Interview: Mr Sumit Garg, MD & Co-Founder of Luxury Ride

Interview with Mr Sumit Garg, MD & Co-Founder of Luxury Ride

Sumit Garg is the Managing Director and Co- Founder of Luxury Ride, a final shopping destination for the foremost exclusive and fascinating pre-owned luxury cars.

Sumit 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.

Tell us a little about yourself

Sumit Garg: Currently, I serve the position of MD and Co-Founder at Luxury Ride, a final shopping destination for the foremost exclusive and fascinating pre-owned luxury cars.

Born to a business family, entrepreneurship came naturally to me. Hence, after completing engineering from RVCE, I went on to establish KoiBhiCar.com, an online marketplace for pre-owned luxury cars in 2012 right after my graduation.

Working in the industry for some time, I realized the loopholes in the pre-owned luxury car segment and co-founded Luxury Ride in 2015 to offer end-to-end solutions in the segment. 

Please tell us a little about your entrepreneurial journey, how everything started – the idea behind this concept; Pre- Owned Luxury Cars and what triggered you to enter the used car segment?

Sumit Garg: My passion for luxury cars since childhood led me to embark on the entrepreneurial journey. This fascination continued throughout my schooling to engineering days.

As a result, after completing my graduation, without a doubt I chose to pursue my passion. On entering the industry, I soon realized that luxury cars were quite expensive and people who aspired it were unable to fulfill their desire.

Even though disposable income and purchasing power have been improving over the years, people still were unable to buy a first-hand premium car.

To address this problem, Luxury Ride was born to provide customers with quality, authentic, exclusive pre-owned luxury cars at the most economical price.

It was incepted as a certified pre-owned luxury car aggregator for providing end-to-end solutions for guiding customers throughout the purchasing process to help them get the car of their desire. 

Kindly brief us about Luxury Ride, its specialization, and the services that it offers

Sumit Garg: Luxury Ride is the final shopping destination for certified pre-owned luxury cars offering the best quality vehicles at the most competitive price.

Our inventory comes with the foremost exclusive and opulent cars such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Volvo, Jaguar, Lexus, Mini, Cooper, Land Rover, Bentley, and other exotic cars.

The cars in the inventory are procured after a thorough examination to provide 100% certified cars. It undergoes extensive inspection through 151 checkpoints to ensure the highest quality of the car.

Keeping customer experience at the core of our existence, we offer 15-day money-back guarantee, along with warranties, and after sales services.

For a hassle-free experience, the purchase is well supported with easy financing and insurance options along with an in-house service centre to elevate the overall experience of the customers.

Tell us about your expansion plans? Currently how many outlets are there of Luxury Ride and what is your aim?

Sumit Garg: We aspire to create a resilient pre-owned luxury car ecosystem with the help of robust technological integration.

Already operating in an omnichannel model, we continually strive to enhance our digital offering for escalating the overall customer experience.

At Luxury Ride, everyone works towards a unified goal of giving the best to the customers by offering breakthrough products and services.

What are your future plans for Luxury Ride? Where is the roadmap of Luxury Ride going forward?

Sumit Garg: We want to make Luxury Ride an integrated platform, offering 360-degree pre-owned luxury car solutions.

Creating a robust PAN India presence, we are focused on diversifying our collection by adding more opulent luxury cars to the inventory.

At the same time, there are also plans to strengthen our after-sales services for taking care of the end-to-end needs of the customers.

What were the challenges and impact that the business faced during the COVID and has that affected your sales?

Sumit Garg: Surely like any other industry even Luxury Ride had to face the repercussions of the pandemic. During the initial days, the market was affected but with time we adapted to the new normal and catered to the needs of our customers with our digital services.

Over time, considering the volatile market conditions, the pre-owned luxury car segment gained a lot of traction from consumers.

Owing to the financial instability, the masses had become frugal with their spending which worked in favor of the pre-owned luxury car industry.

In order to spend the money wisely, more and more people wisely opted for pre-owned luxury cars that offered value for money.

How is the market post covid, has the situation changed in the sense of increase or decrease in demand?

Sumit Garg: Even after COVID, the market was quite promising for the pre-owned luxury car industry. Though the restrictions were revoked by the government, the automobile market was still under the shadows of dampened manufacturing activity and semiconductor chip shortage translating into a long waiting period for cars.

Looking at the situation, consumers flocked to the pre-owned luxury car industry that offered a fair bargain with advanced features giving the most premium driving experience at the most economical price.

It was a win-win situation for the consumers seeking to make a statement with their sleek car roaring down the road without having to overboard with their budget.  

What was the inspiration behind turning an entrepreneur

Sumit Garg: Being an avid luxury car lover, I never realized when the passion turned into my profession. My love for cars paved the path ahead for venturing into the entrepreneurial journey.

Coming with extensive knowledge in the segment, I channelized my enthusiasm to create an ecosystem for easy buying and selling of pre-owned luxury cars.

The passion that I had nurtured since childhood helped in expanding my aspirations and acted as motivation to diversify the services aimed at creating an end-to-end customer experience. 

9. What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?

Sumit Garg: According to me, more than failure I consider it to be something that did not work as per the expectation.

Life is full of experiences and such situations are learning that makes a person wise. It is more of a challenge that shapes the overall experience of the person.

In the entrepreneurial journey, one is bound to come across various problems. Recounting one of my experiences, during the launch of my first showroom I did not have any car to showcase at the showroom.

At that time, I requested the investors and my mentors to lend me cars just to station them at the showroom.

But given to hard work, persistence, and dedication, we have come a long way where we are successfully expanding our business and leaving our mark in the industry with breakthrough work. 

What is your success tips for young and aspiring entrepreneurs

Sumit Garg: For all the budding entrepreneurs, I wish them good luck and success in their endeavors. A simple piece of advice to stay motivated is to keep the passion close to the heart.

The entrepreneurial journey is not easy and is filled with a lot of low points. At such times, it is the passion that helps cope with the feelings of dejection and gives the strength to fight for the dream.

It acts as a powerhouse to keep the spirits high and sail successfully through all the torments leading the path to the ultimate goal.

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