Chennai jeweller to drive into auto biz with glitzy Avanti

Kiran Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, Lalithaa Jewellery confirmed to DT Next that he is now a majority shareholder of DC Design, having picked up its stocks and liabilities. “The process began over a month ago. I am happy to tell you I am the major shareholder of the company,” he said.

DC Design is now run by the internationally acclaimed automobile industry icon, Dilip Chhabria along with Kiran Kumar. While the hugely successful Lalithaa Jewellery is a brand to be proud of, the stake in DC Design changes his profile and puts him in the fast lane with leading car makers. It all began three years ago, when Kiran went to DC to buy a car, and met its owner Dilip Chhabria. “One talk led to another and I soon picked up a 17 % stake in his company, and when he spoke of running at a loss, I offered to pick up the majority stake,” he added. 

And Kiran is not cruising in second gear, but is revving up business plans on a global scale. He is set to enter the UK market and is putting up a manufacturing unit there by this year end. “Plans are on to roll-out the first car from UK by this year end,” he said.

After Tatas, he is the second Indian to enter the UK auto industry. The Tata Group bought over Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) from Ford in 2008 and turned it around into a hugely successful enterprise, breaking sales records almost year-on-year. Like the Tatas’ who had pumped in millions into JLR, Kiran Kumar too plans to pump in crores of rupees into the company.

Kiran plans to retain the unique lines of the designer cars in variants such as the Avanti. He also plans to diversify the product base. “Apart from the sports car, I will be introducing a SUV and a sedan as well,” said Kiran. His future plans include entering the electric car segment, like USA’s Tesla Motors. And going by his track record, this self-made man will rewrite a number of business records.