How to open a tuning studio and will it generate income? Services of this kind have long been in high demand abroad. There is an increase in the interest of motorists in this service in our country. Small and medium-sized companies located on the territory of car markets and garage cooperatives are engaged in similar activities.

The demand is growing fast enough, the competition is low. Experts with experience in this matter have every chance of a successful business in the field of car tuning. This type of activity is promising and can bring a good income to the owner.

Unobvious features of auto tuning business

First of all, modification services for a standard vehicle involve an increase in engine power. This is of interest to street racers, whose numbers are growing rapidly. In addition to increasing power by changing the engine design, there are other areas of tuning. Engine power can be increased by tuning the control unit, which is called chip tuning. Interior specialists can make changes to the interior of the car by installing modern acoustic equipment, leather seats, etc. Finally, changes in the car can be purely external, for this they install moldings, spoilers, and rear wings. This gives the car a sporty look and is in high demand among people who decide to join the sport.

A tuning studio usually works in one direction, there are few companies providing full tuning services. Car manufacturers are jealous of any changes to the production model, especially if they are the work of craftsmen who do not have special equipment and controls. In addition, the slightest change in the design of the engine can lead to its premature wear. The increase in the power of the car in the tuning studio is not registered, and it is impossible to detect any changes when inspecting the engine.

Not every car can be tuned. Even the most experienced specialists prefer not to take on some car models. And the point is not, these machines are perfect. On the contrary, their engines quickly fail after the changes made. And the responsibility for the breakdown falls on the tuning studio. Be that as it may, engine tuning is in high demand, which will only grow over time.

It is somewhat easier to start your own business in the field of improving the comfort of the cabin. Everything modern cars provide the same opportunities for installing new equipment. Therefore, the changes made depend on the amount that the motorist is ready to invest in the modification of the cabin. Modern acoustic equipment can be used to equip both a modern car and a car from the 80s. The cost of equipment installation services is 50% of the equipment cost.

How much money does it take to open a car tuning studio

To open a business that provides such services, a novice entrepreneur must prepare at least 1 million rubles. The initial investment includes renting a box for tuning a car, purchasing equipment and finding employees who can turn the vehicle into a club on wheels. A car interior design business can be started from scratch with a garage and special equipment.

How to start opening your own tuning studio?

Which room to choose for a tuning studio?

You should start by finding a suitable room. Most often, entrepreneurs starting their own business in this area opt for renting or buying a garage. This is the most economical option that will help you get a stable small income. However, in this case, it will not work to get a large number of customers, because the car service located in the garages inspires confidence in few people. Leave the garages as early as possible and rent a separate building. Much depends on the location of the future tuning studio. The organization of convenient access roads is important.

As for the area of \u200b\u200bthe box, it should provide the opportunity for free placement of cars and access to inspection pits. A separate room should be set aside for the reception area, where clients can familiarize themselves with the work. The opening of a tuning studio involves the equipment of utility rooms, an administrative department, and a waiting room for customers.

Personnel search for a car tuning workshop

Business success largely depends on the qualifications of the staff.

It is the search for masters that is the next item in the business plan. Experienced car mechanics, auto mechanics, electricians should be hired. They can be found in existing car services or by ad. You should pay attention not only to the length of service, but also to the opinions of clients about this employee.

Specific personnel include airbrushes. These specialists are selected by carefully studying the portfolio provided. You will also need a customer service and parts manager. When choosing suppliers, consider their reputation and rely on positive reviews. At first, spare parts and equipment should be ordered in small quantities, especially if your atelier does not have a warehouse. The best examples of technology should always be in sight of customers.

Opening a tuning studio requires a lot of investment, about the same as organizing the work of a car service. However, if the services of auto repair shops are always in demand, your atelier will have to spend a lot of time looking for clients. Therefore, the search for the target audience should be started at the stage of drawing up a business plan.

If your company will provide services high Quality, car enthusiasts will gladly come to you. The return on investment depends on many factors, the risks are assessed as high.

How much can you earn at a car tuning studio

When calculating the estimated profit of the future studio, it is necessary, first of all, to take into account the specialization of your workshop. For example, a small drawing (airbrushing) costs 400-500 dollars, and an increase in the engine power of a foreign car costs 200 dollars.At the same time, the items of production costs of different car tuning studios do not differ much and include:

• rent;
• advertising;
• communal expenses;
• staff salaries;
• purchase of consumables;
• taxes;
• and other costs.

