HE designs his fantasies and people drive them! Meet Rajiv Srihari, the man behind sophisticated yet fabulous cars in Coimbatore.
Enter his garage, KitUp Automotive at Puliyakulam, and you know he has a thing for neat yet catchy designs. And you are not surprised to hear he is a huge Mac fan.
“I started driving when I was three,” he winks and quickly adds, “My mother has preserved the bright coloured toy car as it was my first love.” He recalls that car styling has been his passion from a very young age.
“During my college days at PSG, I used to give my car a total makeover. Designs were mostly sketched by me. I still remember going to the stadium to get it done.” However, Rajiv left to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, to do his Masters in Industrial and Operations Engineering and graduated with the ‘Highest Praise’ honours. He took up the profession of business consultant and considered his life settled, but God had different plans for him. “Due to personal commitments I returned to India and started working here. I kept remodelling my cars as well as that of my kit and kin as a part-time hobby. Slowly I saw myself completely immersed in car modification. In 2005, KitUp automotive was born.” Rajiv says he was extremely careful while designing the logo of KitUp, “I wanted the logo itself to be stylish so that one would not peel off the stickers,” he quips.
Today KitUp has a growing clientele in around ten cities of South India including Bangalore and Chennai. Catering to a select group of high-end customers was a part of the company’s growth design, Rajiv reveals. “We do not want to compromise on quality or time. Hence the clients are requested to place an appointment before bringing in their cars.” Every car owner wants his/her car to be unique and at KitUp they can rest assure about that. “Designs are personally sketched by me. We do not fake or copy though I’ve seen many of our designs been lifted by smaller firms.” At the garage a yellow Nano is getting decked up and he says customising small cars is an emerging fad. “People are ready to spend double or triple the amount of the car just to make heads turn.” From Maruthi 800 to Mercedes, he has done it all. “In stylising new car lies the thrill,” he gleams and signs off.