DC Design to tie-up with top OEMs to make designer cars

Close on the heels of designing the longest stretched limousine in Gujarat christened 'Celebz' for Ahmedabad-based Yogi Auto Care, Dilip Chhabria, founder of DC Design has entered into a joint venture agreement with a leading Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to make limited edition designer cars.

This is a first of its kind venture for DC Design which has done customised projects for automobile majors in India and abroad.

DC Design has been working on prototype designs of the proposed car and the first car will be presented to the OEM during the first week of November. Speaking on the proposed venture, Chhabria said there were plans to manufacture around 500 units in all with DC Design rolling out 30-40 cars a month.

Declining to give details on the specifications of the car, Chhabria said that it would be priced around Rs 4-5 lakh per unit. The car would be joint researched and developed at the OEM's design facility as well as DC Design's facility at Pune.

DC Design has converted around 2000 cars since its inception five years ago of which 600 where original automobile designs.

About 30 per cent of the company's revenues comes from foreign orders which is expected to rise up to 70 per cent in the next two years. The company has modified most of the top-end cars including Porsches, Mercedes Benzs, Rolls Royces among others.

About 30 per cent of its revenues come from consulting projects. Chhabria has also been looking at the private jet segment for sometime now for which a marketing team could be assembled in the next six months

'Celebz', the limousine costs around Rs 50 lakh and will be available on rent of Rs 20,000 per day targeting marriage processions, corporates and celebrity events, said Shashin Shah, MD, Yogo Auto Care. He added that based on the response to the car, the company is planning to induct another DC Design modified car especially for the marriage segment in the next two years.

In recent times, the company claims to have received a significant number of orders to modify luxury cars from Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Chhabria revealed that he has been working with top Hindi film actors and had bagged an order from a top-ranked Hollywood film actor.

The company has just forayed into the designer furniture business by showcasing its products at the Index International Furniture Fair 2007 this month in Mumbai. The furniture is designed at the company's facility at Pune but Chhabria said that the business might be hived off as a separate division after it takes off.

Also, Chhabria's proposed automobile design school is likely to start operations from August 2009 for which the company has signed up with two Italian Institutes for academic support.