At the stroke of noon….
January 10th, 2008 - by Nazia VasiIf you are a chronicler of history, at the stroke of noon on the 10th of January, you should have been at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi and got as close as you can to the Tata Motor’s pavilion as Ratan Tata the Chairman of the Tata empire, pulls the cover of the worlds most inexpensive car. Priced at Rs 100 thousand (USD 2,556), known worldwide as the Tata one lakh ‘people’s car’, speculated to be christened the ‘Nano’ the car is expected to break all price barriers and create automobile history.
Its currently priced to cost less that half the least expensive car on the Indian market today! With a potential market of 300 million middle class Indians, in a country that buys one million new cars a year it seems like a sure hit!
And of course it will have copy cats - international ones too - Volkswagen, Honda, Fiat, Nissan and Toyota all have plans to intoduce and ultra cheap car for the masses. This not surprising since worldwide demand for small cars is expected to grow by nearly a third over the next six years to 27 million a year!
Tata group chairman, Ratan Tata with the Nano.
While reams have been written about the car’s conception, manufacturing, functional capabilities, features, safety and enviromental protection, it gets me thinking about other gadgets that have broken the price barrier too and cater to India’s rising consumerism but hard pressed consumers - like the sub US$100 laptop produced by Allied Computers International (ACi) and manufactured in India, HCL’s computer that runs on a battery that can be recharged by pedalling a bicycle, as well as the US$20 mobile phone retailed by Reliance.
Price conscious gadgets such as these are driving demand in both India and China. While its not quite souped up for the urban junkie, these gadgets come with the basics and aid communication in the developing BRIC countries a great deal.
Further, while its a leap forward for the Tata’s its also a giant step forward for India and China, (China’s chery produced their very own QQ) both countries have gone from mass producing cheap products for rich developed countries to manufactuing, low cost, innovative, quality products for their own markets, mainly the emerging middle class.
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January 10th, 2008 at 4:45 am
only 2,556 USD?
Is it safe? The driver probablly needs to use 1k worth of gas each year
January 10th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I don’t think the milage is that bad, unveiled today, the company said the Nano has a 624 cc engine and will give a mileage of 20 kilometers per liter (50 miles a gallon) - not bad for a car that affordable!
January 11th, 2008 at 5:56 am
Unbelieveable! The U.S. has yet to produce a vehicle that gets 50 miles/gallon and here TATA went and did it. Glad to see innovation. I think the picture is clearer once you put this annoucement into context of two other recent news items.
1. Tata won the bid for purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.
2. Japan’s domestic auto sales for 2007 at a 35-year low.
3. 2007 China began manufacturing MG Rover automobiles.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Watch out for this one to hit other low cost markets - Sub-saharan Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and South-East Asia.
YueFei, you may like to consider the other big story - Tata’s takeover of UK’s Corus to become the 2nd (or is it 3rd?) largest steel producer in the world.
Further, I am not sure that the Rover/Jaguar deal has been inked yet …but everyone knows its just a matter of time.
From a competitive point of view, will it beat the QQ in these other markets? That is the question for me.
January 12th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Already the BIG CATS of MNC car manufacturers have started saying somany things AGAINST THIS CAR. What i found atrocious is that it will give more pollution because more people will buy a car being affordable and motor cycle sales will drop!!!!!!!!
the more SUV manufactrerrs cry against this car, the more it will sell especially those in india who can afford a motorcycle/scooter.
January 13th, 2008 at 5:12 am
but is india ready for this kind of car?
Does india have enough roads? cannt imagine what traffice in india will be like after people start to buy nano
January 14th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Tata himself was stated in the IHT that the cars ability to meet emission standards were easier to meet than the crash test. Also, Tata are about to buy Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford. Modern Indian cars are actually pretty good and the Nano actually is a follow on from their highly successful Indicar which is all over the roads in Delhi and Mumbai. Indians like to go small, in stark comparison to the Chinese who would regard it as a loss of face and so want to buy gas guzzling Mercedes and SUV’s. Totally different mindset.
January 14th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Chris,
I think you were generalizing. I do find many Chinese desiring bigger, better things in general, just like the Americans; however when it comes to purchasing cars this is not so evident. Most of the best-selling cars in China today are not the bigger cars and SUV’s. Chery’s QQ is very popular, it is a small car. So is Volkswagen’s Golf. Of course you can make the argumeng that most Chinese can’t afford buying them, but I have heard some Chinese friends saying they prefer MINI COOPER to SUV’s.
March 6th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Keep working ,great job!