CHENNAI, May 7: The Rs 800-crore Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (Tafe), the flagship company of the Amalgamations group, is going in for a total revamp of its dealer network. Within two years, all the 500 Tafe 500 outlets, belonging to 230 dealers, will have a standardised look. As a first step, 46 dealers will confirm to Tafe specifications by March 1998.

This is part of Tafe's recent efforts to evolve a corporate identity for itself. After the revamp all showrooms will have a similar design and layout, and will render a consistent standard of service.

"In the tractor market, the point of sale is the most effective mode of advertising. Conventional advertising channels like the print and visual media may not be effective here," according to the company's senior manager Vijayakumar Browning. Tafe is also roping in Information Technology to service its farmer customers. Explaining the rationale behind this move, Browning said, "We are a customer driven company. We would like to get as close to our customer and bring down our reaction time to his needs."

All the 500 tractor outlets will soon be linked up with the company through Tafe operations and product information and communication. This software has been developed in parts by Pentafour Software and Brainwave Computers. HCL is the hardware vendor. Over 100 dealers will be linked by March 1998. Each dealer will be spending between Rs 1.2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh on the communication network, depending on the size.

Now the second largest player in the tractor industry, Tafe has sold 43,583 tractors during the last financial year, as against 36,370 tractors in the previous year, registering a growth of 20 per cent. This has taken Tafe's market share up to 19.73 per cent.

Tafe's tractor sales have grown at a compounded average rate of growth of 24 per cent in the last two years. This rate is likely to be sustained in the current year also, with a targeted sales of 54,000 tractors. This is likely to take the company's turnover beyond Rs 1000 crore.

As on March 1997, Mahindra & Mahindra continued to be the industry leader, with a share of 25.93 per cent, followed by Tafe. Escorts with 19.66 per cent and and Punjab Tractors with 14.95 per cent were next in line. The industry grew by around 15.57 per cent in the last financial year.

Tafe has also made inroads into the export market in the last year, when it shipped over 1000 tractors. Besides, increasing its exposure to its existing export markets like Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, Tafe will enter new markets like USA, South Africa and Turkey, shortly.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.