Core77

You may not recognize designer Dilip Chhabria's name, but perhaps soon you, and 1.2 billion Indians, will. As reported in a recent Businessweek article, experienced fiftysomething designer Chhabria (who's worked for Aston-Martin and GM, among others) is opening India's first automotive design school, the DC College of Automotive Studies, in Pune. The 1,500-student-capacity DC CAS will open this August, and has received help developing courses from Italy's Polytechnic di Turino and the Istituto Europeo di Design.

With China's car market growing explosively and India's soon to follow suit, the school couldn't come at a better time. India's native carmakers are already cranking out 1.4 million vehicles a year and demand will only grow.

Bollywood already trumps Hollywood in size; will India soon boost a Big Three of their own? One thing's for sure--India's car commercials are bound to be catchier than Detroit's.