The greatest inspiration is the journey, with all its twists, challenges and victories, says Artashes Stepanyan

The boldest ideas become reality when they are backed by a clearly defined goal and hard work. Sometimes, forging your own path begins with trusting your instincts.

For Artashes Stepanyan, founder and director of the X-Drive driving school network, hard work is the secret of success, people are his source of inspiration, and helping others is his mission in life. Fairness underpins his work. He cannot imagine business without innovation and loves his work because he built it through his own efforts.

For him, a car is more than a means of transport: it represents independence and freedom. Perhaps that feeling has driven him for years to set new goals, bring ideas to life and inspire others. We spoke to Stepanyan about his dream car, motorsport, the creation and development of X-Drive, and his plans for the future.

Who is Artashes Stepanyan? Tell us a little about your roots, family and childhood memories.

My roots are in Tavush, in the village of Gandzakar in Ijevan. My warmest childhood memories are connected with Tavush: its indescribable natural beauty, forests, rivers, mountains and, of course, its people. I attended school in Ijevan until the fourth grade, after which my family moved to Yerevan, where I continued my education.

Education was always important in our family, so I was among the best pupils at school. My parents envisaged a clear path for me: my father was a lawyer and my mother a mathematician, and I was presumably expected to choose one of those fields. Although I initially chose law, I eventually realised that working within an institutional system was not for me and began looking for my own path.

How did your driving skills help you during military service?

My grandfather taught me to drive, and years later those skills proved useful during my military service. In my second year, while we were at the positions, the battalion commander’s UAZ 469 encountered an obstacle on a difficult road. The driver could not manoeuvre the vehicle, so I decided to tackle the obstacle myself. I took the wheel and got the vehicle out of the situation. Afterwards, the commander appointed me as his driver at the positions.

For the rest of my service, I drove the UAZ 469 along all kinds of difficult roads, in snow and rain. I still have a special affection for that vehicle. It is fantastic.

At the time, there was also a state programme for young people approaching conscription age. If they learnt to drive and obtained a driving licence before being called up, they could serve as drivers in the army. Today, X-Drive runs that programme, equipping young people with the necessary knowledge and skills.

How did your career develop before you founded X-Drive, and what were you doing during those years?

After military service, I began working and studying at the same time. My first job was on my uncle’s farm, where I bred turkeys. Later, I worked at a shopping centre, became involved in commercial activities and established my own businesses, including a construction company specialising in energy infrastructure, particularly gas pipelines.

How did you buy your first car?

My dream car was a VAZ 21099, but I eventually bought a more modern version, the VAZ 21015.

Buying my first car was a spontaneous decision. My friends and I often talked about buying one. One day, we saw an advertisement on television, called the owner and agreed to buy the car. There was just one problem: we had no money (laughs—Ed.).

The next day, the car was in front of us. We had promised to buy it, but did not even have part of the money. We had heard about buying in instalments but did not know how it worked. At the bank, they told us they had such a scheme but had not launched it yet. That is how I became their first customer. The process was so complicated that I did not take out my next loan until about 20 years later (laughs—Ed.).

After buying the car, I constantly looked for reasons to drive, just to keep the engine running. I had a car, and it felt as though life had worked out.

How did a Jeep Wrangler go from being your dream car to the starting point for founding the 4x4 Off-road Club?

My interest in cars kept growing. Next, I bought a Mercedes E-Class, but I still thought about the Jeep Wrangler parked in its usual spot on Abovyan Street. For years, I would change my route to see it, walk further and sometimes even skip classes.

Ten years later, when I saw that same car for sale, I bought it without hesitation. It was uncomfortable, and spare parts and fuel were expensive, but it was my childhood dream.

Following the advice of people around me, I eventually sold it and bought a more upmarket car, a Mercedes-Benz CL500 (W140). But later I bought my old car back. It became one of my favourites and the beginning of a new journey.

Wranglers regularly needed repairs, and there were few specialists in Armenia who could work on them. Those of us who owned Wranglers therefore met at the same garage, where we got to know one another and became friends.

One day, after watching a programme about an off-road competition, I decided to bring those people together. I suggested starting a club to Boris, a vehicle service specialist who later became the club’s co-founder and a good friend of mine. We began contacting his customers who owned Wranglers and inviting them to join our initiative. That is how a group of friends founded the 4x4 Off-road Club in March 2009.

On 5 March, we set off for Mount Ara in around 10 off-road vehicles. We returned covered in mud from head to toe, but incredibly impressed and happy. By 24 April, we had organised a candle-lighting convoy of around 50 off-road vehicles to churches in Tavush. Despite the snow and rain, we negotiated the difficult route and reached Makaravank and Goshavank.

Did the 4x4 Off-road Club operate only in Armenia, or also abroad?

We took part in our first major competition in Georgia, followed by events in Iran, Russia and Türkiye. The journey to Trabzon was particularly memorable: we travelled 1,500 km to get there.

