Bosch Buys 26% Stake in India’s Autozilla

Electronics company Bosch has acquired a 26% stake in India’s Autozilla to expand into the country’s digital B2B auto parts aftermarket.

According to multiple published reports Wednesday (Feb. 23), the deal will see Bosch integrate Autozilla’s eCommerce platform with its own to boost the quality of catalog searching and streamline spare parts ordering.

Based in Telangana, India, Autozilla is a B2B eCommerce marketplace platform for spare auto parts, tools, garage equipment and accessories.

“Bosch is actively shaping the change of the online markets in India,” said Soumitra Bhattacharya, president of Bosch’s operations in India. “We assume that there will be stable growth in the B2B sector. We are collaborating with the Indian B2B E-Marketplace Autozilla and intend to develop this market potential together.”

Bosch says India’s independent garages mostly get their spare parts offline, either by ordering over the phone or visiting sellers in person, leading to a process — from identification of the right parts to delivery — that’s inefficient and prone to errors.

The company said Autozilla’s platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to make spares discovery more efficient, determine availability and pricing, and match garages with sellers to ensure timely procurement.

Read more: Fitment Data, Subject Matter Experts and Rich Content Reduce Product Returns

Selling parts and accessories for cars is a complicated undertaking, as PYMNTS noted last month in our conversation with Ajay Roy, chief operating officer at PARTS iD, whose company CARiD is an eCommerce platform for the auto aftermarket.

“Fitment is the biggest challenge in this industry,” Roy said.

To find the right products, you may need to know up to 60 attributes of the car, from the year, make, model and to the number of seats and doors.