A new app built by a start-up within the Mahindra Group will soon be able to help you self diagnose issues with your car and get a service estimate even before you call a service garage. Carworkz, an ‘intrapreneurial’ venture of the Mahindra Group, will provide car owners with the information to choose the right servicing option for their car at the best price, while offering special services to motor garages.

During the beta testing phase, Carworkz claims to have brought into its fold about 1,200 workshops in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, and has seen 16,000 app installs.

The start-up aims at increasing its footprint to five cities this calendar year, building a user base of 1 lakh car owners and supporting over 5,000 workshops.

While Mahindra already runs its own multi-brand car service network, called Mahindra First Choice Service, the new app will provide the company with a larger customer base.

“We extended the reach of Mahindra network through First Choice Service. Now, with Carworkz, we’ll further improve our business. For example, the cost-estimator tool with Carworkz will be used by all our workshops for more transparency. The app will also help us improve our service quality since we can now know how we are performing compared with other garages, through user reviews,” Mahindra First Choice Service CEO YVS Vijay Kumar told BusinessLine . Carworkz will not only charge garages a fixed fee for each service booked through the app, but also use the platform to sell First Choice-branded auto spare parts across the country.

“The other benefit is that we will get access to a large independent network where we can provide our services, such as technical training and access to our spare parts network,” Kumar said.

“Carworkz is designed to offer a complete peace of mind to a car-owner looking for a reliable servicing option. The app aggregates information on all kinds of workshops — from authorised service centres, and multi-brand chains to independent garages,” said Tarun Gupta, CEO, Carworkz.

“We will also provide listed workshops with a digital presence, and support them with their back-end operations,” he said.

According to industry estimates, the car after-sales service market is pegged at ₹30,000 crore, and is expected to grow to around ₹40,000 crores by 2020.

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