The total amount of the listed expenses, basically, is at the level of 23-25 \u200b\u200bthousand dollars / month. The monthly revenue of a workshop for tuning passenger vehicles is 27-30 thousand dollars.Under such conditions, the profit before tax is 2-7 thousand dollars, and after taxes - 1700-6000 dollars / month (USN 15% of the difference between income and expenses).

What documents are needed to open an auto-tuning studio

Unless you plan to create a huge network of workshops throughout the country and you have no others good reasons to register an LLC, then in this case it is enough to issue the IP documents. To do this, you need to write an application, prepare photocopies of the TIN and passport, and pay the state fee. These papers are transferred to the tax office, and in three days you will become a legal entrepreneur.

The auto tuning workshop must have documents confirming the fact of compliance with sanitary standards and fire safety rules. These issues are within the competence of Rospotrebnadzor and the fire inspection. At the same time, given the high concentration of hazardous substances and equipment, be prepared for frequent visits by employees of these institutions.

In addition, you must issue:

• premises lease agreement;
• personnel contracts;
• garbage collection agreement;
• permission from the local administration.

OKVED for auto tuning studio

An important point! When preparing an application for registration with the Federal Tax Service, do not forget to indicate the code of your activity, according to the all-Russian classifier - OKVED 50.20.3.

Which tax system to choose

The optimal taxation regimes for a car tuning studio are UTII or STS. But this issue is regulated by local authorities, so there are no guarantees that in your city you can open a car repair shop and work at UTII.

The field of auto-tuning does not cease to be popular. Car owners always want to improve the performance and appearance of their car. Therefore, there is always a demand for a variety of services. But there is serious competition here. So you need to choose the most advantageous option. Success will depend on what you can do and what kind of partners you take to help.

Tuning types: basic business ideas

This area of \u200b\u200bauto business can include the provision of a wide variety of services. This is chip tuning, interior modernization, exterior body tuning, LED installation - and much more.

It is advisable to start by providing a specific service, and do not take on everything at once. For example, suggest lED tuning separately. Then nothing prevents from expanding, increasing the number of employees, and providing other services.

If you take on everything at once, there is a risk of getting a failed business, when even with the optimal number of clients, you will no longer cope with the work.

Let's consider some business ideas.

Chip tuning

HiP tuning is used for different purposes:

• Increased engine power... With this, the main thing is not to overdo it, because software work with the engine can lead to its wear. With the right approach, there will be an optimal increase in power, an improvement in acceleration dynamics.
• Trouble-shooting... Car owners, especially domestic ones, regularly observe the engine check signal that comes on. In this case, the device itself works normally. There can be a lot of such errors, so car owners often turn to this service.

For such a business, you will need a computer, adapters, a microcircuit programmer, the microcircuits and panels themselves, a firmware loader program and the firmware themselves.

Salon tuning

Tuning a salon is always promising... Not everyone wants to improve the performance of a car, but everyone wants to feel comfortable. In particular, this applies to covering the interior with leather, installing a powerful speaker system, improving sound insulation, vibration isolation, etc.

Interior improvement may be required for a car of any brand, any year of manufacture. Even if the car is new, the car owner may regret not taking advantage of some of the benefits of the improved equipment.

External tuning

External tuning is used for two purposes:

• Improving the appearance of the car;
• Improvement of running characteristics.

You can tune the exhaust system. This improves engine performance. Also, the cars are equipped with body kits - aerodynamic skirts that improve driving performance. For such tuning you need a guillotine, lathe, press, tools. But not everyone knows how to do such tuning.

Car owners also want to give the car a sportier look. To do this, spoilers are installed, headlights, bumpers are changed, new rims are installed, the sizes and shapes of the wings are changing - this list goes on for a long time.

LED installation

LED lighting is installed in the form of a strip or separate small lamps. It is installed on any part of the car, both inside and outside. Can be illuminated separately rims, install the lighting on the body pillars. If you have a controller, you can change the color of the backlight, its brightness and saturation. You can completely change the interior lighting and install LED.

This business is convenient because no special equipment required - just a basic set of tools, and most importantly - your knowledge and skills. Funds are needed only for the purchase of lighting. It is available on request, so organizing a business is also no problem. As for the premises, any garage will do.

