Ladies and Gentlemen, the booking of the People's car finally ceases. The time ends when you had to watch numerous ads in each site - "BOOK YOUR TATA NANO".
Now, will I get my Nano?
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Tata Motors will anounce the names of people who have got their much wanted and awaited car very soon.
It could be you, perhaps.
SO, goodluck.
Terms and Conditions
The Tata Nano Car will be produced in Nano, Nano CX and Nano LX variants. In order to plan production of Tata Nano Cars and to effect its delivery to the customer during the year, the bookings are being invited from the customers. The total bookings will be accepted for a production not exceeding 100,000 Tata Nano Car.
The bookings will open from 9th April 2009 and shall remain open upto 25th April 2009. The Applicant would be able to make an Application for the Tata Nano Car only through a valid Application Form submitted during this period.
Application
1. Acceptance of bookings/advance payment by Tata Motors Limited ("Tata Motors") is merely an indication of an intention to sell and does not result in a contract of sale. The Applicant agrees that Tata Motors shall not be deemed to have accepted the Application of the Applicant or be bound by the Application until Tata Motors notifies the Applicant of its acceptance of the Application subject to the terms and conditions, contained herein.
2. The Application Form should be filled only in English using BLOCK LETTERS. It may be filled in by hand using ball-point pen.
3. The Application Forms are available at select State Bank of India ("SBI") branches(details available on www.tatanano.com), Westside Stores, Croma Stores and Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealerships. These are authorised by Tata Motors. The Application Forms are also available at designated branches of preferred financiers.
4. A Person will be able to apply for only a single Tata Nano Car and Tata Motors would allot only one Tata Nano Car per Person to be selected in accordance with the procedure set out in 3 (a). ?Person? means and includes any Individual / Firm / Proprietorship/ Company etc. Tata Nano Car can be ordered by Individuals / Firms / Proprietorships / Companies etc. The Application Form is non-transferable and only the Applicant would be eligible to the Allotment if successful. Tata Motors reserves the right to discard all duplicate applications.
5. The Application Form, complete in all respects and accompanied by the necessary Demand Draft / Pay order/ Local Cheque, has to be submitted to any one of the locations mentioned in 1(c) on or before the last date of the booking i.e. 25th April, 2009. Incomplete or incorrect Application Forms will be rejected. Photocopy or duplicate Application Forms in any form will not be accepted. An incomplete Application Form will not, in the first instance, be accepted by the locations mentioned in 1(c). In any event, if any incomplete Application Form is accepted through inadvertence or oversight, Tata Motors reserves the right to reject the same at the later stages of Application process. In case of payments made by cheque / pay order / DD the validity of Application will be subject to realization of the instrument.
6. Tata Motors will not accept any Application Form directly from the Applicants. Any Application Forms sent to Tata Motors directly and received by it will not be considered and shall be liable to be rejected.
7. Upon submission of Application Forms to the locations mentioned in 1(c), the Applicant must retain the Applicant?s copy of the Application Form duly signed and stamped by the notified SBI Officer at all authorised outlets as a proof of having submitted the said Application Form.
8. The Applicants should indicate the Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership nearest to his/her address, from where the Customer would like to take delivery of the Tata Nano Car, in the event of Allotment of a Tata Nano Car to him subject to the terms and conditions set out herein.
9. The Applicant should provide the Income Tax PAN number in the Application Form in the absence of which the Application Form is liable to be rejected. In case the Applicant does not have an Income Tax PAN number he should fill Form 60 or Form 61 and submit it along with the Application Form.
10. The Applicant is not entitled to transfer the Application or subsequent successful Allotment to any other person. Any changes in the particulars relating to the Applicant?s address, preferred Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership for delivery of Tata Nano Car, etc. will not be accepted by Tata Motors.
11. The Applicant must quote the Unique Identification Number mentioned in the Application Form for the purposes of all future communications, concerning the Application and / or Allotment of Tata Nano Car.
12. The Applicant must fill in the details of a photo ID proof (Pan Card/Voter ID Card/Driving License/ Passport) and attach a photocopy of such photo ID proof with the Application Form, the original of which will be required to be produced at the time of taking delivery of Tata Nano Car. In case customer does not have any of the above-mentioned proofs, he should submit copy of any other valid photo identity proof duly attested by a gazetted officer and mention the details of the same on the form. In case of online payment, the details are to be filled at the relevant section and will have to be produced at the time of delivery. If the Applicant fails to comply with these conditions, Tata Motors reserves the right to deny the delivery of the Tata Nano Car.
13. Any information of the Applicant may be shared with the government if Tata Motors is called upon by any authority to do so or as may be prescribed under applicable law.
Payment of Booking Amount
1. The booking amount applicable for the Tata Nano Car variants will be as mentioned below for all cities and all colours. Such Payment by way of Demand Draft / Pay order / Cheque (all payable locally and subject to realization in case of cheque) should be made to the notified locations in 1(c) drawn in favor of "Tata Motors Limited.-A/c Tata Nano". The city must be written on the reverse of Demand Draft/ Pay Order/ Cheque, along with the Application Form number and Applicant?s name. The booking amount has been rounded off after factoring all variables and excludes Central Excise Duty, CST / VAT, other Central/ State local taxes and levies and transportation charges . The Booking amounts for Nano /Nano CX / Nano LX are as follows: INR 95,000 / INR 120,000 / INR 140,000.
2. Tata Motors retains the right to change the Bharat stage 2 / 3 preference of Applicant based on any regulations / local directives based on the city selected. Color and variant choice is an indicative preference. Tata Motors will try to match the Applicant preference on best effort basis. Delivery of the variant color preference given by the customer may be affected by production constraints. In case Tata Motors is not able to match the preference (including color or variant choice), Tata Motors will alternatively offer to the applicant other available variant. Differential amount applicable thereof will be adjusted at the time of the delivery.
3. The booking amount will be accepted only by way of a single Demand Draft/ Pay Order/ Local Cheque and not through multiple instruments.
4. Please ensure that the booking amount is correct and corresponds to the variant selected. In case of any variance, the Application Form is liable to be rejected.
5. Ex-Showroom price of the Tata Nano Car will vary depending upon the variant and color choice and the city where the delivery is to be made. The ex-showroom prices applicable to your city on date of booking will be available at the Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealerships and www.tatanano.com.
