SIAM’s Styling & Design Conclave urges students to take up auto design as a career

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) today organised the 10^th Styling & Design Conclave and also concluded the 8^th Automotive Design Challenge at Hotel Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR.

The conclave served as a platform for an exchange of ideas in line with the central theme of ‘Design in India’, looking at design as a significant contributor to the Automotive Mission Plan 2026, and eventually to ‘Make in India’. The event showcased automotive designing ideas originating out of India, demonstrating the nation’s potential for the automotive industry.

The 10th edition was attended by leading automotive design professionals and people closely associated with design from domestic and global brands, all of whom shared their experiences through trends reports, technology developments, case studies, design processes and the role of design in building and sustaining a brand’s value.

The speakers included Rajeev Sharma, Head, Proto Hero MotoCorp; Pratap Bose, Head of Design, Tata Motors; Gaurang Shah, HOD, Transportation Design, MITID, Pune; Saurabh Singh, Head of Design Studio, Maruti Suzuki and Adil Jal Darukhanwala, Editor-in-Chief, Zeegnition.

Anil Saini, chairman, SIAM Styling and Designing Group (General Motors), opened the session elaborating upon design in India and gave a broader perspective on the growth of design in the past three decades.

Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary DIPP, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, government of India, the chief guest at the conclave, emphasized on the Design In India theme. He said, “The future is completely based on innovation, we are becoming a trendsetter with respect to the contributions made towards designing in vehicles that are being well accepted globally.”

Vinod K Dasari, president, SIAM, spoke in detail about the fact that a number of things like costs, safety and meeting emission norms have to be taken into consideration before manufacturing a vehicle. He said, “India is among the countries which are the fastest growing and adapting nations with respect to style and design of vehicles.”

Pradyumna Vyas, director, NID, highlighted that the growth of auto design pedagogy in design institutes in India. He also called upon automakers to get an ‘India Design’ mark for their automotive products.

Speaking on the Indian OEM story, Pratap Bose, Head of Design, Tata Motors, said: “Designs have played a crucial role in bringing a change in the automotive industry. India has a huge bunch of young talented designers who will shape the future of the design in vehicles by bringing in innovative designs to cater to the needs of the customer.”

Mohammed Basha, advisor, TVS, was honored for his significant contribution to Indian automotive design.

SIAM also encouraged students to actively look at automotive styling as a vocation, keeping in view the objective of improving skillsets and cultivating talent along with proficiency in automobile design in India.

The conclave also saw a design competition on ‘Vehicle for Planet Keplar’ organised among over 100 students from five colleges – NID, IIT-IDC, DYPDC, MIT and ISD –  participating in the 8^th Automotive Design Challenge. The award for the ‘Best Car Design’ went to Gaurav Nandi, a student of MIT, who was given a cheque of Rs 100,000 for his model ‘Extross’.