← Continued from Page 2 of "Kahn Factory Visit - Behind the Tuning Scenes"How Kahn sees the world
We feel like we’ve entered a tactical ops planning room the moment we are shown to the the large open space that precedes the entrance to the design department. Kahn has its own map of the world, with dedicated people that know how to handle specific issues from each region.
There is one “grandfather of all Kahn knowledge” that is ready to talk to customers in any place of the world at any given time, but his expertise is only needed in special actions. For the standard operation, if we can call tuning cars “standard”, there are dedicated people for the following regions (the order is random): the UK, continental Europe (with an emphasis on Germany) and Turkey; Russia, former Soviet Union countries and Eastern Europe; US (Kahn has a location in Texas), Dubai, Asia (with a focus on China), Australia and Africa.
And each part of the world comes with its special requests. For example, Chinese customers have a thing for red exteriors and for the interiors, they want local motifs to be used all around the cabin. In general, Europe is more conservative when it comes to styling, while other parts of the world prefer more opulent visual elements.
These guys sold parts and accessories (full vehicles are counted separately) worth GBP5 million (EUR6.2M or USD8.05M) last year, so they’re working and playing hard.
Thus, Kahn, like many tuners, has difficulties in receiving support from carmakers. Thus, the company has to develop parts that do not affect the original structure of the car, so that the customers do not lose their warranties. For example, their body kits do not require any drilling into the body of the car, being fitted by using special adhesives.
However, there is one exception. This, of course is connected to Land Rover, but only in Saudi Arabia, where customers who opt for Kahn parts can have the factory ship the car to the tuner for the custom work and then delivered to them in tailor-made form from for the beginning, but this only happens because somebody at the local importer has a soft spot for tuning.
Otherwise, Land Rover itself doesn’t want any connection to Kahn. In fact, the automotive producer went as far as copying the tuner in its quest to integrate this need for customization in its own operations.
This came through as we were visiting them. Kahn’s PR was browsing the web when he came across the Range Rover Evoque Victoria Beckham special edition presented by Land Rover and recognized the exterior shade, which had been used by the tuner for its own Evoque, which was presented back in December last year.
We can give you another example of how automotive producers handle custom cars: many carmakers will also try to run away from the warranty burden for vehicles that had received Kahn’s Cosworth engine modifications, but the engine specialist covers the warranty for the entire powertrain itself in order to solve this.
There is one “grandfather of all Kahn knowledge” that is ready to talk to customers in any place of the world at any given time, but his expertise is only needed in special actions. For the standard operation, if we can call tuning cars “standard”, there are dedicated people for the following regions (the order is random): the UK, continental Europe (with an emphasis on Germany) and Turkey; Russia, former Soviet Union countries and Eastern Europe; US (Kahn has a location in Texas), Dubai, Asia (with a focus on China), Australia and Africa.
And each part of the world comes with its special requests. For example, Chinese customers have a thing for red exteriors and for the interiors, they want local motifs to be used all around the cabin. In general, Europe is more conservative when it comes to styling, while other parts of the world prefer more opulent visual elements.
These guys sold parts and accessories (full vehicles are counted separately) worth GBP5 million (EUR6.2M or USD8.05M) last year, so they’re working and playing hard.
What do the carmakers think about it
Most automotive producers are hostile to tuners and are trying to include this part of the car business into their own activity. Of course this means that certain features that were previously only available though the customization world, such as LED daytime running lights, have now become factory gifts for many vehicles and we will see this trend climb as time goes by.Thus, Kahn, like many tuners, has difficulties in receiving support from carmakers. Thus, the company has to develop parts that do not affect the original structure of the car, so that the customers do not lose their warranties. For example, their body kits do not require any drilling into the body of the car, being fitted by using special adhesives.
However, there is one exception. This, of course is connected to Land Rover, but only in Saudi Arabia, where customers who opt for Kahn parts can have the factory ship the car to the tuner for the custom work and then delivered to them in tailor-made form from for the beginning, but this only happens because somebody at the local importer has a soft spot for tuning.
Otherwise, Land Rover itself doesn’t want any connection to Kahn. In fact, the automotive producer went as far as copying the tuner in its quest to integrate this need for customization in its own operations.
This came through as we were visiting them. Kahn’s PR was browsing the web when he came across the Range Rover Evoque Victoria Beckham special edition presented by Land Rover and recognized the exterior shade, which had been used by the tuner for its own Evoque, which was presented back in December last year.
We can give you another example of how automotive producers handle custom cars: many carmakers will also try to run away from the warranty burden for vehicles that had received Kahn’s Cosworth engine modifications, but the engine specialist covers the warranty for the entire powertrain itself in order to solve this.