6. The prices of Tata Nano Cars to be delivered to the 100,000 successful Applicants (called "Allottees"), who will be selected by way of the allotment process as set out in 3 (a), will remain same as declared on its date of commercial launch till the completion of the deliveries to the Allottee. No interest will be paid to the Allottees till the date of delivery of the Tata Nano Car or cancellation of the Allotment, sought by the Allottee whichever is earlier. However, any increase in price of the Tata Nano Car caused solely and directly on account of regulatory or other legal requirements shall be chargeable to the Allottee and Tata Motors reserves the right to increase the price of Tata Nano Car to such extent so as to include the actual excess costs incurred on account of such legal or regulatory requirement .
7. Central Excise Duty, Cesses, CST / VAT, other Central/ State local taxes and levies and transportation charges payable will be as applicable on the date of delivery.
8. Tata Motors shall have the right to revise the specification, standard fitment and or accessories for the Tata Nano Car or introduce its improved versions of the variants, allotted to the Allottees, which will be binding on the Allottees.
Process for Selection of Successful Applicants for Allotment
1. All valid Applications will be considered for the selection of the Allottees through the process using the computerized pseudo random number generation technique ("Allotment Process"). Tata Motors will select 100,000 Allottees through this process for the delivery of Tata Nano Car in the first phase ("Allotment"). This process would be executed by Tata Motors along with independent observers. All Allottees would be informed of a three month (approximate) delivery period. Tata Motors will not be responsible if delivery of the Tata Nano Car is delayed beyond the indicative delivery period due to any reason beyond its control. In such case, Tata Motors will intimate the revised delivery period to the Allotees. [As stated in 2 (f) above], Tata Motors will not be liable to pay interest or any other compensation to the Allottees in such cases.
2. The Allottees, selected through the Allotment Process, shall be notified on Tata Nano website and by way of letters on the address, mentioned in the Application Form. The Allotees can also contact Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership indicated for the purpose of taking delivery. Tata Motors would not be responsible for delay/ non-receipt of communication by Allottees due to incorrect address, given in the Application Form or otherwise.
3. Tata Motors reserves the right to sell up to 10% of its production of TATA Nano Car at its own discretion and not by way of the application process set out herein.
Option for Retention of Booking
1. The unsuccessful Applicants will have the option of intimating to Tata Motors about their willingness to retain their booking for delivery of Tata Nano Car after the completion of deliveries to the Allottees by filling in the appropriate box in the Application Form. Tata Motors will prepare a list of Applicants falling under this category using the result of the Allotment Process, used to select the successful Applicants and intimate them the priority number for the delivery of the car which shall be generated through the process using the computerized pseudo random number generation technique. Such Applicants would be informed of a six-month period in which the actual delivery shall take place.Tata Motors will pay an interest at 8.5% per annum in case period of retention is greater than one year but less than 2 years and 8.75% per annum, in case period of retention is greater than 2 years, on such retained amount from the date of allocations.
2. The unsuccessful Applicants who declare to retain their booking amount and whose booking amounts are retained by Tata Motors will be termed as "Retainees". These Retainees will be given Allotment of Tata Nano Car prior to the next booking and allotment cycle and, as stated above, will be informed of the approximate delivery period of Tata Nano Car by Tata Motors after keeping in view the anticipated production for subsequent years. Tata Motors reserves the right to decide the number of Retainees.
3. The applicable price for the Tata Nano Car for the Retainees will be notified along with the notification letter of the actual date of delivery by Tata Motors. This applicable price may vary from the price announced on the date of launch.
Refund to Unsuccessful Applicants
1. Tata Motors will refund the booking amount to all unsuccessful Applicants, {i.e. excluding those selected as per clause 3 (a) and those opting for retention as per clause 4(a)}, without interest, not later than three months after the date of closing for the booking of Tata Nano Car.
2. The refund will be made only to the Bank Account Number mentioned in the Application Form. Tata Motors will not be responsible for any delay resulting due to incorrect Bank Account Number furnished by the Applicant
3. Applicant is advised to enclose one cancelled cheque of the Account in which he/she wants refund money to be credited, in case refund is given through electronic credit, at the option of the bank, for faster refund.
4. The Bank Account Number and all other confidential information provided by the Applicant will be used by Tata Motors and/or its Service Provider solely for the purposes of the Application Process and refund if applicable and shall remain confidential with Tata Motors and or its Service Provider at all times unless necessary for the application process.
Deliveries
1. Delivery of the Tata Nano Car will be made by the Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership set out in the Application Form by the Allottee/Retainee. Tata Motors may at its option change the Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership for the purposes of the delivery of the Tata Nano Car.
2. The said Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership will advise the approximate delivery date to the Allottee/Retainee as soon as the communication is received from Tata Motors. The Allottee/Retainee will be required to make the balance payment towards the price within 10 days before the scheduled date of delivery as communicated by the said Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership.
3. Subject to the availability of the Tata Nano Car, the sales and deliveries of the same will be made to the Allottees/Retainees in accordance with the procedure prescribed by Tata Motors herein.
4. The Allottee/Retainee will have to produce the original of the proof of identity, mentioned in the Application Form for verification and submit the original Allotment Letter in terms of clause 3 (b) and Allottee/Retainee?s copy of the Application Form duly signed and stamped by the SBI Officer, while taking delivery of the Tata Nano Car, failing which Tata Motors reserves the right to cancel delivery, treating the booking as invalid and cancelled. In case of loss of Allottee/Retainee's copy, the booking will stand cancelled and refund will be processed as per the terms set out herein.
5. Upon sale of the Tata Nano Car to the Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership (for the purpose of onward sale and delivery to the Allottee/Retainee), the Allottee/Retainee authorizes Tata Motors to retain the advance amount standing to the Allottee/Retainee?s credit and such payment will be adjusted against the monies payable by the Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership to Tata Motors for the sale of the Tata Nano Car to the Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership.; and the Allottee/Retainee agrees to pay the balance of invoiced price of the Tata Nano Car to the Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership before taking delivery of the Tata Nano Car.
6. Upon the aforesaid adjustment, the Allottee/Retainee shall not have any claim whatsoever against Tata Motors towards the aforesaid sum (save and except in such situations where the advance amount referred to in (e) above is greater than the price of the Tata Nano Car).
7. In the event of any unforeseen circumstance, delivery period may be subject to change. This will be informed to the Allottees/Retainees directly by Tata Motors. No interest will be paid by Tata Motors in respect of deliveries which are delayed beyond the period specified by Tata Motors.
