About TSM

Pre-owned cars:

Established in 1935, T S Mahalingam & Sons are the pioneers and market leaders in the pre-owned cars business in India. 75 years, 3 generations and millions of customers later, T S Mahalingam & Sons is a well diversified business group with interests in automobiles, real estate development and distribution of financial services. Employing over 1000 people, TSM is present across Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore and Hyderabad covering all the key markets in South India.

Managed by third generation entrepreneurs, TSM is known for the long-lasting relationships it maintains with its customers and has come to stand for trust, integrity and credibility. Such has been its impeccable track record over the years, TSM has become the benchmark reference for not just customers and dealers in the pre-owned cars space, but also government bodies and departments.

For the last 75 years, TSM has been the market leader in the pre-owned cars business in all its geographies, dealing with more vehicles than all competition put together. This has been possible through continuous path-breaking innovations in the pre-owned cars space including the introduction of model-wise price grids (1994), the concept of car exchange programmes(1995) and warranties for pre-owned cars (2008).

Diversifications:

This pioneering spirit is the core of TSM's philosophy.

True to the core of our philosophy, we ventured into several new businesses over the years, almost all of which involving exploring newer horizons which no one had dared to touch till then.

In every new area of business TSM has entered, we have launched unique innovations. These innovations have come from a deep understanding of the customer's needs. Their sole purpose has been to enhance the value delivered to the customer, thereby adding value to all our business partners and ourselves.

In 1989, TSM became the first company in India to do third party distribution of financial products. We launched "Autoline" in tie-up with Citibank for distribution of car loans. Citibank not only increased its distribution strength by associating with a credible player in the market, but also created a platform for facilitating easy access to affordable car loans for Indian customers.

In 1992, TSM tied up with Citibank under the brand "Shelters" for distribution of all types of retail loans, thus becoming the first Direct Sales Agent for a bank in India. This again was done with the sole intention of providing the Indian customer quicker and easier access to credit.

In 1993, we tied up with Citibank to conduct the first "Prop-shop" in India, an exhibition which brought all leading developers and financiers under one roof. Post this, the Prop-shop, as a concept got implemented by Citibank across the world.

Our innovations continued unabated over the years, which included venturing into several new businesses as well as reshaping of some of our existing businesses. The table below shows some of the most significant milestones in the history of TSM Group.

Year
Milestone
1935
Launch of pre-owned cars business
1989
Launch of TSM Bangalore
1991
  1. Launch of Autoline, in tie-up with Citibank for distribution of car loans
  2. Launch of TSM Coimbatore
1992
Launch of Shelters, in tie-up with Citibank for distribution of all retail loans
1993
  1. Launch of Prop-shop, a property exhibition in tie-up with Citibank
  2. Launch of India Homes, a professional real estate agency focused on providing high quality advisory and brokerage services to HNIs and commercial establishments
1994
First to publish model-wise price grids
1995
  1. First to bring the concept of car exchange programmes to Indian market
  2. Launch of TSM Hyderabad
2001
Opening of TSM Annanagar branch
2004
  1. Opening of TSM Velachery branch
  2. Tie-up with Citibank for distribution of cards
2006
Tie-up with Club Mahindra for distribution of time share packages
2008
  1. Tie-up with Aegon Religare for distribution of their insurance products
  2. First company to provide warranties for pre-owned cars in the Indian market
2008-10
TSM creates first of its kind customer-centric distribution model. Instead of representing specific banks or institutions, TSM Tie-ups with multiple banks and financial institutions for the distribution of their retail financial products, thus creating a platform which can accommodate the customer's preference of lending institutions across different product categories
2010
Launch of RupeeZone, the most recent of our innovations, which provides a single point of contact, impartial expert advice and doorstep service through the entire application process and beyond to the customers availing loans, credit cards, insurance policies and pre-owned cars along with the choice of the best deals in the market!