Popular Group

Popular Group

For over 70 years, Popular has been a trusted name in the automotive industry and beyond.

And we’re just getting started.
Just like each day, over the last 70 years.

Mr. Saju K Thomas

Chairman And Managing Director

Popular’s history goes back to 1939, when our first business – Popular Washing Home, a laundry service – was established. Sensing another market opportunity, the family’s entrepreneurial spirit led us to diversify through businesses in tire & tube vulcanizing, and battery restoration, in 1941. As World War II drew to a close, another market opportunity came up, one that we would be associated with, for decades to come. It was the automotive industry.

 

Through humble beginnings of procuring surplus military vehicle parts, the family established Popular Automobiles in 1944. And the journey continues to this day, to bring about a positive societal impact through business, building livelihoods and generating employment.

 

Quality.
Transparency.
Trust.

These three virtues have remained our guiding compass, right from the first day that we started operations. They continue to guide us today.

We are taking a lead in transforming the automotive services industry through digitisation and new businesses, building on our decades-long experience.

Automotive Solutions

Our deep experience and expertise helps us understand the needs and requirements of the changing consumer dynamics. Our approach to business has always been dynamic, staying in-step with changing times.

We serve over 40,000 customers every month, delivering excellent customer experience every time.

Over the years, we have been engaged in continuous skilling programs as a part of our automotive presence. We are now extending our learnings from skilling in this industry to other industries that can help in creating a professional workforce that drives the nation forward.

Skilling

As a group, we have always believed in the importance of skilling. We have established Bhrighu, our initiative towards bridging the technology skill gap that our country is witnessing. The Nandi Vishwavidyalaya enables fresh ITI graduates to finish their final project working on actual automobiles. The Hyundai Technical Training School and the Nandi Dealer Centralised Training Center run by us, help automotive professionals upskill themselves, from across South India – ours being the nodal centres for Hyundai and Toyota respectively, for such an initiative.
Technology is an enabler and we realised it in the early years of our group’s growth. We have seen technology amplify efficiency, operations, quality and growth.

Popular Digital

We have adopted digital transformation across our group verticals for decades. Digital touchpoints enable our people to work efficiently across over 300 locations, and deliver the best customer experience. 

Our approach to digital transformation is rooted in understanding the business problems and then creating a solution based on them. Whether it is cloud computing, generative AI, artificial intelligence, machine learning, or the latest tech stack for building experiences, we are building for the world on these.

And while we venture into these new areas and diversify our business, we continue to deliver on our promise of excellent customer experience as one of the largest automotive dealership networks in the country.

Automotive Dealerships

As an independent entity, our foray into automotive dealerships began with our association with Toyota India, when Nandi Toyota was established in 1999, and with Bajaj, through Popular Bajaj in 1991.

Since then, the group has added dealerships with automotive manufacturers across four-wheelers and two-wheelers. We also pride ourselves as being the regional center for educational and skilling programs for Toyota and Hyundai dealerships across South India.

“A business is only as good as the people who make it. Great business ideas can fail if people working with the business do not have a sense of ownership”

Mr. Saju K Thomas

Chairman And Managing Director