Airbrushing

This can be done if you know how to do it or you know an excellent specialist. The service is in demand, you can even specialize in it at first.

To do airbrushing, you need to select a separate box, purchase equipment:

• compressor
• airbrush
• spray booth
• infrared drying

It is very important to have a good portfolio... If clients do not see examples of your work, they are unlikely to want to place an order. Therefore, practice on your car, the cars of your friends. Offer someone airbrushing for a nominal price.

Defining your niche

As already noted, at first, a narrow specialization is important in this business. But this is relevant not only for starting a business, but also for its functioning in a competitive environment. You can specialize in a specific car type or brand.

Selected brands

As an example, you can start tuning VAZ cars. It is popular in Russia everywhere and always. You can endlessly deal with the interior and bodywork - there will always be those who wish. Spare parts are quite cheap, produced in Togliatti, Lipetsk, Moscow and other cities.

You can tune certain foreign cars, for example, Subaru... Study the market, and if car owners in the city have a need for tuning cars of this brand, you can make a service and form a permanent customer base.

SUVs

You can also specialize in tuning a certain type of car, for example, SUVs. It is generally considered by many as a separate industry. For SUVs, you will need a room with a larger area and other tools than for a different type of car.

The wheel arches are widened, a snorkel is installed for unhindered movement on the water, a roof rack, etc.

Where to begin

The most important points when starting a business:

• Market analysis, choosing your niche... Talk to car enthusiasts, do your research, make a list of auto centers offering their services. Identify their shortcomings, note if all services are available.
• Defining your own specialization... If you choose, for example, a chip tuning business, move in this direction.
• Drawing up a business plan... It should reflect all costs, competitive advantages, development and promotion plan.
• Search for premises... Typically, a garage, a small hangar or a special building for an automotive tech center - depends on the type of business and the size.
• Parts Supplier Search... Experienced businessmen advise to find a maximum of 2-3 regular suppliers and work only with them.
• Staff... Find yourself a partner. It is advisable that this be an experienced foreman or an easily trained employee, in the case when you will take on the bulk of the work. Business does not require a large number people if you work in a room designed for 1-3 cars. In this case, 3 people is the maximum.
• Register a business... If you will be doing airbrushing, installing LEDs or painting on your own, it is enough to issue an IP. And if you perform body tuning and work with a large number of clients and staff, it is better to register a company, legal entity.

As for the payback and profitability of a business, it all depends on its type. The minimum start-up capital is in the case of lighting installation. It will take from 10 thousand rubles + room rental... There is no maximum value - it all depends on the cost of equipment, the need for preliminary purchase of spare parts. For tuning VAZ cars, you can purchase the most necessary things in advance. But for foreign cars it is better to work under the order.

Video: tuning cars

According to experts, every fifth car passes through the hands of tuning masters russian roads... The demand for this service is constantly growing, and the competition in the tuning business is low. And if we talk about business transparency, then only a few work under tax laws. Now is the time for enterprising people to start a hectic activity.

Styles and directions of tuning

There are several styles in tuning, focused on nationality. For example, Americans love the gangster-rapper bias. The Germans in the first place - comfort, the Japanese gravitate towards the racing genre. The Russians have not yet decided on the style, so all varieties are present in the domestic open spaces.

Styling and technical modernization prevail among the tuning directions.

Styling implies a visual transformation of the car. Exterior styling most often begins with the installation of rims. This simple procedure immediately improves the dynamics of the car, and the appearance becomes "catchy" and presentable. Further, bumpers, sills, lights and other body kit elements are subjected to reconstruction.

There are many nice things about interior styling. The leather upholstery has already become "boring". Now many people prefer a sporty design with imported seats and a small steering wheel. They also decorate the interior with special pedal pads, chrome and aluminum frames, stylish rubber mats, paint the interior with special paints, "stuff" with musical components and navigation systems.

Technical or chip tuning most often concerns the "heart" of the car - its engine. You can redo both the manual gearbox and braking system and suspension. "Flight of fantasy" completely depends on your desires and wallet, since the completion sometimes turns out to be much more expensive than cost the car itself.

Reputable foreign manufacturers have their own set of tuning operations offered by the factory program. It is covered by the manufacturer's warranty, but such an exclusive tuning is not cheap either. Feel the difference: A factory tuned Audi 4 costs over $ 100,000, while a regular model costs around $ 45,000.