Cancellation
1. An accepted booking can be cancelled any time by the Allottee after receiving intimation from Tata Motors in terms of clause 3(b) above. Such Allottee has to register a cancellation request at the call centre and also submit a written notice of cancellation (mentioning the cancellation code given by call centre) at the Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealership selected in the Application Form for taking delivery of the Tata Nano Car. The written notice should be accompanied with original Allotment Letter in terms of clause 3 (b) and original Allottee?s copy of the Application Form duly signed and stamped by the SBI Officer. On Cancellation, the payment made by the Allottee will be refunded by Tata Motors, within 30 days of the request for cancellation, after deduction of cancellation charges of INR 2999/- only to the Bank Account Number mentioned in the Application Form.
2. In case of cancellation by Retainees, in terms of clause 4 (a) above, the process of cancellation remains as mentioned in clause 7(a). The retained amount will be refunded only to the Bank Account Number mentioned in the Application Form. The accrued interest would be paid as a cheque in name of the Retainee and sent to the Retainee?s address mentioned in the Application Form.
3. The Allottees/Retainees will be charged cancellation charges of INR 2999/-. However no cancellation charges would be levied if the cancellation request is made within 30 days from the date of announcement of Allotment.
4. A booking once cancelled cannot be reinstated.
5. In case of request of cancellation by an Allottee/Retainee where the delivery of the Tata Nano Car has been delayed beyond the quarter in which the Tata Nano Car was scheduled to be delivered as per clause 3(a) above, the Allottee/Retainee will also be entitled to an interest at the rate of 6% per annum for a period starting from the date of Allotment to the date on which the request of cancellation is made. The payment made by the Applicant will be refunded by Tata Motors, within 30 days of the request for cancellation along with the accrued interest up to the cancellation date. Cancellation charges will not apply in cases of cancellation pursuant to this clause (e).
6. In case of the Allottees/Retainees, who have obtained finance from the preferred financiers for depositing the booking amount, the written notice of cancellation of booking to Tata Motors must be routed through the financier concerned. Tata Motors will then route the refund through the concerned financier within 30 days of the request for cancellation.
7. No request for cancellation will be accepted till the 60th day from the date of closure of booking.
8. In case of cancellations by the Allottee in the first phase, the next Applicant in line with the same combination would be selected for delivery of Tata Nano Car in place of such cancelled Allotment.
Preferred Financiers
1. Tata Motors has designated certain preferred financiers mentioned as such on www.tatanano.com
2. The financier fields need to be carefully filled by the preferred financier starting from the first section.
3. The refund details of preferred financier would be filled in the relevant section. Also the full postal address of the preferred financier is to be filled.
4. The preferred financier reserves the first right in relation to the claim to the booking amount financed by it. Subject to the terms of the agreement between the preferred financier and the Applicant, the preferred financier is entitled to send a cancellation request to Tata Motors subject to the process outlined in section 7 in the event of any default by the Applicant.
5. Tata Motors will not be responsible for the terms and conditions between Applicant and preferred financier. Any error by the preferred financier will be attributable to it and Tata Motors shall bear no responsibility in relation to the same. Further Tata Motors is not responsible if in any circumstance the financier is unable to submit the Application Form at the designated centres within the booking period.
6. Tata Motors would make reasonable efforts to inform the preferred financier of all communications with the Applicant in case of unsuccessful allotment, allotment, retention, delivery or cancellations.
General
1. The amount paid by the Applicants for the Application Forms is non-refundable.
2. Tata Motors or SBI will not be responsible for delay, loss or non- receipt of Application Forms, Demand Drafts, Pay Orders or any Payment sent to Tata Motors or SBI through post, courier or any other form of submission not contemplated herein.
3. Booking from minors will not be accepted
4. Booking is open only for the Indian residents
5. Tata Motors or its Tata Motors Passenger Car Dealerships will not assume any liability for any inability or failure on their part in executing any order registered by any Applicant on account of any causes, constituting a force majeure or otherwise, beyond their control.
6. In event of demise of Allotee, the booking / Allotment / retention stands cancelled and will be refunded as per refund account mentioned.
7. Any dispute relating to enforcement, interpretation or application of these terms and conditions will be subject to Courts at Mumbai alone to the exclusion of all others.
8. Tata Motors reserves the right to alter any terms and conditions/ or the process itself clause at its sole discretion as and when considered necessary. Tata Motors will make reasonable efforts to keep Applicant informed as soon as possible.
Book Nano @ your Own city... Form More details Click Here
For More Information Click Below
Online Booking
Offline Booking
Filling of Application form
Submission of Application form
Payment
Preferred Financiers
Allotment of Car's
Retention
Refund of Amount
Deliveries of Nano
Booking Cancellation for Nano
Refund on Cancellation
Terms and Conditions
Tata Nano booking acceptance opens on 9th and continue till end of day April 25
Booking amount financing available from Rs.2850; Retail auto loan available at interest rates starting from 9%; Insurance premium starts at Rs.3468 (ex New Delhi)
The booking of the Tata Nano opens tomorrow on April 9th and will continue up to the end of day on April 25, 2009. Tata Motors has entered into agreements with 18 preferred banks/NBFCs to enable prospective customers to get finance and facilitate booking of the car.
The sale of application forms has already started from April 1, to a very encouraging response. The Tata Nano website has recorded over 50 million (5 crore) hits, including over 20 million (2 crore) hits in the fortnight since the launch on March 23, 2009. The forms are available at a price of Rs.300 (for online booking Rs.200). The forms can be bought at over 30,000 locations in about 1,000 cities through Tata Motors Passenger Car dealerships, State Bank of India and its branches, its subsidiaries and associates, other preferred financiers, and outlets of Westside, Croma, ‘World of Titan’ and Tata Indicom exclusive stores. The forms come with a range of offers from select associate Tata Group companies up to Rs.1100.
Customers can either pay the entire booking amount -- of Rs.95,000 (Tata Nano Std.), Rs.120,000 (Tata Nano CX), and Rs.140,000 (Tata Nano LX) -- themselves or seek financing of the booking amount.
