IME Group, a leading business conglomerate in the country, is diversified into a wide array of sectors like banking, remittance, hospitality, infotainment, automobile, and insurance, among others.   It ventured into the automobile business, in particular, almost ten and a half years ago.

The automobile division of the group now comprises of four different units: IME Motors, IME Automotives, Ashok LT Engineering Services Pvt Ltd., and IME Electric Pvt Ltd.  IME Motors is the sole authorized Distributor of Ashok Leyland’s commercial vehicles in Nepal, while IME Automotives is the Authorized Distributor of Escorts, a construction equipment brand.  Ashok LT Engineering Services acts as a service wing of the said commercial vehicles and IME Electric is the sole authorized distributor of the Raft electric two-wheelers. 

ME’s Automobile Division is now at the forefront in the market of all 3 segments – Commercial Vehicles, Construction Equipment and Two-wheeler Electric Vehicles.

Hemant Puranik has been leading the division as CEO for about the last two years.

Product Highlights

The automobile products distributed by IME Motors include buses, trucks, tippers, light commercial vehicles, and defense vehicles. The buses have different models like Cheetah, MiTR, Lynx Smart, Viking, school buses and many more. Also, Various Trucks/ Tippers are available from 12 ton to 40 ton of range. There are many variants of the tippers, such as the 6-wheeler, 10-wheeler, and 12-wheeler variants. 2518 is the most successful model from AL. Similarly, Dost FSD, Dost HSD, Dost Container and Dost Refrigerator are few different versions of light commercial vehicles while the defense vehicles have five different variants namely Stallion 4x4, Stallion 6x6, Super Stallion 6x6, Super Stallion 8x8 and Super Stallion 10x10.    

Likewise, the construction equipment brand of Escorts distributed by IME Automotive has three different categories: Compaction Equipment, Material Handling Equipment and Earth Moving Equipment. The first category includes Mini Tandem Vibratory Roller, Tandem Vibratory Roller, and Soil Vibratory Roller. The second one consists of Slew Crane, pick n Carry Hydra Series and, Pick n Carry Hydra TRX Series. Under the third category, Backhoe Loader is available in two versions- Digmax 3 and Dig Max II.    

“All of our products, no doubt, are of superior quality. Take, for example, Raft electric scooters. They have become extremely popular in a small period of time because of its low price, high range, and very attractive features,” Puranik claims.

“Similarly, products of Ashok Leyland and Escorts are also very reliable, fuel-efficient, superior quality with very low cost of operations.”

Phenomenal Market Performance

The IME Automobile Division seems to be gaining traction in the Nepali market.  “Despite tough challenges, our market share/ rank is increasing every month,” he reveals.

The market shares of IME Motors and IME Automotive have increased to 36 percent and 25 percent respectively in the addressable segment.  They each are now the second biggest player in their respective industries. 

When it comes to the crane category, IME Automotive is the largest seller and have a lion’s market share of 80 percent in the market.

“The country’s automobile industry is hard hit by the acute liquidity crunch, thus causing almost all commercial vehicle brands to lose a great chunk of business and hence their volume has reduced by around 80%. However, relatively speaking, the percentage of reduction in volume incurred by IME is much less.” he rationalizes.   

As far as the Raft electric scooters are concerned, they were introduced in October 22.  And, remarkably, IME Electric has already sold over 100 units of them within just two months.

“The very sales figure is indeed very impressive which no other brand of similar nature has so far reached in such a short span of time,” Puranik remarks.

Smart Business Strategy

The outstanding market performance of the Automotive Division can be attributed to its smart business strategy.

The strategy is all about delivering superior quality products, doing quality sales, and providing excellent services to our valued customers, according to Puranik.     

Putting Employees First

The organization has approximately 500 employees in its various departments related to sales, after-sales support, finance, HR, etc. “We believe that the human resource is the most important asset for any company, and we are taking various measures to keep our employees happy and satisfied,” Puranik says with pride.

Firstly, the employees are trained in a periodic manner both in Nepal (the company has its own full-ledged training house) and in India at respective manufacturers' training centers, so that they can develop and enhance their professional knowledge and experience.

Secondly, there is a proper system for performance appraisal under which the employees performing best in their respective areas are duly awarded. 

Thirdly, the friendly work culture at the workplace is highly encouraged and the whole team is working as a family. We offer remote and hybrid working options with flexible working hours and celebrate individual and team achievements.  “This has helped to foster collaboration, creativity, and trust in each other. It supports employees’ well-being and makes them much more productive.”

Best After Sales Service

The services of the company appear to be astutely designed to meet the specific needs and aspirations of customers.

For instance, the Ashok LT Engineering Service under the Automotive Division is dedicated to providing maintenance and other related services to customers.  “The company has a wide network across the country so that at app. every 100 km, there is a customer touch point; be it a small local technician workshop, full-fledged workshop or spare part outlet, IME Branch or Dealership, etc,” informs Puranik.  "All technicians in the workshops across the country are skilled and trained by Ashok Leyland/Escort itself. Technicians are providing the needed services in the geographically challenging areas also in the shortest possible time.”

"We also have a “24-hour helpline number” & ‘mobile vans’ for emergency maintenance facilities," reveals Puranik.  “After-sales service is a very important part of this business. You can sell one vehicle with your ‘sales skills,’ but if you provide good service, you can sell 10 more vehicles."

Plan Ahead

To further expand its volume, market share, and overall portfolio, the IME Automobile Division has a well-defined strategy up its sleeve.  

Puranik says they plan to satisfy customers by improving the quality rather than giving discounts/credits. The company plans to strategically increase its market share and establish a sustainable business.

Under our future plan, we are aiming to enhance the skills of the employees, further improve after-sales services, expand in different segments, Facilitate Dealers with training/management, etc.  

The company is making necessary preparations to import electric commercial vehicles manufactured by UK-based Switch Mobility and distribute them in the Nepali market soon.  

“We are not only looking to further bolster our market presence in the coming days but also seek to raise the bar for the entire automobile industry.” 

With an extremely supportive board of directors, an energetic and enthusiastic team, quality products, and strong and helping parent companies, the CEO is pretty confident of the realization of this dream.