TO fulfil the growing appetite for luxury cars in India, noted car designer Dilip Chhabria plans to launch his sports car range under his own DC brand. The newly-designed car S, positioned in the Rs 25-lakh price band, will be unveiled at the Auto Expo to grab attention of the niche customers for the first indigenouslydeveloped super luxury product. DC Designs (DCD) managing director and chief designer Dilip Chhabria said: “It all depends on the people’s response to the product. If the feedback is good, then there is a positive business case for the production of the car. We are aiming at a limited 300 units in the first year of the launch. We will homologate the product and launch it in the domestic and certain overseas markets and the project will entail an investment of Rs 60 crore.” The company plans to source critical parts like engines, transmission, suspension and the brake system from various global manufacturers. The company will develop the chassis, body frame and lighting indigenously apart from the design. “It will bear the DNA of a Ferrari and a Lamborghini with similar dynamic performance. It will zoom to 100 kmph in 3.7 second and will have a host of customised options for customers but will come with a price tag of around Rs 25 lakh. There is a big market for such luxury cars and huge opportunity to tap the potential,” Mr Chhabria added. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, the super luxury segment is the fastest-growing category in the country. Currently dominated by the German majors like Daimler, BMW and Skoda Auto, it grew at 26% to 4,922 units during April-November from 3,922 units last year. DCD will also unveil its most expensive concept car, the super luxury Ambierod — inspired from India’s oldest Ambassador with American Hotrods — at the Expo. The car, like the S sports, has been developed with 50,000 manhour inputs by the company. In the Rs 4-crore price range, the Ambierod carries an automated instrumental panel backed by satellite navigation system, rear vision camera, three LCD televisions, internet and videoconferencing-enabled flat bed and multicoloured mood lighting. It will be the first car in India having all these features in a single product. “We are bringing in the best of world features in the Ambierod, which is enriched with the 600 car designs we have produced. It’s a tribute to the great Ambassador in its golden year and we have blended complete digital controls in a retro car, something never showcased at the Indian Auto Expo,” Mr Chhabria added