Tuning by car type

Tuning of domestic products can be distinguished as a separate industry. It is noteworthy that mainly two categories of car enthusiasts resort to modernizing VAZs: children of wealthy parents who gave their offspring a car for "road experiments" and obsessed drivers for whom tuning is a hobby. Both have the spare money to turn the $ 8,000 model into a 15,000 one.

Finding tuning parts is not a problem. "Underground" conveyors in Togliatti, Lipetsk, Moscow provide parts for all those in need. Moreover, "gray" prices are 20 percent less than "white" percent. Just keep in mind that no one is responsible for the quality of "gray" products.

Tuning off-road vehicles is also beneficial. Anyone who dreams of making a monster out of his jeep is ready to pay a "round" amount. For example, the most popular operation - a suspension lift - costs from $ 5,000 to $ 7,000, equipping with a pair of electric winches will cost $ 850, installing differential locks - more than $ 1100, installing a snorkel for crossing water barriers - up to $ 900. The average tuning equipment of an SUV will pull 15-20 thousand "green", and the most "sophisticated" tunings "roll over" for 100 thousand.

Post-tuning service also costs a lot. Even the content russian UAZ will amount to more than $ 1000 per month, and the "lion's share" of the funds goes to the salaries of masters.

Owners of middle class foreign cars are also not averse to ennobling their car, but their tuning potential is somewhat less than that of SUVs.

Market entry

The entrance to the tuning market costs up to $ 100 thousand. The bulk of the money will go to the purchase of equipment: a guillotine, machine tools, a press and other trifles. You will need your own production site and professional craftsmen.

For knowledgeable people, mastering the wisdom of tuning is not difficult. Many domestic craftsmen use their own know-how in their work, and the efficiency and quality of such new products are sometimes higher than industrial designs. You can also install off-the-shelf equipment supplied by dealers. In any case, the customer, in addition to 100% payment for spare parts, will add another 50% to the final calculation amount for the work itself.

Many cars are tuned according to unique projects known only to direct specialists. Therefore, you are doomed to engage in servicing the machines you have handled before sending them to the landfill. This means that you will have work all the time. The annual turnover of a good-quality tuning studio can reach several hundred thousand dollars in dollars. After a year and a half of good work, you will return the funds you spent, and then you can spend the resulting profit at your discretion.

Prepared by editors: "Business GiD"
www.site

Lost in garages and car markets. You won't earn much here yet, but the prospects for this business are not bad: today every fifth car sold in Russia falls into the hands of tuning masters. The demand for their services is growing, despite the fact that fine-tuning the machine often greatly shortens its life.

Many-sided exclusive

Today, an increase in engine power is one of the main types of automotive tuning, in particular, this service is in great demand from the growing army of drag and street racers. In addition to tuning the engine itself, there are, as you know, chip tuning (increasing engine power by reconfiguring the control unit), as well as tuning the interior (leather upholstery, installing advanced "music", etc.) external tuning (various body kits - bumpers, mudguards, etc.), tuning the exhaust system, etc. One of the main impulses in this matter is the desire of car owners to join motorsport with a relatively small amount of blood or simply satisfy driver's ambitions: few can afford to have a device like Ferrari or Brabus - "heaped up" in the factory Mercedes. But the "cosmetic" exclusive is able to warm the soul of many motorists.
Alexander Belokopytov, director of the Tuning Point company:

In Russia, this market emerged three years ago out of nothing, it did not exist. After the movie "Fast and the Furious" interest in tuning has sharply increased, now this interest has become stable. But tuning is still a spontaneous market.

It is clear that, in theory, you can change anything in the car. And, according to dealers' data, every fifth car sold in Russia undergoes one or another tuning.

Daria Alekseeva, Development Director, URT-Tuning:

The motivation and style of owners of tuned cars depends on national characteristics... In the USA, for example, the gangster-rapper style prevails, in Japan - street racing or racing, in Germany the car owner primarily wants to improve comfort. It is interesting that in Russia there is no pronounced definite style, all of the above is present here in approximately equal proportions.

It is impossible to accurately determine the volume of the Russian tuning market, since most of it is in the shadows. According to experts, we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. The leaders of this market in terms of sales (specialization is not taken into account) include such companies as "Tuning Point", Pro-sport, "Tuning Territory", Altechno, Sport-mobile, Pit Lane, LD-Turbo, "Promaster", "Lit -design ", 4stars.