Booking amount financing available from Rs.2850
The company’s partnership with the preferred financing partners has enabled attractive options of financing the booking amount, which start from a low of Rs.2850. The details are as follows:
Preferred banks/NBFCs
Bank Name Financing of booking amount of
Rs.95000 for the Tata Nano Std. version
State Bank of India....Rs. 2,999
Canara Bank............Rs. 2,850
Tata Motor Finance.....Rs. 3,199
Corporation Bank.......Rs. 2,999
Central Bank of India..Rs. 3,256
Indian bank............Rs. 3,343
State Bank of Tranvancore....Rs. 2,999
State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur........Rs. 2,999
State Bank of Indore.........Rs. 3,516
State Bank of Patiala...Rs. 2,999
State Bank of Hyderabad...Rs. 2,999
State Bank of Mysore...Rs. 2,999
ICICI Bank Ltd.........Rs. 2,999
Union Bank of India....Rs. 2,950
United Bank of India...Rs. 3,137
Punjab National Bank...Rs. 3,733
UCO Bank...............Rs. 2,975
The Federal Bank Ltd...Rs. 4,110
Corporation Bank.......Rs. 2,999
Customers can submit their application forms to their chosen financier. The financier will, on their behalf, submit their application forms to the State Bank of India, which is managing the booking process. Those who are themselves paying the entire booking amount can submit their application forms directly to State Bank of India through 1,350 notified branches in 850 cites, and also at Tata Motors Passenger Car dealerships, Westside and Croma outlets. Option to submit bookings online is available at www.tatanano.com.
Retail auto loan interest rates for the Tata Nano
Post the successful allotment of the bookings, customers can convert their booking loan into a retail auto loan for the Tata Nano at very attractive rates with the preferred financiers:
Retail auto loan interest rates
Preferred banks/NBFCs Interest rate post Allotment
State Bank of India.... 11.75%
Canara Bank.... 9.5-11%
Tata Motor Finance......12 – 13%
Corporation Bank.......11-11.5%
Central Bank of India...9.5-11%
Indian bank............11%
State Bank of Tranvancore....11.75-12%
State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur.......11.75%
State Bank of Indore...11.50%
State Bank of Patiala....11.50 – 12%
State Bank of Hyderabad.....11.75%
State Bank of Mysore......11.25-11.75%
ICICI Bank Ltd.......13.00%
Union Bank of India.....11-11.25%
United Bank of India.....9%
Punjab National Bank.....11%
UCO Bank...............11 – 11.50%
The Federal Bank Ltd....14.25%
Corporation Bank.......11-11.5%
Insurance premium for the Tata Nano
Tata Motors has also entered into agreements with five partner insurance companies to offer comprehensive insurance, under the ‘Tata Motors Insurance’ banner, for the Tata Nano at a rate of just 2.76% of the ex-showroom price of the car, the most competitive in the industry. In New Delhi, the insurance premiums will be as follows:
Nano Nano CX Nano LX
Ex-showroom price New Delhi (Rs.) 123360 148360 172360
Insurance premium (Rs.) 3468 3959 4431
The empanelled insurance companies are National Insurance Co Ltd, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co Ltd, Royal Sundaram Alliance General Insurance Co Ltd, United India Insurance Co Ltd and HDFC Ergo General Insurance.
Deliveries
Within 60 days of the closure of bookings on April 25th , 2009, Tata Motors will process and announce the allotment of 100,000 cars in the first phase of deliveries, through a computerised random selection procedure. These 100,000 allotments will be price protected for the launch prices till delivery of the cars but the booking amounts will not bear any interest for the customers. Deliveries will commence from July 2009.
Applicants have the option to retain their booking deposit, even if they do not get allotment in the first phase. Those who choose this option will be eligible for interest on their deposit, effective from the date of announcement of allotment of the second phase, at a rate of 8.5% for retention period between one year to two year and 8.75% for a retention period of more than 2 years. Allotment of retainees will be simultaneously communicated, along with the allotment of the first 100,000 cars.
KOLKATA: Kolkata-based Uco Bank said it is going to sign an agreement with Tata Motors in order to offer loans to people planning to book Nano.
Bank chairman S K Goel said here on Friday that the agreement would be signed next week.
Uco Bank has also announced a car financing pact with Maruti Suzuki India on Friday to boost its auto loan business. The bank is also talking to a host of other auto makers including Bajaj Auto and Mahindra & Mahindra for financing agreements, Mr Goel said.
The bank has also slashed its benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) by 50 basis points to 12% effective from April 1. Elaborating on the proposed agreement with Tata Motors, Mr Goel said Uco would offer loans to customers fully or partly for making the initial deposit for booking Nano. The bank would charge a 10% interest rate per annum on the loan. Customers would need to deposit Rs 95,000 for booking the basic model of Nano.
The bank would also convert the initial booking loan to a regular car loan if the customer gets allotment of Nano and seeks financing support for a longer term. The interest rate for the car loan then would depend upon the prevailing interest rates, Mr Goel said.
At present, the bank offers car loans at 11.75% a year. The rate stands reduced to 11% per annum in case a borrower offers full collateral security against the loan. Uco's car loans are linked to its BPLR and so the rates will fall from April 1.
People planning to take loans from Uco or, for that matter, any other Tata Motors preferred financiers, for booking Nano would need to submit the application forms to State Bank of India (SBI) which is Tata Motors exclusive partner for managing the entire booking process.
Tata Motors has earlier said that it has already entered into agreements with some 15 banks and NBFCs for the Tata Nano booking loan product. Customers will need to collect application forms from Tata Motors Passenger Car dealerships, SBI and its branches, subsidiaries and associates, other preferred financiers, and outlets of Westside, Croma,
World of Titan and Tata Indicom exclusive stores.
Others Said No, He Says Nano: Ratan Tata Drives The One-Lakh Talk, Pulls Off A One In A Billion Coup
New Delhi: Outside, the eager crowd reminds you of a cricket stadium before an ODI game. Big securitymen form an uncompromising barricade with a thick rope. Finally, they see reason and relent.
Once inside, the conduct of the guards is easier to understand. There are already enough people inside to make a politician happy, if he was delivering an election speech. Standing out in the crowd is a bored leggy blonde in a shimmering silver dress leaning by a bright red car. At the moment, few, if any, are looking at her.
For what everybody has gathered to see at Hall No 11 in Pragati Maidan is not just another small car. They come to see hope emerge on wheels. For this ‘lakhtakia' car, as the man on the street has already named it, has enabled millions to dream of a life beyond the motorbike. And, to the discerning observer, has the potential of changing the demography of car ownership in India.
As Ratan Tata himself would say later in the day, it was the image of a lower-middle-class man on a scooter — the elder kid standing in front of the driver-father and the wife riding pillion with a baby on her lap — that kept playing on his mind. "Why can't this family own a car?" Tata's Rs 1 lakh car project was the outcome of that nagging image that kept tugging at his soul. Yet sceptics had wondered disbelievingly, even laughed, at his daring and passion. The Thursday launch was the moment of truth.
