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New Delhi, June 23 -- Is the glass half full? Or half empty?
Jagdish Khattar, 73, managing director of Carnation Auto, would have you believe it is the former. And if you indulge him a bit, Khattar goes on to painstakingly make the case, in a way only an irrepressible entrepreneur can, that Carnation is a "true" turnaround story, where, six years after starting out, the business has returned a profit, at an operating level, in the last quarter. For the first time (Khattar won't share the number).
There's more to this case.
That Carnation has finally figured out what it wants to be-a hybrid. It aims to become India's largest car inspection company plus manage a large network of franchisees, who will dabble in both used-car sales and service.
How many of them? 648 outlets in all. And growing.
"We have done in six years what others have taken over 12 years to do," says Khattar. "Carnation has turned around in record time. After many years of efforts by the team and continuous refinement, we have finally been able to establish the business model."
Perhaps.
But then, there's the part about the glass being half empty.
On 18 December 2007, Khattar quit Maruti Suzuki India Ltd after an eight-year stint as managing director. His tenure that saw Maruti establish itself as India's largest car company. In January 2008, he arrived on the entrepreneurial scene with Carnation Auto, with the idea of setting up multi-brand car dealerships (for new cars) and service outlets across the country. That never saw the light of day. Car makers baulked at the idea of sharing space under one roof.
In late 2008, Carnation did a pivot (start-up lingo for change in business model) and figured that its go-to-market strategy should be service-your friendly neighbourhood garage. Khattar raised money and invested heavily on setting up workshops across the country. But car manufacturers balked again and they restricted sale of spare parts in the open market. Carnation was caught unawares once again.
In 2009, in another pivot, Khattar figured that a viable business idea would be the selling of used cars, which, in turn, could become fodder for his idle facilities. So, an entire organization was created with purchase, inventory management,...