Rajesh Kutty’s success began with the dream he saw with his eyes wide open as a four-year-old, when he sat behind the wheel of a Mercedes and declared to his father, “I want to be a car driver.’’ He got his wish quite literally — the only difference being that it was to test the endurance of cars as a vehicle testing engineer.
This was only the beginning of Rajesh’s love affair with cars that now sees him designing vehicles as a part of the interior design team for Mulsanne, Continental GT as well as for future models that will roll out from the luxury car brand, Bentley in the UK. Meanwhile he has also worked on farm tractor designs, eco jets and is on the design team of a train for the 2012 London Olympics.
An internship at TAFE in automobile designing proved to be his professional turning point, “Although cars were my passion, I was earlier into product designing, which was a very valuable experience. TAFE gave me an opportunity to work on a real life project where I had to design a full scale clay model of a tractor which had the same specifications as demanded by my superiors. I finally found my niche and decided to pursue it further with a degree from the prestigious Coventry Institute in London.”
And then there was no looking back. Currently based in Crewe, UK, Rajesh is amongst a handful of successful car designers from India who have made it big. “My heart is in India but my particular profession does not have many avenues in India. I miss home and the food and the culture that is uniquely Indian. The realisation that the car market was primarily in the West prompted me to pursue my passion in London which is where the action is. I started off with a small company but it led me to bigger avenues, till I reached Bentley. The job I currently do involves immense team work and the satisfaction is great,’’ he says.