In November 2019, Narain Karthikeyan, the primary ever Indian System 1 motive force and a standout determine on the planet of Indian motorsports, was once competing in Fuji, Japan, on the Tremendous GT x DTM Dream Race for the Honda-backed Moduko Nakajima Racing staff.
After successful the race, Narain idea he would come again to the staff and compete the next yr since he had every other yr left on his contract.
However rapid ahead a few months and the COVID-19 pandemic struck which ended in the whole lot getting close down, together with the possibility of racing in Japan the next season. Even supposing Narain would compete once more on the Asian Le Mans Sequence for Racing Group India in 2021, the pandemic brought about a protracted held want—to turn out to be an entrepreneur.
“The commute restrictions have been slightly tricky and racing got here to a untimely halt. What competing in high-level motorsports like System One has executed is assist me get hooked up with all the automobile ecosystem. And if I ever ventured into striking a trade in combination, it needed to be associated with vehicles,” Narain explains in a dialog with The Higher India.
For Narain, the focal point needed to be on inexpensive mobility because it was once the desire of the hour. As this 2020 KPMG file said, “With the desire for social distancing and hygiene, coupled with monetary constraints, customers are anticipated to choose inexpensive non-public mobility modes.”
“Reasonably priced mobility was once the desire of the hour. Subsidized through this imaginative and prescient, we began DriveX Mobility, a brand-agnostic mobility platform within the pre-owned two-wheeler class that caters to other wishes of the inexpensive mobility sector in India. Since founding it, we’ve constructed a strong tech platform and are almost definitely able to turn out to be marketplace leaders within the phase,” he says.
Included in April 2020, DriveX Mobility claims to supply “high quality refurbished two-wheelers to shoppers and permits them to shop for two-wheelers at cheap costs”. In August 2022, Indian two-wheeler massive TVS Motor Corporate received an important 48.27% stake within the pre-owned two-wheeler platform for a hefty INR 85.41 crore.
Elaborating on their resolution to shop for a stake in DriveX, Sudarshan Venu, Managing Director at TVS, stated in a press unencumber, “The pre-owned two-wheeler marketplace is in large part unorganised lately. Narain and his staff have constructed a singular platform that may scale up briefly. DriveX has a imaginative and prescient to convey a metamorphosis on this phase through construction believe, assurance, and transparency thru end-to-end, top of the range merchandise and buyer enjoy thru cutting edge answers.”
Using round 250 folks, handing over 2,500 gadgets a month (from 15 in August 2020) and obtaining exterior investment of about $11 million over two rounds, DriveX has risen in no time. Overdue remaining month, they even introduced the hole of 10 new dealerships throughout India.
Love for vehicles
Born and raised in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Narain grew up amidst individuals who percentage a singular love for vehicles. “There’s an enormous tradition of racing and rallying in Coimbatore. It’s a town the place engineering appears to be one of the crucial hallmarks. Numerous folks adjust their automobiles and that tradition nonetheless exists. So, I believe it was once herbal that rising up there I might find a pastime for automobiles and motorcycles. And my father GR Karthikeyan (a former Indian nationwide rally champion) extensively utilized to rally. That’s how I were given hooked onto vehicles, I assume,” he explains.
However did he ever envision turning into a certified race automotive motive force competing in System 1? As Narain explains, “The ambition was once at all times there. When I used to be round possibly 10 or 11 years previous, I stuck the computer virus. I began following System One at the moment. It was once slightly tricky to even view the races on TV as a result of we needed to get recorded tapes from my family members who lived within the United Kingdom. Those tapes can be despatched in a courier package deal.”
“Simplest after a month or so after the races, you have been in a position to observe them. It was once nice rising up with like-minded family and friends. So, at an excessively early level, I assumed possibly I may just turn out to be India’s first System One motive force. And that’s how the dream developed from there on,” he provides.
Suffice to mention, Narain fulfilled his dream. After shining in a sequence of global motorsport competitions within the overdue nineties and the early noughties just like the System Asia Championship, British System 3 Championship, System Nippon F3000 Championship and the Nissan Global Sequence, Narain made his F1 debut with the Jordan staff in 2005.
In his debut season, Narain completed his very best F1 end of fourth position on the 2005 United States Grand Prix. After competing for an extra seven seasons on the very best point of the game, Narain moved directly to other pastures and created a singular legacy for himself. For his achievements in motorsports, Narain was once awarded the Padma Shri in 2010.
Why promote pre-owned two wheelers best
In April 2020, Narain based DriveX along Christopher Sargunam. After a profession in race automotive using, why did he come to a decision to mission into pre-owned two-wheelers of all issues?
“As a trade, the chance for two-wheelers, particularly within the pre-owned house, may be very massive in India. It’s about one and a half of instances the scale of the brand new two-wheeler marketplace. However this pre-owned automobile two-wheeler house has in large part been transacted thru an unorganised dealer community. For patrons, we upload numerous worth to those pre-owned two-wheeler motorcycles. Those motorcycles changed into extra sustainable and environment friendly. We give shoppers in need of to buy a pre-owned automobile an enjoy of a brand new two-wheeler,” claims Narain.
