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There are two
aspects to designing a vehicle.The appearance of a vehicle,
both exterior and interior and the engineering aspect.
The two can probably never be found in the same individual.
As has been pointed out, 'There are two kinds of designers,
one from NID with great conceptualising powers but limited
technological knowhow, the other from IDC who is technically
superior but creatively inept.'
According to NM Rupani, designer and owner of Land Escapes,
"No car in India has been designed indigenously."
For the most part, companies have in-house studios which
employ teams that specialise and work in particular areas
like only drawings, models and engineering. In contrast,
Italian houses like BMW, Fiat and Ferrari work from the
ground up -from conceptualising the design to arriving
at the finished product.
When it comes to the Indian market, Dilip Chhabria, a
redesigner of some repute, is of the opinion that "Telco
is the only company that has a capacity to design a car
in-house, though companies like Mahindra are also entering
the scene." Mostly, though, the capacity is unutilised.
With all the foreign collaborations and introductions
of tried and tested models, most companies prefer to go
in for a short cut to profits and not work on original
ideas. Dilip Chhabria is known in Mumbai circles for his
great designer cars. 50 cars to be precise, inclusive
of the red sports car in Yash Chopra's 'Dil to pagal hai'
and a Mahindra's car. Many of the celebrities get their
cars done from him. With a degree from Art Centre, Pasadena,
California, he is in this field due to his expertise in
handcrafting.
The Indian automobile scene can be explained best by Rupani:
"You can't reinvent the wheel, but most Indian designers
actually start by reinventing it." Every Indian car
manufacturer has in-house designers on payroll who, in
reality, may not have the talent or even the basic knowledge
of the car. There is a vast contrast between them and
their foreign counterparts, for international designers
enter the field because of their fierce love of cars and
driving.
Rupani gives a classic example: "Ferrari was a racer
who participated in races, using and breaking cars of
other makes. Later he started making cars correcting faults
he found in others."
According to him, in India it would seem that Telco is
the only company with international vision. Tata is the
only Indian company to have its two latest models 'Mint'
and 'Safari' on display at the Geneva car show and to
have met with success despite companies like Ferrari,
BMW and Suzuki competing for the European segment.
While it would seem apparent that originality in the Indian
market for automobile design is not at present as it should
be, an emerging trend is redesigning. Redesigning vehicles
is a whole new concept leaning towards what is called
'customising' or 'add-on'. "This is a whole new industry
and is catching on."
Automobile designing, it could safely be said, is not
for the faint-hearted. It's a delicate amalgamation of,
as Rupani puts it, form and function. So if you feel racy,
this is what you should be doing.
Qualities of a good
designer
Reputed designers
The courses
(IF YOU WANT
TO TAKE UP THIS PROFESSION)
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