Sumit Garg, MD and Co-Founder of Luxury Ride was born to a business family, the path to entrepreneurships was always given. He has completed engineering from RVCE engineering college and right after his college he founded KoiBhiCar.com in 2012, an online marketplace for pre-owned luxury cars. After a quick realization about the industry, Sumit shifted his business to an offline model and established Luxury Ride in 2015 along with his two friends.
Since its beginning, Luxury Ride has successfully served the industry of pre-owned luxury cars. The company aims to deliver the very best quality vehicles at the foremost competitive costs, all in an impeccable, truthful, relaxed and pressure-free atmosphere. With a courteous and friendly team of sales professionals, the brand is dedicated to provide the best in class service.
Luxuryride.in has a presence in 7 cities across north India – Delhi, Gurugram, Karnal, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Dehradun and Ludhiana. The showrooms are a mix of company owned and franchise operations. Primarily focuses on the price range of Rs. 12 lakhs to 2 crore which encompasses most premium luxury brands.
At Luxury Ride, Sumit oversees various departments and his prime focus is exponential expansion of Luxury Ride across India. He is also highly involved in the day-to-day functioning of the company in order to get the DNA right which can support the exponential business growth and create a strong foundation.
In an exclusive interaction with Motiverge, Sumit Garg, MD and Co-Founder of Luxury Ride shares more insights about the brand, journey so far, motivation and future plans.
Below are the excerpts from the interview:
Tell us more about Luxury Ride. What is your business model?
Luxury Ride is India’s largest & fastest growing multi-brand, pre-owned luxury car player. Established in the year 2015, it is the final shopping destination for the foremost exclusive and fascinating luxury cars. The company deals in best quality vehicles provided at the most competitive price. Luxury Ride comes up with 7 showrooms spread across north India – Delhi, Gurugram, Karnal, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Dehradun and Ludhiana. The showrooms are a mix of company owned and franchise operations. It primarily focuses on the price range of Rs.15 lacs to 1cr which encompasses most premium luxury brands like Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Volvo, Jaguar, Lexus, Mini, Cooper, Land Rover, Bentley and other exotic cars.
What factors influenced or motivated you to start a business in the industry of pre-owned cars?
Everything started with my passion for luxurious cars since my childhood. After completing my engineering when I entered the industry to fulfill my passion, I realized that luxurious cars came with heavy financial obligations. Many who aspired to buy luxury cars were unable to fulfill their dream due to the cost always exceeding their budget. The youth formed the bulk of this population. Though their disposable income and buying capacity have been improving over the years, still buying a first hand luxury car was beyond their limits. They could only afford to purchase an economical car with their hard earned money.
Hence, to counter this issue we came up with Luxury Ride, a certified pre-owned luxury car aggregator offering quality, authentic, exclusive luxury cars at the most competitive prices. People who wish to own a luxurious car but have the budget of first hand economical cars can opt for pre-owned luxurious cars without having to spend an extra penny out of their pocket.
What were the first few steps during and after the launch of Luxury Ride?
The steps that we took before coming to the market were; Analyzing the market, Studying the geography (Delhi), Managing the Funds, Marketing to reach the client, Branding. After the launch of Luxury Ride the main processes started as it involved a lot of planning, processes and execution of the services to kick start the business and take it to the highway!
Have you raised funds so far?
In the year 2015 Dhianu Das, a serial angel investor together with few HNIs invested in Luxury Ride.
Tell us about your motivation. What keeps you going?
My motivation has always been in my blood which is regresely working towards the business goals, taking to heights in the pre-owned market. The passion for cars keeps me going and Luxury Ride is the establishment of it.
How has your journey been so far?
The journey up till now has been a complete mix of highs and lows. It has been challenging, insightful and full of constructive experience at the same time. At the beginning I was clueless with respect to where to start from. It was difficult to get funding for the optimum capital to start the business. I remember one such incident where during the launch of the first showroom in Delhi, I had no cars to showcase in the showroom. That time I requested my monitors and investors to lend me cars to station it in my showroom.
Having passed the initial stage of setting up the business, soon the organizational and management challenges came to our notice. There was an acute need to regulate and manage the manpower, conduct staff training and strategize according to the objectives.
But the challenges never stopped us from achieving our goal. With the collective determination and persistent hard work of the team, we successfully launched the second flagship outlet in my hometown, Karnal which is the largest showroom in India in the pre-owned luxury car segment. It flaunts a 4 floor building while accommodating 50+ cars display capacity that is spread across 1 acre space. Over the years Luxury Ride successfully established its foothold in North India with the launch of 7 showrooms in the leading cities of New Delhi, Gurugram, Karnal, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Dheradun.
How big is your team? How did you manage your team & amp; business during COVID-19 outbreak?