In the hall, plenty of firangs float around in dark suits lugging laptops. The seats are all taken. The stage is huge. The lights are low. And the floor has a blue-green tinge. You almost expect a Bollywood troupe to jump out and boogie to foot-stomping tracks.
None of that. First, a short, crisp recorded speech of Tata is played on a screen. He praises his colleagues, takes a crack at detractors such as the Suzuki boss who had predicted in 2006 that the car wasn't possible. Thundering applause comes when Tata says the car has ample safety features. And that it will be environment-friendly.
Then the curtain rises. As he drives on to the stage in a cream Nano, the audience gasps. First impression: small is beautiful. "Some people said that we should call it a ‘Buddha car', while others said that we should call it ‘Mamata' or ‘Despite Mamata'. We decided we will call it ‘Nano'," says Tata, drawing laughter from the crowd. "But then, since it is high-tech and small, we called it Nano." Then he adds: "The car will be priced at Rs 1 lakh. A promise is a promise."
Big wow for small car
New Delhi: After talking to those who turned up on the first day for a dekko, one feels that the car is like a multi-layered movie that means different things to different people. Young Mohit Saluja's businessman father has three cars, including a Honda Civic.
But he has already fallen for the cool and cute toy. "It could be an alternative bike for guys like me. These days college-going kids pester parents for a car. This is a car they can afford to gift to their kids," he says.
Neel Kamal takes a bus to her office in Supreme Court. "I never thought we could afford a second car. But this is affordable and it gives good mileage. So one can think about it," she says.
There are others—some with three, even four cars, who now want a Nano. Simply because they have the money to indulge. Faridabad car dealer Gulshan Kharbanda feels the car will fetch a decent premium of at least Rs 20,000 in its initial phase. Mohan Singh, a staffer at the Crafts Museum, is convinced the car is made for him. "I have a Pulsar bike which cost Rs 62,500. I'll sell it and buy this car because the family will be able to travel together in it. It's mileage is also good, so running costs wouldn't be high."
But for Manu Lal, a migrant from Bihar's Motihari district, the ‘lakhtakiya' car is still a bridge too far. "I am an electrician. I earn Rs 6,000 a month. I am barely able to send anything back home. A cycle is OK. But to spend Rs 1 lakh is like Mungeri Lal ke haseen sapne."
Nano: Dictionary meaning, one billionth of a unit
The Nano has prompted an avalanche of praise from visiting foreign correspondents. Some of them wondered at the economy car; others felt the launch was further affirmation of the India growth story.
An estimated 500 foreign journalists are reporting on the ongoing Auto Expo. One of them, Duncan Tift of Birmingham Post, said that in the UK it was difficult to get an equivalent point of reference. "To be able to come up with something like this at such a low price is staggering. There are more expensive bicycles in UK," said Tift, who admitted he was in town primarily to get the latest on Tata's Jaguar and Land Rover deal.Waiel SH Awwad of the newspaper Al Arabiya says that he was impressed by Ratan Tata for delivering the promised Rs 1 lakh car. "I think the car will be historic because it will bring down prices," he said. He added: "The Tatas have a good image in Syria and north Africa for their products such as steel, buses and two-wheelers. It is a known name in the Arab world." Evgeny Bezeka of the Russian news agency Novosti was impressed by the good-looking car. "You feel like getting inside it. That's its charm," he said.
Bezeka said that there's no equivalent to such a small car in Russia. "We have the Lada which would cost over Rs 2 lakh in Indian currency. It uses a 40-year-old technology," he said.
For Sophie, a French magazine journalist, Nano looks like "a three-wheeler on four wheels". "But I wouldn't like to make a judgment on the car itself. I'm here because there's great interest in India in the West."
Ratan Tata is a hero to a nation that sometimes feels starved of heroes. He knows it too. Mr Tata has used the emotional route before, when he announced his first passenger car years before it became a reality. It takes a certain courage to play with the expectations of a huge nation and then stick to the plot and deliver the goods. The Indica had a hungry audience when the car was finally launched. A car that was cheap to buy and run, it went on to become a huge success story and propelled Tata Motors to the third largest passenger car maker's position in the country. This time round, he has flirted with the emotions of an even bigger audience and, from the looks of it, the Tata Nano will be an even bigger success story. Certainly a billion hearts swelling with pride helps, but it is also important that the "one lakh car" looks and drives like a dream. We don,t know yet about the driving part, but what was unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo on Thursday was a production-ready prototype that takes the accepted way of building a mass-produced automobile. It uses a steel monocoque with built-in crashworthiness, and conventional sheet metal body parts. Mr Tata could have gone the route of using an extruded aluminium structure to ensure even more safety but then it would have cost much more. A frugal petrol engine mounted at the rear of the car has helped the engineers liberate a great deal of room inside the cabin. And, most importantly, everything is wrapped up in a beautiful package — there has been no compromise on either aesthetics or safety. All this at an investment cost of Rs 1,700 crore — which includes the development cost of the car as well as that of the upcoming plant at Singur in West Bengal.
Mr Tata has warned that inflation and the rising price of materials will mean the price tag going up in the future — but that should not be a worry in a country where 7-8 million two-wheelers are sold. A fraction of them converting to four wheels would ensure the success of the Tata Nano. But the car will have competition, as there are other car makers, some of them from the big league, who are toying with the idea of similar low-priced cars. Carlos Ghosn of Renault has already made the plunge and has asserted that such a project can only be done in India. Suddenly the needs of a developing market, like India, are getting priority with leading car makers. This is not very different from post-World War II Europe, which lapped up cost-effective transportation. Automotive legends such as the VW Beetle, the Citroen 2CV and the Fiat 500 were born out of the socio-economic conditions that forced car makers to reinvent the wheel. The Tata Nano, which features a rear engine format like that of the Beetle, has all the ingredients to join that list of illustrious automotive designs. The fact that it meets the necessary crashworthiness and emission norms of the day enhances its appeal. It might have started as a widely misquoted dream of one man — but Ratan Tata has ensured that he has turned it into an opportunity to take his firm to new heights.
In spite of what Ratan Tata might say, Sunita Narain and RK Pachauri would have spent an uneasy night. The prospect of hundreds and thousands of Nanos trundling down the roads of various Indian cities spewing carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide would have been nightmarish for them.
Are their worries justified? Not really, if the evidence and maths are taken into consideration. But that is getting ahead of the story.
For some experts, Tata Nano is actually a good thing. After all, had the Tata Nano not come along, there would have been another car to take its place.
