[TusharK]

Aravind Automobiles has released a new copyrighted logo and a design sketch of the 2029 Aravind Concept One.



The Kerala-based company was set up in 1956 and built their first car for the King of Thiruvithamkoor, Sree Chithira Thirunal. It was called the Palace Special (History of Cars in India). However, the car never entered series production as the company was handed over to a cooperative of its workers following the death of the owner, A K Balakrishna Menon.



It is believed that the owner's grandson is now planning to revive the brand. The design sketch indicates that the company could be aiming to showcase the Concept One by the end of this decade. It is likely to be an electric vehicle.

The contemporary look of the concept car is a far cry from the Palace Special, which was hand-built by a small team of workers. It was based on a box chassis and had a Fiat engine.

Thanks to BHPian CrAzY dRiVeR for sharing this information with other enthusiasts!

[StarrySky]

A Malayalam YouTube channel recently featured the old Arvind car and interviewed with the grandson of the original owner. The plan to revive the brand as an EV was mentioned in the interview.

https://youtu.be/10w3NQdCUss

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[sramanat]

Best wishes to them. The logo though looks more of a liquor brand

[TrackDay]

This is news to me as well as I have never heard of them before. But one has to appreciate the efforts and will power to set up a car brand back in the day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN7Gsf6PHUc

This is from a YouTube channel called 'Aravind Automobiles' which I suppose must be theirs.

From their LinkedIn page

About us
Official page of Aravind Automobiles, founded in 1956 in Trivandrum, Kerala, less than a decade after independence by visionary late Mr. KAB Menon.

During its shortened life of just 15 years, AA would produce two private prototypes, including one for the maharaja of Tranvancore, and a third that would go onto become the most significant car in India, the Aravind Model 3. She answered the nation's call to build our first indigenous car to equip a swathe of the burgeoning population. They couldn't afford the Morris and Fiat duplicates made using imported dies and priced twice the Project requirement.

The Model 3 was the first ever car to be fully designed and built at home when few in the country had any idea about chassis, vehicle dynamics, fabrication or even seen calculators!

Over six decades later, the Menon family have decided that the time has come, again, for India to build its first true luxury automobile. It’s 2020, and we don’t have an indigenous luxury automotive brand, while the epitome of automotive luxury vie for space in the garages of our nation-builders. Therefore, inspired by Aravind Automobiles' legacy, we have resolved to reincarnate as India’s first performance luxury electric vehicle.

We have inherited a time machine; back to the future.

https://in.linkedin.com/company/arav...ion%2Dbuilders.

https://www.onmanorama.com/news/busi...in-kerala.html

Originally Posted by TusharK

Attachment 2136373

Here is what they have to say about the logo going by their Instagram Page

Stoic, dignified and enduring.

The three words distilled to define our efforts and pain, our heritage and culture, our spirit and future. We kept our origins close to our heart and found meaning in the Asian Elephant. An important animal all over India, and a close traditional pulse of the last warrior state of Kerala.

Be it a horse, a lion, a serpent or an imaginary dragon, nothing compares to the calm composure of the elephant nor the rage it can possess. He has the power to fell trees with his forehead and yet place a flower to your ears.

The font was influenced from Indian handicrafts and architecture, while keeping only a subtle connection to the future with the treatment of the repeated letter. Together with the intricate lines and the bevelled surface, the name carries more meaning than its sound when you say, "I drive an Aravind".

The origin-story is in the name of the city placed confidently above the year of birth. Trivandrum will soon be known across the world for yet another reason; building the car that shook the nation and took India's name to the 'Ring.

When the badge is personal, the car becomes family.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMsBLcrpDf3/

https://www.instagram.com/thefirstindiancar/?hl=en

[srishiva]

Nice to hear. Did not know about this. Hope they succeed in building a indigenous electric car and not go the fossil fuel way.

More than just the desire, it needs to top talent to build the car. It would be better if they join some startup enriching it with their heritage and brand image. Even then they need to have good amount of money.

[abnormalspirit]

Here is some pictures of our forgotten hero, currently restoration work in progress.









Source: https://https://www.facebook.com/gro...9272725022781/

[GTO]

Cute thought and I wish them all the best. But nostalgia & family history aren't enough to crack the car market in India, not even for once large organisations like Premier & HM. In comparison, Aravind Auto is a nobody. You need incredibly deep pockets or investors (hundreds of crores is just the entry price to the table), tech talent (Ather or Tesla), a few auto industry veterans on your roster and a heart made of A-grade steel that can take enormous amounts of stress.

