After German luxury and sports car makers, it is the turn of British (oops, sorry now owned by German BMW) super luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce Motor Cars to source design and R&D services from India.
“Rolls Royce would look at the option of outsourcing some of the designing, proto-typing and R&D to our parent BMW’s R&D centre to be set up in India. This will help us in achieving a high degree of customisation of our cars to Indian conditions, without compromising on the quality.” said Colin Kelly, Regional Director, Asia Pacific, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. In India to inaugurate Roll Royce’s first dealership in Mumbai, Kelly denied any plans to manufacture or assemble units in India.
Earlier, sold through Navnit Motors’s BMW dealership, Britain’s most luxurious car, the Rolls-Royce has sold well in India, seven Phantom saloons with a Rs. 3.5-crore price tag, going within the last 18 months. Impressed with India’s consumer market, its parent company – BMW is investing Rs. 110-crore (Euro 20-million) to build an assembly unit near Chennai, as well as, a wholly-owned sales subsidiary in Delhi, including setting up an R&D-cum-design centre in the country.
Initially, employing 200-300-people, BMW will create another 600-odd jobs through its dealership and sales network. Fully owning the production and sales subsidiary, the BMW Group’s first vehicle is expected to roll out by early 2007.
With such ‘shock ‘n awe’ news in the news everyday, it no longer comes as a surprise to see the world beat a steady path to the sub-continent. Indeed, it is a welcome change from when, lemming-like, they followed USA’s lead, rat-a-tat tatting on China’s door. A few years down the road and the stampeding sheep fall over each other, as they all come flocking to India’s shores.
Only a few years in China and they began to realise cut-rate wages did not get you high quality, only cheap ‘n tacky. They saw, those of them who had the foresight to off-shore / outsource to India, not only found the Indians cost effective, but they also found the talent and skills Chinese did not possess. Then too, the Indians spoke English, as a second if not their first language, and India as a democracy did not just pay lip service to the term, it was truly democratic and liberal, short supply commodities in China. Then again, Indian financial and commercial institutions had been around forever, and no one understood business better than the Indians, including the legal framework, a legacy from the British was more or less similar to their own.
So then, why did they all go to China before realising their mistake? Perhaps, the enigmatic stare of the inscrutable Chinaman ensnared and trapped them like so many prey in a hunter’s crosshairs! Well, no harm done! A lesson learnt late is better than a lesson never learnt! And, India holds no grudges!
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