DC Design, the design firm headed by Dilip Chhabria, which is noted for its concept cars and prototypes, has tweaked its business model.
The company, that earlier modified cars for individuals, has shifted gear to reach out to a larger market. The focus is now on making customised kits for OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and some automakers through its tie-up with Jagdish Khattar’s Carnation Auto. ?We have shifted our strategy and are looking at reaching out to a wider audience. Last September onwards, we decided to scale up and make customised kits for a bigger market. The company is no longer preoccupied with creativity for the sake of creativity,? Chhabria said.
To start with DC Design has modified four car models?Toyota Innova, Maruti Suzuki Swift, Honda City and Tata Nano. The ace designer has been working on creating a redesigned version of the Nano sporting a price tag of Rs 1 crore in the next few months. This project was undertaken to showcase India in the global automotive design market. Alongside, the company has been working on making customised kits for Nano that would be priced between Rs 45,000 to Rs 80,000. The first 50 kits are under process and will be ready for delivery by the end of this month, he said.
Chhabria believes there is a huge market waiting to be tapped for such cars and there are around 4-5% those who want their cars to be different. By March-end 2010, the company plans to make around 200 customised kits across its four models and by the year end hopes to scale this up between 500 kits to 600 kits.
The kits will be made at the Chinchwad plant of DC Design. Innova’s fully customised kits will cost Rs 5 lakh while kits for the Swift, Honda City and the Nano would range between Rs 45,000 to Rs 80,000. The company has begun working on the new model of the Tata Winger and plans to offer customised kits for Rs 15 lakh to Rs 18 lakh. In the earlier model, the kits cost around Rs 27 lakh. Chhabria says the first offer for this model would be made to Carnations Auto. Carnations Auto currently has 15 outlets across the country.
Normally DC Design does car customisation projects in the range of Rs 50-80 lakh and some bigger projects range between Rs 30 lakh to Rs 4 crore, he said. Chhabria has designed some 2,000 cars till date and his company designs 60-80 cars every year. DC Design also launched its school of automobile designing, DYP-DC Centre for Automotive Research and Studies in Pune offering undergraduate and post graduate programs in automotive styling.