Can one open a service centre without taking the dealership

At the end of the day, the OEM and the brand would be profitable and have more contact points.

BHPian docted recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello all, I was just wondering whether it is possible to open a company service center without taking its dealership?

So hear me out, I currently own a Jeep Compass and I'm based out of NCR. So far so good, but my hometown is a tier 3 city in Bihar, and I go there often. I am contemplating moving back and my closest SC would be 500 km in either direction.

In another scenario, Tata Motors is doing very good but the people who have the dealerships have it from the days of Indigo or Zest and may not be in a position to manage the new rush or may be lacking in space, etc.

So would it be possible to open a service center without taking the company dealership (headache of running a showroom, maintaining a yard and unsold inventory, etc.)?

I mean, at the end of the day, the OEM and the brand would be profitable and have more contact points.

Here's what BHPian anjan_c2007 had to say about the matter:

It's very much possible and in practice for almost all motor vehicles made in India. My friend wanted a car dealership of Hyundai (car sales and service). The officials came, asked about finances, inspected the space, capability, business sense and potential of the location for their brand. After a period lapsed, he was told "No" for a new car dealership. But "Yes" for an ASC at that location. He accepted the offer. The workshop was spruced up as desired by the company to match their standards and was certified by their team. It has started functioning.

But the fallout was a loss for me and many other old customers who visited the workshop with other makes of cars earlier for quality repairs. I do not own any Hyundai. But even after it became an authorised service centre for Hyundai, my friend allowed just a handful of cars including mine of another make for repairs etc in the ASC. Some rivals who did not get the ASC from this carmaker passed on such information to the company HQs about the presence of other makes in the new ASC. The company censured my friend and from then on, it's only Hyundais that can be serviced there.

Here's what BHPian VaibhavShatna95 had to say about the matter:

Yes, very much possible and is being done I think. Someone in my close relatives has a service center without the dealership part.

Here's what BHPian fazayal had to say about the matter:

Yes. It's very much possible. Brands that have huge sales like Maruti, Hyundai and Tata, have options of taking only service centres and not showrooms. However, not sure about brands like Jeep. They don't have numbers or a car park to justify only the service centre model. If they do something like that, the existing dealers would revolt!

Here's what BHPian CarNerd had to say about the matter:

Does anyone have an idea about the total cost of setting up such a service center? What might be the average monthly expenses, break-even point, profit, etc? Is there any eligibility criteria like having previous business experience?

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.