“Paid for Maserati, got lemon”: Billionaire Gautam Singhania keeps Rs 3.5 crore car in garage

PTI, Aug 19, 2023, 10:29 AM IST

Industrialist Gautam Singhania

In late-2021, Maserati bought its latest supercar, the MC20, to the country, offering Indians to own the mean machine that can do over 325 kilometres per hour. Industrialist Gautam Singhania has been one of the buyers, but instead of revving on the city roads, notorious for potholes and humps, the car has been cooling-off in the garage of his home in a tony south Mumbai locality.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a company event, Singhania, a car enthusiast, called it the “worst” car he has ever driven in his life and cautioned anybody thinking of driving it, calling it as dangerous.

“Frankly speaking, I paid for a Maserati but I got a lemon instead,” Singhania said, adding the company blamed the Indian road conditions for the football-like bouncing he has faced while on the wheels.

Singhania took to the microblogging website X to vent his ire two days ago and has asked the company to appoint an independent test driver to check on the safety of the model. However, the industrialist claimed that the Franco-Italian-American auto major Stellantis that owns the Maserati is refusing to even acknowledge the shortcomings. “I genuinely believe the Maserati MC20 is a dangerous car and somebody might kill himself in it,” Singhania tweeted, asking the Indian authorities and consumer courts to look into it.

Earlier in the day, he tweeted an independent opinion on the car which showed how bad the model is and added that the company refused because it is “scared of the result”.

In response to Singhania’s post, Maserati posted on X, “Hi there, It’s regretful to hear that you have had a negative experience. Our customers are our top priority here at Maserati. We would like to address any concerns you may have. Please send us a private message with more detail, so we can best assist you. Thank you. GC”.

Singhania was speaking to reporters while formally launching GS Design, a new subsidiary of the Super Car Club Garage that he runs as a personal venture out of passion.

When asked about the commercial potential of GS (Gautam Singhania) Design, he said within 10 days of the soft launch, he has 20 orders which is not a bad beginning at all. Without disclosing the investment going into the venture which is his personal money, he said it has been incremental and there will be no dearth of money for expansion.

“From 25-odd people, I had in Super Car Club Garage, I have over 250 now and given the number of orders I already have, it will go up,” he said.

He continued, “As against the 24-36 months that a European or American car design company takes to retrofit a vintage car, I can deliver the product within three months now. The objective is to do so in two months or even less. The Super Club Car Garage (SCCG) is an exclusive one-stop destination for supercars, super bikes and vintage cars, and its new initiative GS Design seeks to elevate the drive experience through customisation.”