Running machinery

From car spare parts to running shoes, it's been a rollercoaster ride.

They are known to have introduced northern India to luxury cars. But now the British Motor Car Company (BMC) is playing an active role in the country's fitness movement.

Until last year, a large part of a partly-owned block in Delhi's Connaught Place (CP) housed cars from the General Motors entourage. That has now been replaced by an entire range of sportswear from Adidas.

The block itself belongs to one of Delhi's oldest enterprises "" British Motor Car Company "" that set up shop in 1934, the same year that CP was established, and has since been associated with cars.

"Earlier cars meant an Ambassador, Fiat or Jeep, which had a lot of wear and tear and that meant business for us. So, we had huge sales and huge margins," recalls Rajendra Kapoor, GM, marketing and one of the company's oldest employees.

But growing competition meant that the company had to shift gears and in 1994 they acquired the franchise for General Motors, starting with Opel and moving on to Chevrolet.

For years visitors to CP would turn round the corner on outer circle to be greeted by a slew of shining machines waiting to be revved up. Last year, that changed. In what could possibly be one of the most dynamic enterprises from the days of the Raj, BMC gave up its car franchise to make way for the newly acquired Adidas franchise.

"We were not getting enough returns from the car business and gave it up. Since then, the business has picked up," reveals Kapoor.

Despite the good business now, it is memories of the old days that bring a smile to Kapoor's face. Having spent almost 30 years here, he admits to missing the days when the interaction between the employees and customers was so friendly that some even call them today for advice.