There was nothing unnecessary inside the vehicles: no carpets, no stereo, no air conditioning. They had been adapted to overcome obstacles, rather than travel comfortably along long stretches of tarmac. Smoke filled the cabins, and the heat from the engines literally melted our shoes (laughs—Ed.).

We reached Trabzon in the rain with open roofs, while teams from neighbouring countries travelled in comfortable minivans and transported their competition vehicles on recovery trucks. Through these experiences, we learnt the details of organising and running competitions.

I also applied the experience I gained at international competitions in Armenia. In 2013, as president of the Extreme Sports Federation, I organised the international Motul Low Range race in Ijevan, with more than 50 vehicles taking part. I personally managed all the organisational work, from designing the routes to running the race. The initiative continued for the following two years.

After the race’s success, I was invited to France to learn about the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the most prestigious events in motorsport. There, I understood the true scale of motorsport for the first time: enormous infrastructure and an airport within the circuit grounds. It was like a city within a city.

Later, at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France, I had the opportunity to drive an Aston Martin DB9 racing car. When representatives of world-famous brands congratulated me and presented me with gifts, I realised I had achieved good results. It was truly impressive.

Years later, in 2019, we obtained a licence to hold the internationally significant Rainforest Challenge, an exceptional right in the history of independent Armenia. We organised the event in Tavush, in my ancestral village of Gandzakar, with the direct participation of RFC founder Luis Wee. It became one of the significant events in Armenian motorsport.

Let us talk about your work in the public sector.

My work in the public sector began in 2017. From 2017 to 2019, I was an adviser to Armenia’s Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs on technical sports. I subsequently served as an adviser to the Defence Minister, specialising in driver education and military equipment, and also taught at the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Educational Complex. As you can see, everything was connected with vehicles again.

How was X-Drive created? What principles underpinned its development, and how did you begin putting them into practice?

The name X-Drive is connected with the xDrive system used in all-wheel-drive vehicles. The company was founded on the idea of establishing a new kind of driving school in Armenia.

Our aim was to teach people to drive and help them obtain a driving licence, while also giving them the fundamental knowledge and practical skills needed to travel safely, control a vehicle in extreme conditions and respond correctly in emergencies.

Educational quality and safety are the main principles of our work. Guided by them, we chose Mini Cooper vehicles for teaching, although financially they were not the most economical option.

Building an experienced and well-trained team was also important. I brought in friends involved in motorsport, with whom I had negotiated many racing circuits, former members of the State Traffic Inspectorate’s special-purpose company, and specialists we had trained ourselves.

Our professional experience and the confidence gained through motorsport soon produced the first results. We received our first major order from Lydian Armenia and trained around 160 employees working on the Amulsar road. At the same time, we began organising the Ijevan motor races under the X-Drive name.

Driver training for young people awaiting conscription also became an important part of our work, which we approached with great responsibility. After the war, we began cooperating with the Defence Ministry in this area. During those days, our entire team worked day and night to provide the training needed for conscription.

We are pleased to have contributed to this important work. Our cooperation with the Defence Ministry continues to this day.

Today, X-Drive is one of Armenia’s largest driving schools.

What does X-Drive mean to you today, and what is its greatest achievement?

For me, X-Drive is more than a business. It is about helping people and developing a driving culture. It represents 11 years of work.

My friends and I started almost from nothing. Initially, we had no resources and did much of the work ourselves. Today, it is an established business and an organisation making a professional contribution to road safety.

For me, the greatest achievement is that the state now recognises X-Drive’s professional expertise and involves us in discussions when initiating various changes. We try to propose models that take account of the interests of the state, businesses and citizens. Ultimately, our shared goal is road safety.

What is X-Drive’s competitive advantage?

X-Drive’s main advantage is our team’s professional training. Our instructors and trainers use a method I developed, based on teaching safe driving.

Other advantages include the quality of our service, one of Armenia’s newest vehicle fleets and our accident-avoidance driving courses. We also train qualified specialists ourselves under a programme approved by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport.

The trust of major organisations is another important recognition of the quality of our work. Our partners include the UN office, ContourGlobal Hydro Cascade, the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine, Pernod Ricard, the Red Cross and many international companies.

What are X-Drive’s upcoming plans, and how do you envisage the company’s development over the next 10 years?

Investment in X-Drive is continuous. We buy new vehicles almost every month because the fleet needs constant renewal.

In the near future, I would like to use my experience to help the state establish appropriate licensing standards for the sector, supporting its development and the provision of quality services. Looking 10 years ahead, I see X-Drive as an international brand in Europe, the CIS countries and the United States.

The greatest inspiration is the journey, with its twists and victories. When I see how an idea born years ago now guarantees the safety of thousands of people, I realise we are on the right path. This is only the beginning: greater horizons lie ahead.