Car manufacturers have a wary or indifferent attitude towards third-party tuning. Manufacturers of expensive foreign cars offer customers a full-time, claiming exclusive tuning, provided by the factory program.

Vagif Bikulov, PR-manager of Audi-Russia:

The manufacturer has its own model lines with non-standard settings - increased engine power, leather interiors exclusive in color and quality, etc. These are cars of the factory, they are covered by a guarantee. The price of a factory-tuned car is obviously higher: if, for example, base model "four" Audi costs from $ 30 thousand (on average $ 45 thousand), then the price of the tuned version can exceed $ 100 thousand.

Official dealerships and dealers usually do not welcome the initiative of local tuning companies. What kind of exclusiveness, what technologies can you expect from those brought up in the Russian car industry? Squeaks in the leather-covered interior (factory hauling costs $ 1.5-7 thousand, "garage" - $ 500-700), out-of-order engines, etc.

Local tuning firms do not always warn the car owner that the same chip tuning leads to accelerated wear of the engine, suspension, other components and parts, increased requirements for oil grade and fuel quality. It is clear that an increase in engine power means additional costs for the manufacturer in a number of positions, while the car owner can limit himself only to reconfiguring the control unit, which, with a low quality of performance, will simply ruin the engine. For example, with increasing power audi engine only 20 liters. from. the cost of each connecting rod increases by $ 200, since it already has a different design.

Alexander Belokopytov:

It is possible to increase the power of the car by chip tuning by a maximum of 25-30% (in the case of turbo engines). This type of tuning is limited to reconfiguring the control unit; no other changes are made to either the engine or the chassis. Official dealers will not be able to detect the fact of software reconfiguration even if they want to, so the car will remain under warranty.

Interestingly, there is no regulation for "combat" cars. Theoretically, all fundamental changes in the car, affecting the braking system, control, must somehow agree with MADI or US. Help from there is quite inexpensive, but, according to many market participants, it is easier not to contact these institutions, but to solve problems with the traffic police on the spot. Note that the traffic cops still do not have serial devices that measure engine power, which many use.

Alexey Antonenko, General Director of "Super Tuning":

Nobody fixes the tuning increase in engine power. If you come from the street to the traffic police and ask - can I do this and that, then you will be told: "Of course you can not!" Therefore, no one goes there.

However, in some cases, the tuning change in engine power is still recorded (not to be confused with replacing one engine with another). The payment for capacity sometimes becomes too expensive (with a capacity of 300 forces, the tax will be 30 thousand rubles per year), and the owner of the car deliberately underestimates the number of "horses" under the hood, referring to some "ecological" or "economical" tuning, which allowed to reduce the power. Such paper "tuning" costs about 15 thousand rubles.

It should also be noted that the presence of "treadmills" at the traffic police allows car owners not to undergo a technical inspection, even though recently MOT should be recorded on a video camera. According to one expert, only half of all Moscow cars get into the camera lenses during technical inspection. It is clear that almost all charged "cars" with non-standard engines, brake and exhaust systems, etc. turn out to be among those who undergo MOT only on paper, more precisely on an inspection ticket.
Engine tuning is not yet very cost-effective, and this is one of the reasons why companies are in no hurry to legalize and combine a tuning car service with a regular one in their activities.
Sergei Blagoveshchensky: Today, you can probably earn something on tuning the engine, but this is hemorrhoids. A number of models have low tuning potential. For example, "Italians" are not tuned at all. Of the "Japanese" - ambitious toyota owners people want speed, people with Subaru want "everything to be rich", sometimes Nissan and Mazda are tuned. But you can earn more on a trivial car service than on tuning. If you, of course, are not engaged in tuning "Mercedes".

Of the sedans, the highest tuning potential is in Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi lancer Evolution, they are often bought as sports cars with an eye to tuning. In particular, the designers of the Lancer Evolution made it possible to boost the engine by increasing the pressure in the turbine. The drivetrain easily tolerates the increase in power to 450 hp. with., therefore only the clutch is replaced. There are a wide variety of Evolution engine boost kits produced by the famous.

The owners of other foreign cars use tuning less often. Some companies (for example, "Tuning Point") work with all foreign cars up to 10 years old popular in Russia ( Ford focus, Volkswagen passat, Mazda3, etc.). But this is a car for the middle class, and their tuning potential is small.

