Sakaal Times
Man who designs dream vehicles
08 Dec 2009 11:45,
Dilip Chhabria, head of DC Designs, has designed cars, vans and buses for a large number of celebrities and VVIPs including L K Advani, Bal Thackeray, Amitabh Bachchan, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Bhardwaj, Omar Abdullah and Narayan Rane. An alumnus of the US-based Art Center, he worked with General Motors at Detroit for four years and quit the secure job to start his own business of offering people exclusive and comfortable vehicles. Chhabria speaks to Camil Parkhe about blending his passion for cars with people’s desire for changes
Why did you give up a job in a world automobile giant and return to India to start your own business?I wanted to start car designing business. Basically, I am car crazy. I have an obsession, passion for cars. People want a change, something new, something different from others. I wanted to give them a vehicle of their dreams, either totally exclusive or having additional facilities. I said to myself, If I could do that, I will survive. While giving up my US job, I did not worry about financial security. I told myself that I have nothing to lose. I could take a job and start afresh if this venture is failed. That was in 1993. I had the courage to take the jump.How did you enter the car designing sector?In the beginning, Mahindra & Mahindra helped. They asked me to design Armada in 1993. Bal Thackeray was one of my first VVIP clients. The Shiv Sena supremo wanted a designed car to enable him to travel to different parts of the state. During the last 17 years, celebrities and VVIPs from different walks of life have approached me to design cars, buses to suit their requirements. After I designed a car for the Sena chief, the word about my car designing skills spread fast. The mouth publicity about my skill in car designing helped me get clients from various parts of the country.
Why do people opt for designed vehicles?
There are two reasons why a person may wish to have a designed car or any other vehicle. For exclusivity and for comfort. Some people may want their vehicles to be special, different from what others have and so they opt for car designing. Then there are others who seek more comfort and additional amenities in their vehicle and so go for a designed vehicle. What is your process in car designing?When a person approaches me for vehicle designing, first of all I want to know what the client exactly wants. I first find out whether the person is seeking exclusivity or comfort. Accordingly, I proceed with the task. Let me make it clear that we do not accept all demands made to us for vehicle designing. On an average, every day we get about 100 calls for vehicle designing and we do not accept all of them. We start the initial discussion on vehicle designing only if the project is exciting to us as well. The money earned in the project is not the sole criterion for accepting it. DC Designs has now become a brand because we are here not for money alone. How do you and your client arrive at a particular model of design?I normally have sittings with the clients to know their mind, to understand what exactly they want. However, in every case we make it clear that the design discretion will be totally ours and we assure the clients that out design will meet their requirement of exclusivity or comfort and that they will surely like the final result. And we have so far not disappointed any of our clients. On the other hand, in four to five per cent cases every year, we ourselves inform the clients that the designing project is complete as per the plans but we are not satisfied with the result and so we would like to take some more time to further modify the designing. The end result should be to our satisfaction as well. During the first meeting, we understand the client’s needs. Then we draw some sketches, modify or make changes and later prepare a master sketch and computer modelling. The first idea about the proposed car design always comes from me. The other staff in the company later come up with minute details, fill in the gaps. It takes three to four months and nearly 20,000 man-hours to complete a single vehicle designing project. The projects seeking comforts may cost in lakhs. So far, DC Designs has designed over 2,000 vehicles including 700 cars. We started the production unit in Chinchwad in 2005. Even now our headquarters is still in Mumbai. My son Bonny looks after marketing of our products.What are your impressions about your celebrity clients?I found Shiv Sena chief Thackeray a down-to-earth personality. I held him in awe as he was first VVIP client. He wanted a vehicle in which he could travel comfortably. Lalu Prasad Yadav impressed me as a very intelligent and witty person. I had six meetings with Shah Rukh Khan to finalise designing for his car. I have also enjoyed the experience of working with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Man who designs dream vehicles
08 Dec 2009 11:45,
Dilip Chhabria, head of DC Designs, has designed cars, vans and buses for a large number of celebrities and VVIPs including L K Advani, Bal Thackeray, Amitabh Bachchan, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Bhardwaj, Omar Abdullah and Narayan Rane. An alumnus of the US-based Art Center, he worked with General Motors at Detroit for four years and quit the secure job to start his own business of offering people exclusive and comfortable vehicles. Chhabria speaks to Camil Parkhe about blending his passion for cars with people’s desire for changes
Why did you give up a job in a world automobile giant and return to India to start your own business?I wanted to start car designing business. Basically, I am car crazy. I have an obsession, passion for cars. People want a change, something new, something different from others. I wanted to give them a vehicle of their dreams, either totally exclusive or having additional facilities. I said to myself, If I could do that, I will survive. While giving up my US job, I did not worry about financial security. I told myself that I have nothing to lose. I could take a job and start afresh if this venture is failed. That was in 1993. I had the courage to take the jump.How did you enter the car designing sector?In the beginning, Mahindra & Mahindra helped. They asked me to design Armada in 1993. Bal Thackeray was one of my first VVIP clients. The Shiv Sena supremo wanted a designed car to enable him to travel to different parts of the state. During the last 17 years, celebrities and VVIPs from different walks of life have approached me to design cars, buses to suit their requirements. After I designed a car for the Sena chief, the word about my car designing skills spread fast. The mouth publicity about my skill in car designing helped me get clients from various parts of the country.
Why do people opt for designed vehicles?
There are two reasons why a person may wish to have a designed car or any other vehicle. For exclusivity and for comfort. Some people may want their vehicles to be special, different from what others have and so they opt for car designing. Then there are others who seek more comfort and additional amenities in their vehicle and so go for a designed vehicle. What is your process in car designing?When a person approaches me for vehicle designing, first of all I want to know what the client exactly wants. I first find out whether the person is seeking exclusivity or comfort. Accordingly, I proceed with the task. Let me make it clear that we do not accept all demands made to us for vehicle designing. On an average, every day we get about 100 calls for vehicle designing and we do not accept all of them. We start the initial discussion on vehicle designing only if the project is exciting to us as well. The money earned in the project is not the sole criterion for accepting it. DC Designs has now become a brand because we are here not for money alone. How do you and your client arrive at a particular model of design?I normally have sittings with the clients to know their mind, to understand what exactly they want. However, in every case we make it clear that the design discretion will be totally ours and we assure the clients that out design will meet their requirement of exclusivity or comfort and that they will surely like the final result. And we have so far not disappointed any of our clients. On the other hand, in four to five per cent cases every year, we ourselves inform the clients that the designing project is complete as per the plans but we are not satisfied with the result and so we would like to take some more time to further modify the designing. The end result should be to our satisfaction as well. During the first meeting, we understand the client’s needs. Then we draw some sketches, modify or make changes and later prepare a master sketch and computer modelling. The first idea about the proposed car design always comes from me. The other staff in the company later come up with minute details, fill in the gaps. It takes three to four months and nearly 20,000 man-hours to complete a single vehicle designing project. The projects seeking comforts may cost in lakhs. So far, DC Designs has designed over 2,000 vehicles including 700 cars. We started the production unit in Chinchwad in 2005. Even now our headquarters is still in Mumbai. My son Bonny looks after marketing of our products.What are your impressions about your celebrity clients?I found Shiv Sena chief Thackeray a down-to-earth personality. I held him in awe as he was first VVIP client. He wanted a vehicle in which he could travel comfortably. Lalu Prasad Yadav impressed me as a very intelligent and witty person. I had six meetings with Shah Rukh Khan to finalise designing for his car. I have also enjoyed the experience of working with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
