As India’s automotive retail network continues to expand, dealerships are investing heavily in new showrooms and service centres to meet OEM growth targets. However, Mr. Nikhil B, Managing Director, Madhus Garage Equipment, believes the next phase of the automotive after-sales industry will be defined by workshop profitability.
According to Mr. Nikhil, automotive after-sales, particularly the workshop operations of dealerships, is currently not receiving the strategic attention it deserves. OEMs and dealer groups are investing heavily in new showrooms and service facilities to achieve ambitious expansion targets, making the business increasingly capital intensive.
“As long as vehicle volumes continue to grow, profitability appears healthy. But when the growth curve eventually moderates, dealerships will have to identify which services truly generate margins and which simply consume resources. That is when workshop profitability will move to the centre of the conversation,” he said.
Within the workshop business, he identifies wheel alignment and body & paint as the two services with the strongest earning potential. These are also the segments where Madhus has built decades of expertise through its Hunter alignment systems and Madhus Bodyshop solutions. While many OEMs and dealer groups have these capabilities, structured and highly profitable operations remain limited, opening the door for specialised partners to add value beyond equipment supply.
Stable Market, Strong Opportunity
Geopolitical uncertainties pose limited risk to India’s automotive after-sales sector, given well-established local OEM manufacturing. Supply disruptions are manageable. The bigger transformation will come from growing focus on workshop efficiency, productivity, and profitability as easy growth slows.
Complete Solutions For Every Workshop
Madhus’ roadmap to 2030 builds on this conviction. Rather than diversifying into every emerging trend, the company is strengthening its leadership in wheel alignment and body & paint solutions.
Its portfolio now combines Hunter alignment systems with Madhus-branded wheel balancers and tyre changers, enabling the company to serve customers across multiple price points. Smaller dealerships and tyre retailers can adopt practical, cost-effective packages, while premium facilities can deploy Hunter’s Hawkeye Elite alignment system, Road Force Walkaway diagnostic balancer and advanced tyre changers for a world-class workshop setup.
On the bodyshop side, Madhus is the largest Indian partner for French welding equipment specialist GYS, further expanding its repair capabilities. The company has also developed the Madhus Easy Spray paint booth, an electric solution equipped with infrared dryers that can operate across the full booth or panel by panel, reducing electricity consumption, minimising wastage and lowering operating costs.
“Geopolitical uncertainties are unlikely to significantly alter India’s automotive after-sales landscape.”