Daria Alekseeva: Buyers of Nissan and Citroen are not very solvent, that is, they buy a car either on credit or with their last money, they cannot afford deep tuning.

Not a single motor ...

Car interior companies have significantly fewer problems with determining the tuning potential. Not everyone wants or can become a racer, but very many want to cover the interior with leather and install AV electronics (including high-end ones), a GPS navigation system, improve noise and vibration isolation, etc., and in most cases it can be done without big problems (it is, of course, not about finances).

Sergey Volkov, Managing Director of the Ministry of Sound:

The tuning potential of most car brands, in which you need to install speakers, amplifiers, a subwoofer, home theater or office with navigation, is about the same. Most cars come to us for tuning. different brands... Both those that are under warranty and those that are already 30 years old come. We buy equipment from dealers, we do not contact directly with manufacturers. The installation cost is about 50% of the price of the equipment itself. Entering the market for such tuning will cost about $ 100,000.

As you know, it is possible to improve the dynamic properties of the car somewhat by changing the exhaust system, as well as by overlaying its body with a body kit (in particular, the so-called aerodynamic skirt). Homemade exhaust systems were used by 4stars, a company whose employees once participated in races. The know-how of the company is now in serious demand.

Evgeny Saveliev, CFO of 4stars:

With our exhaust system tuning technologies, engine power can be increased by 6-7 hp. from. Our workshop is located in the Moscow region. For such a manual production, it is necessary to have a guillotine, a press, a lathe and some small things, but most importantly - good working hands, which are now in an acute shortage. All this equipment is not cheap - $ 40-100 thousand.

We do not service individual racers, we work mainly with legal entities, racing teams, etc. ... Previously, similar exhaust systems were purchased in Finland, but the Finns in terms of price-quality ratio turned out to be far from ideal partners, and a similar production in Russia has good prospects. The share of marriage in our country is small - 1.5%. I know one Austrian tuning company - Remus, we cooperate with it from time to time, so their percentage is twice as much.

It should be noted here that the developments of domestic designers, in fact, are not protected in any way in terms of authorship and wander from company to company, and many inventions are blown away by the ubiquitous Chinese.

Daria Alekseeva:

Taking into account the peculiarities of the Russian legal culture, it makes no sense to patent your own know-how. Whatever tuning you do - yachts, helicopters, cars - people go to other companies, create their own business and use actually stolen technology. Should they add to the project cosmetic changes, and you will not prove anything in court.

In addition, it is difficult for specialists from Russian tuning companies to take into account all the nuances of the production of mass brands. Somehow one of these ateliers in Moscow received an order for 50 sets of exhaust systems for the popular Daewoo Lanos model currently being produced in Ukraine. The exhaust specialists rented this model for four days and made a tuning exhaust system for it. The manager of the atelier described this process as follows: the engineer puts the Lanos into the box, disassembles it, then stocks up on coffee, sandwiches and for three days does not get out of the garage, designing the system. The resulting author's product is released in the status of an experimental batch, then small-scale production is established.

One way or another, the order - an exhaust system in the amount of 50 sets - was sent to Ukraine. But it turned out that the Moscow Lanos model did not have air conditioning, and when installing the system on a car with it, problems arise - the air conditioning pump interferes. As a result, I had to look for owners of "unconditioned" Daewoo Lanos and offer products to them.

To engage in external tuning - bumpers, fenders, sills, you don't even need your own production area. The intermediary business is quite profitable here.
Kirill Anashkin, general director of Avtomednik + LLC: We sell several body kits per month. We order the body kits at the factory, then we send them for installation together with the car, try on, paint and install (the color, of course, is selected at the request of the customer). That is, we are largely intermediaries: body kits are made according to our templates (this is the company's know-how), our function is to accept an order from a client and negotiate with subcontractors. The factories themselves are not engaged in mass production of body kits, tuning as a business is not of interest to them, dealerships also do not always show interest in him (often due to the fact that they are bound by obligations in relation to manufacturers), so we are in demand. The cost of our services is about 20-25% of the price of the body kit, on average, a full body kit including anti-fenders, bumpers, and a skirt costs the customer $ 4 thousand. This private business can make money somewhere around $ 3-5 thousand a month, since the overhead costs with such labor organization is minimal.

