Service & Maintenance

Pitstop – bringing convenience, transparency and professionalism to car service industry

February 5, 2021February 10, 2021 Motorindia Comments(5,452)

Pitstop, one of the fastest-growing multi-brand car service providers, has grown on an average of 40% month-on-month in 2020. The company witnessed this growth primarily due to the changing customer preference and usage patterns brought on by the pandemic. As more customers want their service done through an automated process and with high levels of safety and hygiene, demand for Pitstop’s at-home service grew significantly. The number of women customers also grew from 5 to 23% during this period. Bengaluru’s IT corridors contributed to 60% of all orders. During this period, Pitstop added 30-35 garages to its roster every month. Another key development has been the increased procurement of spare parts by garages. Over 50% of the existing garage partners now source their spare parts from Pitstop. The platform is also looking at a 40-50% growth per month since the lockdown to further “disrupt” the car service, repair, maintenance industry in India.

Most people face a common problem when they give their care for service. They do not know what issues will be highlighted by the service personnel, how long it will take for the service and how much it will cost. Usually, the mechanic gives a long list of things that are broken or needs replacement. Many do not understand and after faint efforts at bargaining, pay-up. The reason we continue to use their service is familiarity and the fact that the issue is universal.

India has more than 32 million cars. But there are only 8500 authorized service centers. Therefore,most car owners depend on neighborhood garages for taking care of their vehicles, visiting an authorized center only for major issues. Most of these small garages are ill-equipped both in terms of technical capability as well as access to the latest machinery and equipment needed by modern cars. On the other hand, the authorized service centers are over-burdened and therefore focus on replace-over-repair. The entire industry in general lacks transparency as the average customer does not know or trust what happens with his car inside the service center.

Pitstop, India’s fastest growing multi-brand car service provider, has been solving all these problems for its customers. The company does this by focusing on transparency and quality. Pitstop provides its customers with upfront pricing, automatic diagnostics, real-time updates and service warranty. What the company does is segregate all services as those that can be done at home and those that need a garage. When regular service and maintenance is done at the home of the customer, it is saving time and money for the car owner while keeping the service bays at the garages free for more complex repair and maintenance. As the business model is built around the existing neighborhood garages, by training them, equipping their garages and ensuring real-time access to OEM spares, Pitstop helps professionalize and organize the industry.

Mr. Mihir Mohan, Founder, Pitstop, said: “When I saw a void in the expectations vs reality scenario, I realized that there is a need for someone who could deliver convenience, transparency, quality and affordability. Pitstop let’s its users stay at home and stay safe! Transparency and quality are two very important factors that drive all verticals of the platform along with upfront pricing, automatic diagnostics, Real-time updates and service warranty. Pitstop is committed to quality and has over 2 lakh + customers. Over 50% of our service calls are from returning customers, month on month.”

Pitstop has built a seamless platform with over 250+ garages, where it helps garages upskill their technicians, procure genuine spare parts and provide consumers with a service warranty. The aim here is to build a rapport of trust amongst customers and uphold transparency. With its unique home service offering, Pitstop brings transparency, accountability, and convenience to India’s broken car repair experience.