 2012 has indeed given a new face to the Jayaraj Group in the region. “When Daimler approached us for the dealership, it was a defining moment for all of us. Their focus was different, their products give priority to lower TCO and higher productivity to customers using incredible quality and fuel efficient technologies”, Mr. Ajay says. “The very name of the brand is in itself an added fillip, while the company worked brilliantly on the service side enabling us to reach any stranded truck anywhere in our territory within four hours. Five years on, our customers are very happy with the products and our service, the brand is no more perceived as premium, while we have elevated to the second position with over 20 per cent share in our market”, he adds.
Asked on the positive impact on BharatBenz sales ushered in by the BS IV implementation early this year, Mr. Ajay observed that the OEM was all ready and pre-planned for the BS IV, along with sustainable emission reduction technologies for long-run benefits. Further, the prices for April 2017 were same as pre-BS IV levels, which helped us achieve more numbers by August 2017 than the cumulative sales of last year, therefore a 50 per cent growth expected for 2017. “We are confident of reaching the first position in the region by the next three years”, hopes Mr. Ajay Jayaraj. Trucking that deals with BharatBenz has 4 outlets in the districts sprawling across the districts of Perambalur to Kanyakumari down south.
Trucks apart, Jayaraj Trucking told us that the 9-tonne buses under BharatBenz marque are also doing well, especially in the premium air-conditioned school bus segment. While the 16-tonne front-engined bus chassis are about to reach them after paper-work, the dealership is quite positive about their sales too. Jayaraj also undertakes services for the Mercedes-Benz 15m Super High Deck (SHD) coaches in the Madurai region, as the inter-city buses are sold directly by Daimler to fleets.