"India is a growing economy and so people will buy cars. It is a good thing that they will perhaps be buying a smaller car which is complying with more stringent norms rather than a much larger car or a two-wheeler that follows less stringent norms," says Krish Krishnan, managing director, Green Ventures, a venture fund that invests in green initiatives. Mr Krishnan has been an entrepreneur in sustainable environment development.
But let us get to the heart of the argument and look at it clinically. After all, how much pollution will the Nano cause? Automobiles produce many pollutants: carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons and nitrous oxides. To make things simple, all of these have to be converted into equivalent amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) — the Mr Evil of environment today.
Now Euro IV compliant cars, which the Tata Nano is, produce one (1) gramme of carbon monoxide and 0.08 gramme of nitrous oxide. To convert them into CO2 equivalent, a conversion factor recommended by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) of which Mr Pachauri is chairman, is applied. It is 3 for carbon monoxide and 310 for nitrous oxide. Once all the maths is done, we get 30 grammes per kilometre.
So each time the Tata Nano moves a kilometre, it will release 30 grammes of CO2 equivalent material into the atmosphere. This is 40% less than what all others cars produce (50 grammes/kilometre or more) — and there are more than 5 million cars in India today. But let us take the argument into a zone where the naysayers would be comfortable: on the total amount of CO2 equivalent that Tata Nanos will produce over the next five years. This involves a bit of some assumptions.
So assume that Tata will from the next year sell 1,00,000 cars a year for five years and reach a total of 5,00,000 - half the size Mr Tata thinks a car at one-lakh price point may sell. Now let us take a range that the Tata Nano runs between 1,000 kilometres and 8,000 kilometres a year. If all those half-a-million cars run 1,000 kilometres then the total CO2 produced will be 15,000 tonnes annually.
If they all run 8,000 kilometres then the total CO2 equivalent will be 1,20,000 tonnes. In reality, the figure should be closer to 25-30,000 tonnes because our assumptions of car sales and annual mileage are on the higher side.
So are these numbers large? Taking the worst case - 5,00,000 on roads and each running 8,000 kilometres annually - the total CO2 equivalent will be less than 8% of India's total CO2 emission. And if we take a more realistic assumption then it will be less than 1% of India's total CO2 emission. Environment guys would do well to go after the other 99%.
Those who criticise the Tata small car are barking up the wrong tree and some of their arguments are elitist and discriminatory.
"India is in serious danger", warned the hugely popular New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman last November in one of his columns. The danger, he said, is from the $2,500-Tata small car which he believes is a highly retrograde initiative from a country capable of incredible innovation.
Why is Friedman so worried about a car that may never be seen on American roads? Because, he is very concerned about the well-being of us Indians! He is worried that we will make an even bigger mess of our road traffic and pollute our way to motoring bliss. He even asked Americans to urge Indians not to imitate the indulgent American way of life, but leapfrog and invent 'cheap-scale', sustainable solutions to big problems like public transport.
On the face of it, the column reads like yet another patronising sermon from a westerner baulking at the thought of third world masses enjoying cheap personal transport the way Americans do. But Friedman, a three times Pulitzer prize winner, is unlikely to harbour any prejudice against India and Indians.
After all, one of his biggest claims to fame is a true 'eureka moment' when it dawned on him that 'the world is flat' - while playing golf in Bangalore! The picture of Bangalore he paints in that book, with gleaming skyscrapers housing development centres for Microsoft, Sun and Oracle adorning his view from the golf course, would easily beat BJP's old 'India Shining' campaign.
Tom Friedman is not alone in deriding the Tata small car.
Ever since Ratan Tata announced his intention to build the cheapest car ever, there has been no let up from a variety of Tata baiters. Some competitors ridiculed the idea and questioned the company's ability to launch a car at such a low price. Green activists and 'concerned' souls, much before it caught Friedman's attention, have been warning us of the terrible fate that awaits us if the small car becomes a reality. Their objections range from vehicle safety to pollution and some of them sound plain elitist in their arguments.
The elite who pretend to be liberals
Last year, a columnist in a major Indian financial newspaper wondered how this country could allow a product like the Tata small car that would make our urban lives messier and all the more tedious. This is one of the biggest complaints against the Tata small car. But the question is, messier and tedious for whom? Obviously the urban rich, for the lives of the urban lower middle class and the poor cannot be made any messier! So, those who cannot afford more expensive cars must stick to their motorbikes so that the rich can continue to enjoy comfortable rides in thin traffic!
Another curious argument is that most of the potential buyers of the Tata car would have no parking space at their homes. So, it is said, they will all start parking their puny little cars by the roadside and clog traffic. A car manufacturer cannot be asked to sell to only those who have their own parking space. It is the potential buyers' problem to find a safe parking space. If they cannot find adequate parking space, or find parking to be very expensive, they will not take out their cars very often or will abstain from buying them in the worst case.
Given our 'highly developed civic sense' and 'ready willingness to obey the rules', it is likely that many of the new small car owners would conveniently park their vehicles where they should not. But, doesn't that happen even now with those who can afford expensive cars? It is the rich who flout traffic rules more blatantly and it is very likely that cars left at 'no parking' areas will be the most expensive ones because they know the traffic policeman will usually not dare to touch the 'sahib's gaadi'.
When that is the case, this argument smacks of blatant elitism. The less affluent cannot be denied the safety and comfort of a cheap four-wheeled vehicle, only because the existing infrastructure will come under further strain. Any move to restrict the number of cars should apply to all vehicles, irrespective of their cost. Even then, it should be ensured that the costs of such measures - like increased road taxes and parking charges - should be proportionate to the owners' ability to pay. Anything else will be discriminatory and simply unfair.
The safety bogey
Another potential fault critics have come up with is safety. "When you lower prices that drastically, how will you be able to meet safety standards?" - Anumita Roychoudhury of the Centre for Science and Environment (CES), one of the most-quoted critics of the Tata car, is reported to have asked. Does she really believe that there are no safety standards for vehicles in India? Even if they are inadequate, are we supposed to believe that a manufacturer from the House of Tatas, would risk its reputation and compromise on safety just to cut costs?
Even if the Tata small car is deemed less safe in terms of passenger injuries in the event of a collision, we need to remember that nobody in their right senses would enter such a car in a drag race! Neither will any sensible driver try to test the car's speed limit on our dangerous highways. Most potential buyers, ordinary middle class buyers, will drive the car to work or take their families for an outing on weekends.
Is the probability of high speed collisions on our city roads, where the average speed is in the range of 20 to 30 kmph, so high? In high-speed highway collisions, will the passengers in other small cars like the Maruti 800, Alto or even a Santro fare any better?
