108 Years of Living Fabulously
Love Affair Begins…
In 1903 it was the beginning of 20th century when the young M. A. Quraishi fell in love with a new disruptive technology of horseless carriage called car. Cars were very expensive at that time but his family was loaded and he had no problem convincing his dad to advance the hefty deposit required to reserve the vehicle with an importer. Importer promised him his car in 5 months but it was by mid 1904 that he finally got his car. He was thrilled to finally receive his car but the car broke down first week of its operation and the importer refused to help. It took him 8 months of running around to get his precious vehicle fixed, he finally had enough, he felt that he needed to do something special to change this outdated and exploitiative model.
Disrupt the Disruptive 1905-08
He felt that he needed to disrupt the overpriced and monopolistic model of auto sales in Asia and then one day as he was driving his now fixed car in the countryside his car began to overheat he hit on the solution. He came up with the disruptive concept of a full service auto dealership that within two decades changed the landscape of auto import and sales all over Asia.
It was a humble beginning when he opened door to his small dealership with just two cars and five trained mechanics ready to fix any problems his future customers might get. He did not want any other car owners to go through what he went through. Even though hIs venture went bust in 1908 when his idea of lifetime free warranty with car purchase bankrupted him, he had shown the world a different way of doing business. The cars in that time were just too fragile and quality too poor to sustain a full warranty dealership ahead of its time but he kept hope alive.
A Dream is born 1911
Then one fateful day his first customer from 1905 – a prince of a principality – contacted him. He wanted to replace his fleet of 10 vehicles with all new Mercedes Benz model he had seen and this prince wanted him back in business with his fianancial support. The year was 1911 and M. A. was back in business and this time for good. His commitment to his passion never wavered after that and his father finally relented and allowed him to follow his dream. He withstood two World Wars, famine, riotings, disturbances and five moves but the business continued despite many ups and down.
This industrious young visionary was our great great grandfather who established Asia’s longest running dealership in 1911 with a dream of supplying premium quality vehicles at a radically low price that even the common man could afford. This disruptive concept of the first dealership in Asia to offer free repairs and servicing with an inventory of spare parts took traction and changed the auto industry for good.
At a time when surly importers were making exorbitant profits by naming their prices, taking hefty deposits and then making customers wait months and years to deliver the vehicles, he focused on the customer and made sure he had the lowest possible price what we call the radically fair price and delivered the vehicles quickly and with the backing of a warranty with a fully furbished service center. He kept his profit at a minimum and his quality, effort and service at a maximum. He served his customers with professionalism, honesty and integrity and slowly and surely he developed a following. The word soon spread about his passion for cars, his unbelievable deals, his quick delivery, his state of the art service center and his passion for customer service and a legend was born. No one though ever imagined that the flame this dreamer and gogetter lit would be passed from generation to generation and turn into a living legacy that is winning customers’ hearts across the globe year after year and month after month. The disrupter of the disruptive technology is still shaking things up through his hundreds of descendants realizing his dream one transaction at a time.
A calling not a business
What distinguished M. A. from other business owners was that he considered that life can only have meaning when one is living a life of love and service to humanity and from this perspective he felt that his establishment of Asia’s first Asian owned dealership was a calling and not just a business. He would end up losing on most of his deals because repair costs on some of the vehicles far exceeded his minimal profit margin. He nevertheless took delight in the smiles he brought to passionate buyers of his time who were willing to endure a lot of hassle to drive these horseless carriages. There was a camaraderie among the tightly knit community of car users and they were delighted to have one of them in business looking out for their interests. By and by quality of the cars and their performance increased but his loyal customer base did not drift away from hin to the new fangled dealers that began sprouting in the 30s.
The Second Generation 1930s-1940s – Prewar and War Days
By the 30s his sons and son in law had joined him and they took his model of business to new cities and new locations. Conpany had branched into parts sales, auctioning, truck and bus sales, bus service and other auto related businesses. They were now importing from Germany and United States as well and giving customers a greater selection of vehicles.
The Group suffered catastrophic loss when the government seized most of its vehicles. Quraishi Senior brought his sons, son-in-law and grandsons back to the original location focusing now on used car sales, parts and the service center. Times were tough as the company was under a mountain of debt with limited sales. He received an order to supply vehicles to the government.
Post War Days
Post War days were even tougher but company survived. By 1948 he was finally ready to go into semi-retirement and was content to see his legacy continue in multiple automotive businesses his children and grand children had established. The days of double digit growths of the 20s and 30s were gone but he was happy that his children were following in his footsteps and abiding by his values and principles. He was happy that he had lived life on his terms and in accordance with his values, he had dared to disrupt the status quo and had won. He was a legend in his own time and he continues to inspire not just his descendents but all who are aware of this man’s Myth and Reality.
Third Generation 1960s – 1990s
When 60s rolled in the third generation had taken charge under the guidance of the Second Generation of Quraishis. The business had now spawned some 15 different automotive businesses, some stuck to auto retailing, others branched into parts, public transport, private transport, auctioning and service center.
One branch of the family though decided to branch ouf of the country and established branches in Japan and Thailand. This was the precursor of Jim Autos and became the most sucessful branch of Quraishi Motors.
Fourth Generation 1980s to 2000s
Fourth Generation joined the businesses and brought its own idea. The Crown Jewel of the Family was Jim Autos which became world’s largest car exporter and franchise was extended from Thaliand to Australia, UK, Japan and USA.
Passing the Torch…
Quraishi Senior had a dream that he passed onto his children. A century plus later his dream has spawned Asia’s longest running dealership that exports to over 100 countries of the world from all world automotive hubs and is hailed as the most trusted car exporter in the world by customers in all continents. He taught us that no customer can ever be taken for granted and that every customer has to be earned not just the first time but in every succeeding transaction as well and it is this pearl of wisdom that has made each generation make customer satisfaction the central focus of their business.
He distilled his wisdom in four pillars of honesty, great prices, great service and great quality. Fourth Generation is now living his dream one transaction at a time by winning their customer’s trust every day and never resting on their laurels.
Quraishi Senior was a remarkable person of immense charisma who engaged and inspired not only his employees but also his customers and his suppliers. He had a passion to make a difference in lives of people he interacted with. He believed in transformative power of living a dream and even though people ridiculed him for overreaching but he had the last laugh when he sowed the seed that grew up into a century plus year strong behemoth that has been going from strength decade after decade.
