space in the luxury car segment which is growing rapidly

NEW DELHI: With a passion for cars and a family that has been the automotive dealers since the last 45 years, Rishab Bafna seemed destined to make a career in the car segment. But when the family moved out of the car retail business in 2007, he did not realize that he would return so quickly in the automotive segment.

One segment of the automotive fast maturing in India is the luxury car market. Some say that the Indian automotive market to the point that the US auto industry in the 1980s. Maybe that's why the encouragement of the founder of the multi-brand car repair shop chain in the US, Rishabh Bafna sure to make a similar effort here in India.

Thus, in 2013, a 29-year-old investment banker in the US, decided to return to India and start Karworx, car service center multi-brand, which is focused on the luxury car service.

Operation

We are all familiar with the multi-brand car service format made famous by Carnation, an entrepreneurial venture by Jagdish Khattar, one of the most famous names in the Indian automobile industry.

With Karworx, it is clear that efforts must be different if it had to make Mindspace for himself. Look deeper, and more often than not, you will be able to find the white space in every business to fill. Particularly in sectors that have the potential right, in the emerging countries. Rishab see that the white space in the luxury car segment that is growing rapidly.

Today, specializes in the servicing and maintenance of high-end luxury cars in Mumbai and Aurangabad. "We have served 3 or 4 Astons Martins, Porsche, Range Rovers and Jaguars usual. And if you're talking about Mercedes or BMW, we have three or four of them at any point in time," said Rishab.

Another value add that Karworx claiming to give a day of service to even the high-end cars that sometimes can be 2 to 3 days at the dealership. "We also look to deliver the same quality work in less time," said Rishab.

For quality, Karworx has tied up with Valvoline, a known name in the automotive oils and lubricants. Valvoline provide Karworx with strategic assistance in a period of training, software and marketing. "Being present in almost all parts of the world for many years, they already have all the information to pass on the knowhow of how to maintain and service high-end," tells employers.

Although focusing primarily on luxury cars, car servicing Karworx also to the mass market, a segment that says Rishab difficult to market due to the lack of a strong selling point.

Incident

It all started with a meeting with Donald Smith, founder of the multi-brand workshops in the US, which currently has nearly 250 stores in a seminar at Babson College in Boston, where he did an MBA

When discussing the idea with Smith that finds many similarities in the Indian automobile industry then and the one that exists in the US in 1980, especially for luxury cars. Many brands, such as Germany, had just entered the US and people want the option to service their cars when the cars aged three to four years. And all that was available was either a dealer or repair shop by the roadside.

"He is so confident about the prospects of this idea in India that he offered to put his money and said that he was prepared to fund half of the venture," said Rishabh. "The conviction of an industry expert is enough for me to take the risk."

But the risk does not occur immediately. Post MBA, he worked as an investment banker in the US for about 11 months. "It is my time working on my idea and I also do market research. I came back in 2012 to establish Karworx.

his ambitious expansion plan, he said that they are on the lookout for funding and should be able to close a deal in the first half of the year. At the moment, we are funding it ourselves. Karworx last fiscal made a revenue of Rs 2.5 crore.

"We want to move from one region to another. To begin with we are focussing on Western region as we don't want to spread ourselves too thin too soon," said the founder. "Once we have covered the west, we will then move to south starting from Bangalore."

Giving a little insight on the thought process behind the expansion, Rishab said, "We have decided to stay in the west till the time we have good 4 to 5 workshops in this region.

Rishab said that the tier-2 cities contribute equally to his business as the metros, as a lot of the high-end cars get re-sold in smaller cities. "There is still so much opportunity in cities like Pune, Kolahpur, Surat, Nasik which are second tier cities, but have a lot of fancy cars and the only option available for servicing are the expensive dealerships."

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