If for products domestic auto industry a body kit made of "popular" fiberglass is also suitable, in the case of foreign cars, expensive ABS plastic is usually used. And since most of the "kit" business is underground, homemade fiberglass is often passed off as a branded product. At the same time, stores usually sell body kit items with a 45-50 percent markup. As in many other business areas, tuning firms that initially established themselves as suppliers of quality parts and services can eventually lower the bar - for example, switch to using Chinese components of dubious quality.

Internal division

Many experts segment tuning by car type and brand. So, AvtoVAZ products are usually distinguished into a separate segment.
Evgeny Savelyev: Why do many people buy products from the Russian car industry (sometimes for $ 600), and then do tuning? Or do they buy a VAZ G8 for $ 8,000, and then bring its value up to $ 15,000 as a result of tuning? After all, for this amount they could easily buy some Hyundai Accent or even something better.

The fact is that, as a rule, these people have money for a more serious car, they just want to remember their youth, drive, then crash a car somewhere in their gardens and make a photo session out of this adventure on the topic "How I spent summer".

Yuri Belozerov, manager of the Shcherbakov tuning store:

We are engaged in tuning "VAZs", and we have two main categories of buyers. The first one is the "kids" to whom the parents gave the first car (usually the VAZ-2110 and its modifications, the latest Kalina model is not in great demand) so that they break it. Another category is those for whom tuning is a hobby. Tuning spare parts that are sold in our store, we, at the request of the client, install here, in the auto center with our partners. About half of the spare parts we have are tuning, half are ordinary. The profitability of the business in terms of tuning is about 30%.

It is worth mentioning that the cheapest tuning parts for the VAZ model are produced in the Togliatti, Lipetsk and Moscow underground, they cost 20% less than those offered by the "white" tuning companies. For example, a bumper on a VAZ-2110 from a legal manufacturer costs 5.5-6 thousand rubles, and in the South port an analogue can be bought for 4 thousand. However, most likely, it will be a "licked" bumper and not blown in an aerodynamic pipe.

Tuning SUVs

Tuning off-road vehicles is also considered a separate industry by most experts.
Vladimir Aleksashin, director of business development at Trophy-Garage:

A serial car for us is only an intermediate option, a raw material for production real car... We build SUVs - this is what real Jeepers say, converting their cars into monsters. Equipment for an SUV tuning workshop costs the same as a set of equipment for a regular service.

At the start of the business, Vladimir and his partners invested about $ 40,000 in it. In particular, the lift cost $ 3,000, the leveling and reinforcement of the floor for its installation cost $ 2,000, and sets of professional keys and the necessary power tools were also purchased. The company rents the production area - 200 sq. m in the hangar.

Now in Moscow there are about 20 specialized ateliers that tune SUVs. Specialized clubs are also working in this field - "Club 4 x 4", "Nivovody", Off Road Wrangler Club, etc. As a rule, large services do not deal with such exclusive orders - there is too much non-standard work, each car needs an individual approach.

Most often, they remake "UAZs", 73rd and 80th Land Cruiser, Wrangler, that is, "non-partiers". One of the most common operations is a suspension lift ($ 5-7 thousand), which makes it possible to install wheels of a larger diameter (thus increasing the ground clearance). Expansion of wheel arches, installation of all kinds of protection (steering rods, engine crankcase, transmission units, cardan shafts), installation of a snorkel to overcome water obstacles ($ 650-900), a roof rack for a spare tire and things, power bumpers and sills are also in demand. Full tuning assumes the presence of differentials with locks in the axles (from $ 1100), a pair of electric winches (from $ 850), additional headlights and many other options, small and not so necessary for the driver and passengers on an extreme journey.

As a rule, only work on a serious upgrade of an SUV costs an average of $ 15-20 thousand (there is no upper bar - some people invest more than $ 100 thousand). Further maintenance is also not cheap: for example, a monthly maintenance of a tuned UAZ will cost about 40 thousand rubles, and most of this money is spent on paying tuners.

The turnover of an "off-road" tuning studio can reach several hundred thousand dollars a year (the total turnover of the capital's "jeep construction" market is about $ 20 million), while there is no intense competition in this market.

Vladimir Aleksashin:

All cars are built according to an individual project, only we know their features, so we serve cars for their entire life, from construction to disposal, in fact, like family doctors. And even if the owner sells the car, it usually stays with us anyway. The most difficult thing in our business is to earn trust, it takes time. Therefore, it is not easy to enter our business from the street even for an operating car service