Furthermore, won't the Tata small car be far safer for lower middle class families who now use motorcycles and scooters with only the rider wearing a safety helmet in equally "dangerous" traffic conditions?
Roychoudhury has also argued that the Tata car has "not much chance" of retaining its price tag when safety features like airbags and anti-lock brakes are made standard in all vehicles. It is Ratan Tata who should worry about that, not his detractors. Oh! Shouldn't his critics be happier if the car becomes costlier and beyond the reach of its target customers!
The pollution bogey
R K Pachauri, with all the added gravitas from the Nobel Peace Prize, said the Tata small car is giving him "nightmares" - presumably implying the environmental impact of emissions from more cars on our streets. He is one of the biggest stars of the global warming campaigners, second only to Al Gore, and it is understandable that he gets nightmares. Just when he and his scientists and experts had convinced the sceptics that global warming was for real, here is a company from his own country, which he believes, is hell bent on worsening the problem!
Roychoudhury of CES is worried that "we have a time bomb ticking away" in terms of the environmental impact of hundreds of thousands of Tata small cars that will flood the streets in the coming years. Others are no less appalled or frightened. But, how real is the potential pollution problem posed by the Tata small car?
Ratan Tata has said that the car's emissions will be comparable to two-wheelers on a per passenger basis. That is assuming that the car will always have four passengers, which is unlikely. So, if the car replaces as many two-wheelers on our roads, total emissions will undoubtedly be higher.
But there is a potential upside, too. The Tata small car is said to be twice as fuel-efficient as other small cars. So, if some of the existing and potential owners of other small cars switch to the new car, the increase in overall fuel demand and emissions will be lower.
Again, it is not that millions of Tata small cars will be rolled out every year. Tata Motors' current capacity is 250,000 units per year, which is less than a quarter of the total cars produced in the country. In the long run, yes, the number of Tata small cars on our roads could be in millions. But, the number of other small car models sold over a period of as many years will also run into millions. Then, why single out the Tata car for criticism?
The Tata small car will definitely increase the pace of passenger car sales. But, the incremental addition to total car sales may not be as high as it is being made out to be. On balance, potential emissions are not the "nightmare" critics want us to believe.
The traffic chaos bogey
More cars on roads definitely mean more congestion. But, will the Tata small car make it that worse as some fear? It is estimated that there are over 12 million vehicles in India - four wheelers and above. Around a million are being added every year, and the additions will only increase. If Tata Motors sells as much as it can produce, we will see 250,000 cars being added every year. By the time the company reaches full capacity, at the earliest in 2009-10, total number of vehicles will be around 15 million. In percentage terms, the Tata small cars will constitute less than 2 per cent of total vehicles on our roads. Even if the company doubles its capacity, it will still be less than 4 per cent. Is that a big problem?
Our roads are congested in urban areas, not so much in semi-urban and rural areas. It is likely that a substantial number of Tata small cars will be sold in areas where the road traffic is not that bad. So, should the village aam aadmi also be denied a cheap personal vehicle?
Even if the Tata small cars create utter traffic chaos in our cities, it may be a blessing in disguise. The transport infrastructure in our cities is pathetic probably because our netas never have to suffer traffic blocks. The big shots, who take all the decisions, have police vehicles clearing the way for them.
The lesser minions, who lobby to influence the decisions, are usually chauffeured around and hence commuting is less tedious for them. So, to take a highly charitable view on our netas, it is possible that they are really not aware of the problems. When we protest loudly, they will agree to 'look into the matter', without really grasping the enormity of the problem and hence cannot be blamed for forgetting the promise.
But, they will grasp the problem better and will be forced to 'look into it' if their cars cannot move. For them to roll down their windows and see reality, the traffic should become so bad that even police vehicles cannot clear the way. Then they will do something about our roads or let the private sector do it.
I am all for mass transport systems - metro rail systems, high capacity buses on dedicated lanes and so on - for our cities. Many commuters would prefer public transport to driving their own cars, provided they are safe, comfortable and reliable. There is no doubt that, in the not too distant future, a majority of city dwellers will switch to public transport from cars. Because it will be impossible to take out the cars daily and our public transport systems would have improved beyond recognition by then.
But, that will be a gradual transition. All we can do is to exert pressure to speed up the process, and that is what all the activists railing against the Tata small car should be doing. Until we have better public transport, commuters would prefer personal transport - if they can afford it - and there will be huge demand for personal vehicles. You cannot fault a business for trying to meet market demand, in a supposedly liberalised economy. If the Tatas had not done it, somebody else would have. Bajaj already has a prototype ready!
All those who are arguing against the Tata small car are barking up the wrong tree!
For the world's cheapest car, it was one luxury arrival.
More than 1,000 people — journalists, VIPs and industrialists — packed an auditorium on Thursday as Tata Motors Ltd unveiled its long-awaited "People's Car" in a media circus more worthy of a pop concert or an Oscar ceremony.
For those wanting to feel India's economic self-confidence as it takes on the world, all they had to do was to experience the blaring music from "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the flashes of scores of cameras as the Tata Nano was driven out.
It condensed years of anticipation into one moment of mayhem.
"I haven't seen this many cameras in my six years in South Asia," said one veteran journalist. "You couldn't even buy advertising like this."
Ahead of the launch, major news channels devoted several minutes of airtime to live footage of a dark and empty stage where the car, a hatchback that is priced at about half the cost of the current cheapest car, would be unveiled.
"A promise is a promise," Chairman Ratan Tata said, as he announced a dealer price of 100,000 rupees ($2,500) as pledged five years ago, even though commodity prices have gone up and despite rivals' claims such a knock-down price was impossible.
For its supporters, it will revolutionise ownership in India, by allowing millions of the aspiring middle classes to own a car, and send a shock through the auto world with its cheaper engineering that will be copied across the globe.
As Tata reeled off the car's specifications and compared it to innovations such as the first man on the moon, people in the crowd, including many Indian journalists, clapped and cheered.
A hologram appeared of a husband, his wife and kid balanced unsafely on a scooter — a common sight in India. It faded to make way for an image of the Nano hovering above the stage.
Then came the rush as hundreds of journalists pressed around the car. A ring of Tata guards surrounded the Nano, begging cameramen not to scratch its new paint.
Then came the public. "It looks kind of cute," said Urvashi Sitani, a businesswoman who took pictures with her mobile phone. "I'd guess it proves popular with the younger crowd. But it's a girlish car. I can't imagine a man would be seen in a car like this."
