An Innovation Called Carnation

Carnation is a concept of first of its kind in India where cars from multiple brands are sold under one roof. It is a one-stop-shop for buying branded spare parts and getting car serviced by trained and experienced mechanics.

The Carnation is the brain child of Jagdish Khattar the former Managing Director of Maruti Udyog Limited. At present he is serving as the vice-president of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Carnation Auto India is a new experiment in the Indian car industry. It is established to create a nationwide network of multi-brand outlets which will trade in new and used cars, as well as spares and accessories, offer service, insurance and finance all under one roof. Carnation Auto is modeled on third-party formats as in the West and many European countries. In the third-party formats, the third-party chains occupy one-third of the after-sales-service market with the rest divided between authorised dealerships and neighbourhood workshops.

In India half the people do not visit the dealer workshop after their car warranty expires. They go to their neighbourhood workshops, which are in general technologically ill-equipped.

Carnation Auto India was inaugurated in June and has ten company-owned outlets across India along with six joint ventures with local players in different states. With a multi-brand model, dealers will be able to attract a larger pool of car owners and a bouquet of services means better revenues for them.

In the past, MyTVS from the TVS Group, Mahindra FirstChoice and Reliance AutoZone have come up with such concept or business. But they didn't move to an undertaking of national level.

The former Managing Director of Maruti Udyog Limited is concentrating on increasing the network of the business before launching all services as scale is an important issue in this business. Moreover, partnerships are also important to deliver on the multi-brand one-stop-shop. Big names in automotive industry like the Bridgestone, JK Tyres, ExxonMobil and Castrol have joined hands with Carnation.

Carnation Auto India is sponsored by Premji Invest and IFCI Ventures apart from Khattar's own contribution. Premji Invest funded a substantial amount of Rs 80 Crore and IFCI Ventures financed Rs 28 Crore. Khattar is now finalising a loan of Rs 170-crore from a bank for smooth business operation. The Carnation Auto India will venture into twenty more cities.Irrespective of the brand of car you own, Carnation Auto India promises to give you solution to all your car problems.