Rudratej ‘Rudy’ Singh, president, BMW Group India, who passed away earlier this week, will be missed by one and all
Late morning on Monday, when I received a call from a friend at another car company asking whether the rumour that Rudy had passed away, I dismissed it as a hoax but I did tell that person that I’d check. A quick phone call to a former colleague of Rudy was unfortunately one where the news was confirmed. Rudratej was 46 and had taken over as BMW India Group President just eight months ago, the first Indian in the top position of the Bavarian car and bikemaker. His career began at Dabur but he made a name for himself at Hindustan Lever and its parent Unilever, where he was known as ‘Mr Pepsodent’ thanks to his success with the toothpaste brand. His stint, running the international business operations at Royal Enfield, culminated with the launch of the Indian motorcycle manufacturer’s 650cc V-twin interceptors. However, things may not have gone completely as per Rudy’s plans at RE.
Well, he landed on his feet becoming the first Indian boss at BMW and when I met him for lunch a week or so after he took over, we had a great chat about the luxury market in India. While Rudy had made his name selling toothpaste, he was a luxury connoisseur, especially of watches. Rudy could talk for hours about watches, telling people which one to buy. The last time I spent a considerable amount of time with him was at the Indian Car Of The Year (ICOTY) awards at the JW Marriott, Delhi Aerocity. He was wearing a Panerai. But I know he was angling for a Uylsse Nardin, the only watch he said that ever really appreciates in value.
It was from the luxury watch market, which he said, had become symptomatic of the state of the luxury market in India, which is dominated by discounts. He wanted to change that as part of his brief to transform the fortunes of BMW in India, which had seen a few rough years. But now, armed with a new line-up, especially the fantastic new 3-series, Rudy wanted the premium and luxury car market in India to pivot from being discount-driven to becoming experience-driven.
He wanted to highlight that buying a BMW was buying into an experience, a family, and not just a badge, through which it competed with Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Volvo with discounts. “The competition should be about the different experiences that different brands offer,” said he. We were supposed to have met in Chennai, on March 9, when BMW India introduced the facelifted X1. The event was later cancelled due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. In a text, I’d mentioned to him that we’d meet again soon. But that never happened.
I feel really gutted that Rudy died not just because he was so young or just a few years older than me but also because it came just two weeks after BMW India lost their sales head Mihir Dayal after a battle with cancer. Ironically, one of Rudy’s last tweets was him mourning Mihir’s death and he presciently, it seems in retrospect, said that he would join Mihir soon.
My deepest condolences to Rudy’s family, his friends as well as his colleagues both at BMW India and his previous workplaces. It is truly painful to lose someone at a time like this where we cannot even go to a funeral or remember someone at a prayer meeting. But Rudy did leave his mark on the Indian premium car industry and he will be remembered fondly.