We have a team of approx 200 employees. COVID- 19 outbreak hasn’t been good for any business in India. As an Entrepreneur my aim was not to stop from any obstacles and that is when we took our services online to our customers. We started sending pictures of the car to the buyer who is sitting in any place in India and after the confirmation we dispatched the car to his/ her location directly, this is how we did our business; without any physical contact with our customers. This builded the trust and faith within the consumers for Luxury Ride and they became the part of our LR family during the hard times.
Who are your major competitors presently? What is the USP of Luxury Ride that gives your business a competitive edge?
Our competitors are within us!
Luxury Ride incepted for the customer welfare strictly abides by the procurement policy to provide them with authentic, quality products. Before acquiring a vehicle, the team thoroughly conducts the inspection to meet the 151 check points and furthermore, procurement is carried out by various OEM sources to obtain niche pre-owned cars in brand new condition.
We are not a typical buying and selling company. At Luxury Ride we are focused on elevating the experience of the customers with our end-to-end assured quality products and services. We have diversified in all verticals meant for an integrated hassle free buying experience.
We have value for the customer’s money, hence, we offer a 15 days money back guarantee supported with a buying back option. We support them with premium financing options and also assist them in getting the best insurance deals, making their financing and insurance process easy. Moreover, we provide 1 year warranty on the pre-owned luxury cars along with 6 months warranty on engine and gearbox on cars purchased from Luxury Ride.
What are the business opportunities in the pre-owned luxury car and luxury car segment, especially in the APAC region? How do you see the market growth in the post-pandemic world?
Asia Pacific region is estimated to be the largest pre-owned car market owing to its rapid growing potential in the segment. With China accounting for more than 300 million registered vehicles, it is anticipated that in the coming years the country will have the world’s largest used vehicle inventory as China is adopting EVs and autonomous vehicles with alacrity. As a result, China will be selling the registered vehicles to the countries with lenient emission and safety norms.
Likewise, in India, the used car market is expected to grow at the rate of 15% in the coming five years. According to OLX, the pre-owned car market will reach USD 25 billion by 2023. This growth is being acutely attributed to the large population of tech savvy and resale value focused millennials in the country who have given the much desired push to the industry where the used cars sales have increased 1.3 times as compared to the purchase of the new cars.
Moreover, even the Government initiative like revision in Goods & Services Tax (GST) on used cars, reducing it to 12% – 18% from 28% – 43% is giving a boost to the industry. Consequently, with the implementation of the BS – VI era last year, the value proposition of used cars have grown even stronger as the new cars have become expensive.
Though the industry experienced glitches with the lockdowns imposed to contain COVID-19, with the process of unlock, the industry bounced back with invigorated intensity. The emergence of organized players in the pre-owned car industry in the developing countries are proving to be instrumental in driving the rapid growth of the sector. This well complemented with additional factors like increase in disposable income, rising demand for luxurious cars, shorter ownership periods, flourishing import and export, are perennially contributing in the expansion of the pre-owned luxury car industry.
Being a startup, what do you think is the biggest challenge in India? Please share your views on how the Indian Government is doing on supporting startups?
I believe India is a great market but is fragmented and that was the challenge that we faced in the initial stage but as the time is passing the mentality and thinking of audiences is changing.Though in the early stage of business every entrepreneur faces ups & downs and the same was faced by us too. The Indian Government has come up with BH series vehicle registration and due to this everyone will be on the same page in the market.
Where do you see yourself in the upcoming 3 to 5 years?
There are plans to diversify and expand the business in the years to come. We want to establish Luxury Ride as the leader with 360 degree solutions in the pre-owned car industry and make the presence felt PAN India. In the next 4-5 years we aim to come up with 50 new showrooms across the country.
Would you like to share any tips for buying a pre-owned luxury car?
As an individual invests his/her hard earned money while purchasing a pre-owned luxury car, they must make the purchase from a certified dealer. Though the price will be a bit higher than the one bought from the unauthorized dealers, there will be quality assurance. Moreover, buying from a pre-owned car dealer is backed up with warranties, certifications, buy back schemes, and a few days replacement guarantee.
Be very alert and thoroughly scrutinize the documents. Do a proper study of the car history, check the mileage numbers and scan through the paperworks. Conduct quality inspection and go for a test drive prior to the purchase to check for any possible issues or damages in the car.
What are your messages or leadership lessons for budding entrepreneurs and startup enthusiasts?
While venturing into the path of entrepreneurship, one might be very enthusiastic and determined to create difference with their unique idea but the journey may turn out to be full of challenges and hardships making them demotivated.
At such low points make sure to fall back on your passion, it will give you the much needed motivation and energy to come up with innovative solutions. Never forget your immense love for the subject that led you to enter the world of entrepreneurship. There is no substitute for hardwork and do not be stuck with your failures. Learn from your failures and move ahead with your work to be successful in life.
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