Mahindra First Choice to increase its outlets to 2,000 by 2020

Company says it is open for strategic partnership

Multi-brand used car company Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd (MFCWL) is aiming at increasing its network of  outlets four-fold to around 1800-2000 by 2020, up from the current around 515. MFCWL also said it was open for strategic investors.

Yatin Chadha, senior vice president of Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd, said the company had set a target to add 200 outlets pan-India this fiscal. It has a network of 515 outlets currently.

The company, which started selling used-passenger cars from 2008, began offering commercial vehicles in the last two years.

Chadha said consumers in the country were increasingly preferring petrol vehicles. Traditionally, demand used be for diesel vehicles, but due to the hike in diesel prices, demand for petrol vehicles started witnessing a rise.

He said around 60 per cent of the company’s customers had been first-time buyers. Last year, it had sold 69,000 used-cars, when compared with around 44,000 sold in 2013-14. For 2015-16, the company had set a target to sell 88,000 units. A major chunk of cars sold through Mahindra First Choice had been entry-level cars, said Chadha.

In March this year, the company had raised about $15 million in second round of funding from San Francisco-based-Valiant Capital. Chadha said the company was open to investment from strategic partners, who can bring expertise in automobile and banking.

“We have now moved into the retail space and are offering a range of services and had started connecting the entire used-car ecosystem,” he said.

While he did not share investment plans, company officials earlier stated it would be investing Rs 250 crore over a five-year period to create infrastructure and expand network.