Again, cute, but I won't hold my breath until I see something concrete. Electric vehicles have lowered the barrier to entry to the auto industry, yes, but only well-capitalised & supremely skilled newcomers will make it. Lest we forget, the established legacy brands aren't exactly holding back. In fact, they have doubled up on investments in future tech!

[fearless_IN]

IMHO, the logo and name of the company seem don't have any global vision to establish as a brand. Even today, Indians look for very fancy brand names to associate with. And this is very big reason to go viral. With Aravind Automobiles, the name looks typically local. If they are reviving the brand, they should look forward in a better way. More logical way of establishing the name and the logo. India is looking forward to make local for global.

[RoadMonkey]

Originally Posted by fearless_IN

IMHO, the logo and name of the company seem don't have any global vision to establish as a brand. Even today, Indians look for very fancy brand names to associate with. And this is very big reason to go viral. With Aravind Automobiles, the name looks typically local. If they are reviving the brand, they should look forward in a better way. More logical way of establishing the name and the logo. India is looking forward to make local for global.

The company is trying to revive what was. Besides, I understand if you don't like the current name but to disparage an entire category/nature of names seems extremely disrespectful. There's nothing wrong with choosing a more "Indian" name, it can grow to become a global brand like a Toyota or a Honda.

As for Indians looking to associate with "fancy" names, Hyundai and Kia (?) aren't particularly fancy or nice sounding, yet look at their success. And of course the most obvious example of this - Mahindra! They've carved out a niche for themselves.

What creates a brand is the quality of their products and what they have to offer. A desi name isn't supposed to automatically be inferior to more English sounding names. The fancier names like Volkswagen, Ford haven't exactly been doing well in India.

As for this specific brand, I guess ambitions should be to succeed at State level first. Nobody's aiming for global domination right from the get go.

[Dr.AD]

Wow! I had never heard of this Aravind brand before, and never knew such a car existed. Thanks to this thread for making us aware of this bit of history.

Originally Posted by fearless_IN

If they are reviving the brand, they should look forward in a better way. More logical way of establishing the name and the logo.

I am not commenting on whether this name is appropriate or not. But if you are suggesting that they start with a fresh name (for whatever reasons), then that is not the point of this anyways. All they have is this old brand name. It is not like they have some special technology or some other legacy with which they will start this business. They have nothing other than this brand name. The whole idea is to start with that brand name alone and try to build a business.

If they drop this name and take up something new, then that is as good as anyone else just starting a totally new car company from scratch.

[Adam]

Best wishes to them. Really do appreciate the people who made those cars back in day, cant imagine the hard work and effort put through to make that car possible.
But!! this history and nostalgia wont help much in building a car now from scratch, not only this require a huge financial support, also there need to be huge technological support. If they have pocket deep enough to outsource the technological aspects to firms like Magna and production to some other entity , they can do that too. But then comes the cost of production and making it profitable while competing with more established player, that is in whole another level.
I am not saying they cannot do it , but its something that isn't easy and the nostalgia is not going to help here.

[ObsessedByFIAT]

Sincerely wish them all the best and all the power to excel in what they step ahead to achieve!
More power to home grown products. In recent past our home grown products have lead by example and I would love to see the Aravind brand to follow the same foot steps.

Electric is the way to go for them. If they can bring in a product which can differentiate itself from others, they might get a head start. A good start would be to have a better range than what we already have in the market.

Currently Aravind does not have any brand recall. Maybe they can start with some strong marketing campaigns which can tug a string or two of the great people of this nation!

In any case, go full guns! All the best!

[Nithesh_M]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Aravind Automobiles has released a new copyrighted logo and a design sketch of the 2029 Aravind Concept One.

Attachment 2136373

Can't help but feel they went emulating Porsche there with that logo. But nonetheless I wish them nothing but the best. Its always been something of my dream growing up but realized its not something I can invest my time and future on personally. The red tapes are dime a dozen. I'm just amazed at Ather and the others managing whatever they are right now(investors help ofcourse) but 10 years ago its impossible to dream, let alone 55 years ago.

[landcruiser123]

I just hope this company doesn’t end up like another DC.