“Now we have our refurbishing (refurb) factories. Now we have our contact issues, i.e. personal shops & broker shops. And the enjoy a buyer is going thru with us is lovely with reference to what she or he would have long past thru whilst purchasing a brand new motorbike. That’s the quantity of worth we’ve been in a position so as to add. Plus, we’re additionally giving our shoppers one-year guaranty carrier. So, the framework is constructed similar to a brand spanking new two-wheeler. That’s the idea at the back of this entire DriveX as a platform,” he provides.
However why now not four-wheelers then?
“Within the remaining 10 years, numerous virtual platforms have developed within the pre-owned four-wheeler marketplace. We took the suitable resolution to get into pre-owned two-wheelers or else we might were one among the 20 gamers promoting automobiles. On a private observe, my past love was once at all times motorcycles. However someplace down the road I were given extra fascinated with racing automobiles,” explains Narain.
Their trade fashion
DriveX resources pre-owned two-wheelers from C2B (buyer to trade) and B2B (trade to trade) channels. After sourcing, those pre-owned two-wheelers make their method to the startup’s in-house refurbishing factories in Hosur and Coimbatore.
“We refurbish those automobiles to the best quality requirements. We even have OEM (unique apparatus producers) strengthen from the likes of Bajaj, TVS and others with OES (unique apparatus provider) portions. After refurbishing those motorcycles, we now have these days 38 shops/contact issues/dealerships the place we retail those automobiles from,” he claims.
As Narain notes, there are numerous demanding situations when it comes to getting the suitable portions and providers.
“What has helped us a really perfect deal is the digitalisation of those spare portions. When a technician needs a undeniable spare section, she or he can scan for this product on a virtual platform we’ve built-in into our again administrative center. On the point one inspection itself, we all know precisely what portions to obtain and our just-in-time stock control gadget is helping us so much in attaining a snappy turnaround. After all, we’ve now not perfected this procedure but,” he says.
“We’re nonetheless one-and-a-half years previous as a mission. So, we stay evolving and the extra information that is available in, the simpler we can turn out to be. The cataloguing of those portions is an important a part of this mission or else the time taken to refurbish it’s excessive,” he provides.
No longer too way back, Narain claims that this procedure from sourcing to striking out those refurbished automobiles available in the market took about 90 days in keeping with automobile.
“These days, our turnaround time is ready 45 days and we’re evolving. We’re evolving as we get extra information and finetune our procedure. The objective is to additional scale back this turnaround time through half of. That is conceivable as a result of we now have a just right staff which additionally receives a little bit exterior assist. Now we have just right storage device. So, a lot of these parts are serving to us to get that TAT (turnaround time) even decrease. However, as said previous, it’s an excessively advanced process. Given our fee of growth, we must be capable to convey down the turnaround time each quarter,” he claims.
What has additionally helped Narain is his talent to leverage his just about 3 decade-long enjoy as a certified motorsport athlete into this trade.
“System One is a trade and a game as neatly. There are numerous parallels when it comes to getting the suitable staff to get the required effects. I’m extraordinarily glad to mention that we’ve put in combination an excessively robust staff who eats, breathes and sleeps two-wheelers; particularly. At our two refurbishing centres, as an example, we make use of north of 150-odd technicians. And, it’s (automobile trade) an excessively small neighborhood; you realize the folk available in the market. So, we have been briefly in a position to position a really perfect staff in combination. That’s what has pushed the trade,” he claims.
“It’s additionally about figuring out the processes. Those are pre-owned two wheelers that require servicing. As an example, you want to look if there’s carbon increase within the cylinder head. You want to look if the valves are seated correctly, the take hold of works correctly and so forth. We use the newest borescopes, because of this you don’t need to disassemble the engine to inspect whether or not it calls for any fixes, and this is helping us scale back the turnaround time,” he provides.
Having a look forward
So far, DriveX has been in a position to generate investment to the track of USD 11 million of their Seed and Sequence-A rounds in December 2021 and October 2022 respectively.
“Because the trade grows, we’d like extra capital after all. We wish to first perform a little extra growth pan-India after which confidently we can be in a miles more potent place to do a Sequence B spherical as neatly,” he claims.
Given a rising shift to electrical automobiles (EVs) in India, Narain believes that DriveX will ultimately pivot to pre-owned two-wheeler EVs. “However in India, the IC-engine marketplace goes to be round for a very long time, specifically in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns and cities. Those are aspirational folks and the marketplace continues to be going to be massive for ICE automobiles, particularly two-wheelers. It’s a attempted and confirmed era, and might be round for a very long time,” he says.
“So, we wish to stay striking out high quality merchandise. If we do this, we can be round for many years. The scale of the marketplace is $25 million in keeping with annum. There may be numerous scope to turn out to be an excessively massive platform and our entire focal point is in India,” he provides.
He additionally recognizes what a distinct problem this might be in comparison to his profession in motorsports. “I’ve been a certified athlete for many of my lifestyles, however this can be a totally other problem. I’m nonetheless some distance clear of being a a hit entrepreneur. As a virtual platform, we’ll proceed to adapt. However in the long run, striking those high quality automobiles at the highway will resolve our long term as DriveX. Now we have the whole lot there to make this a hit,” he says.
(Edited through Padmashree Pande; Pictures courtesy DriveX Mobility, Wikimedia Commons, X/Narain Karthikeyan)