NEW DELHI: India's largest refiner and fuel retailer Indian Oil is expanding its portfolio of co-branded lubricants under the Servo tag as leading automakers change their sales pitch by aggressively pushing extended warranty.

In its latest endeavour, the state-run company has tied up with Tata Motors, one of the largest diesel vehicle makers in the country, to jointly launch a range of high-performance co-branded diesel engine oils for commercial vehicles from the Tata stable.

Co-branding ensures a captive consumer for Servo in the highly competitive domestic lubricants market, where scores of big and small players -- both international and domestic - are jostling for shelf space. Servo controls nearly 20% of the retail lubricants market in the country which is dominated by BP's Castrol. In the industrial lubes segment, Servo holds sway over nearly 38% of the market.

"The market has changed and every automaker is offering extended warranty. Indeed, they are pushing extended warranty of 3-5 years rather aggressively. This means this means that all servicing during this period is done at authorised service stations. Co-branding assures quality and meets the particular need of manufacturers," IndianOil executive director (branding and communications) Indrajit Bose told ToI.

For example, the co-branded lubricant for Tata Motors has been customised to meet the technical requirements of the automaker's commercial engines and typical driving patterns. The lube is formulated to "maximize the performance of Tata vehicles, keep the engine clean, reduce oil thickening and smoke emissions besides controlling oil consumption," IndianOil said in a statement.

Sales of Tata Motors' medium and heavy commercial vehicles rose 28% to 72,157 units in the first half of this year. Its passenger car sales too jumped 27% during this period.

According to K L Murthy, IndianOil's executive director (lubes), co-branding is the culmination of the joint efforts by both the companies to offer world-class diesel engine oils for their customers. The Tata co-branded lubricant is compatible with "exhaust gas recirculation" technology deployed in Tata vehicles and conform to several international performance standards.

IndianOil already has co-branding with Maruti, India's largest carmaker, Mahindra and Hyndai in passenger car segment and Ashok Leyland in the heavy and commercial vehicle segment.

With over 1,000 commercial grades and more than 1,500 formulations encompassing every conceivable application, Servo serves as a one-stop shop for complete lubrication solutions in the automotive, industrial and marine segments. Servo is backed by IndianOil's world-class research facilities and an extensive blending and distribution network.