From drawing board to Singur and to Sanand before hitting the showrooms, it has been quite a journey for Tata Motors’ Nano, the world’s
cheapest car. Here’s how the Rs one lakh car was born.
March 2003: Ratan Tata discloses plans to launch the world’s cheapest car at Rs 1 lakh at Geneva Motor Show.
May 2006: Tata Motors announces setting up Nano manufacturing unit at Singur in West Bengal with initial investment of Rs 1000 crore spread over 700 acres; scaled up to 1,000 acres with total investment of Rs 1,500 crore.
Oct 2006: Trinamool Congress opposes Tata Motors’ plans to set up factory at Singur, calls 12-hour state-wide bandh alleging forcible acquisition of farmers’ land.
Dec 2006: Violence mars Singur, five hurt in rubber- bullet firing. Mamata Banerjee goes on indefinite hunger strike, which was called off after 25 days following appeals from the Prime Minister and the President.
Jan 2007: Land puja offered at Singur car project site
Feb 2007: Police-mob clash at Singur.
Mar 2007: WBIDC signs a 90-year agreement with Tata Motors for Nano plant; farmer commits suicide; mob attacks proposed site; bomb explosion damages fencing
May 2007: Peace talks between state government and Trinamool Congress fail; one more farmer commits suicide
June 2007: CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu echoes Mamata Banerjee’s demand that only 600 acres is required for the Singur project instead of 1,000 acres, but state government rules out returning Singur project land to farmers
Nov 2007: Central forces deployed at Singur after fresh protests
Jan 2008: Ratan Tata unveils Nano at Auto Expo in Delhi; Calcutta High Court orders Singur land acquisition legal
Mar 2008: Nano showcased at Geneva Motor Show
May 2008: Supreme Court refuses to stay Nano roll-out from Singur
June 2008: Singur protesters break factory gate
Aug 2008: Talks between West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mamata Banerjee, who demanded return of 400 acres to farmers, fail. Subsequently, Ratan Tata threatens to exit from Singur. It was followed by Trinamool Congress’ indefinite dharna. Factory workers stay away from work after assault.
Sep 2008: WB Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi intervenes. Agreement signed between state government and Trinamool Congress but it is shortlived. Mamata Banerjee holds rally demanding return of 300 acres of land. Security guards at Singur factory attacked.
Oct 2008: Ratan Tata formally announces pulling out of Nano plant from Singur and days later declares Sanand at Gujarat as the new manufacturing location for Nano at an investment of Rs 2,000 crore
Feb 2009: Tata Motors announces launch date of Nano to be March 23.
Mar 2009: Ratan Tata unveils European version of Nano with added features and complying with Euro V emission norms at the Geneva Motor Show; Nano makes commercial debut.
Mar 2009: Tata Motors launches the Nano in India.
The Tata Nano is being launched today at the Taj in Mumbai. We had posted detailed specifications of the Tata Nano here. I am sure you all must be excited about the car and would want to know more details about the pricing, variants, specifications and booking. So here goes : -
Booking amount for the Nano is Rs. 2,999/-
Booking would begin on 9th April and remain open till 23rd April. 2009.
Deliveries of the Nano will start in July, 2009.
To make the car more easily accessible to people, the Tata Motors team will sell the Nano not just through Tata car dealerships across the country, but also through conventional retail outlets like Westside and Croma.
The application forms will be available for Rs 300 across some 30,000 centres, including Tata dealerships, Croma and Westside.
The Nano can be booked online and payment can be made through netbanking.
The price of 1 lakh will be applicable only to the initial 1 lakh customers.
The first one lakh applicants would be allotted the Nano by a random draw and they would not be given any interest on their booking money.
Tata Motors would pay 8.5% interest to applicants who don’t feature among the first one lakh buyers.
There are 3 variants of the Nano - Nano base, Nano CX and Nano LX.
The base Nano will comply BSII norms and the other variants will comply with BSIII norms.
Nano standard will be available in racing red, ivory white and summer blue. Nano CX will be available in racing red, ivory white, summer blue, champagne gold and lunar silver, whereas the top end Nano LX will be available in sunshine yellow, champagne gold and lunar silver.
Tata will produce 50% of the base variant of the Nano.
The Nano will reach 60kmph in 8 seconds and is electronically limited to 105kmph.
The car comes with a 15 liter fuel tank.
The Nano has a turning radius of 4 meters and comes with tubeless tyres.
The Nano petrol returned a mileage of 23.6kmpl when tested by ARAI.
Tata offers the Nano with 18 months or 24,000kms standard warranty.
Tata Motors Small Car plant at Singur (West Bengal) today crossed yet another milestone with the issuance of appointment letters to 17 youth from Singur villages. They received their appointment letters in the plant premises.
This first batch consists of the 17 Industrial Training Institute (ITI)-educated youth, who had been selected for a 6-month training at Tata Motors Jamshedpur plant since March 2007. At the end of the training, they took practical and theoretical tests and interviews, following which they were found to be suitable for employment at the plant.
They have been trained in Basic Fitting, Welding, MMV (Mechanic Motor Vehicle), Machine Shop, CNC (Computerised Numerically Controlled) Machines, Electrical, Electronics and Tool & Die Making. Their skill upgradation will continue at the Jamshedpur plant and subsequently at Singur.
302 others under training
Like this first batch, another group of 302 individuals, all from Singur villages, are now undergoing either a 6-month or a 9-month training programme since May 2007, at the ITI Howrah Homes, ITI Hooghly, ATI Dasnagar and the Ramakrishna Shilpa Mandir,
Howrah. After completing their respective programme, they will undertake a trade test to be conducted by the West Bengal Government's Department of Technical Education & Training (DTET). The successful candidates will then undergo 15 months' hands-on training at Tata Motors facilities to make them multi-skilled. On successful completion of this 15-month programme, the trainees will take the trade tests to qualify for trade certificates issued by the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) and will become eligible for employment at the Singur plant and vendor facilities.
Another 101 to start training
Yet another batch of 101 youth, also from Singur villages, is now being inducted for a 9-month training course. They will be trained at different ITIs. Like the current batch of 302 trainees, on completion of the training programme, these 101 youth too will appear for a trade test. The successful candidates will then undergo 15-month training at Tata Motors facilities. On successful completion of this 15-month programme, these trainees too will take the trade tests to qualify for trade certificates issued by the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) and will become eligible for employment at the Singur plant and vendor facilities.
This initiative is part of Tata Motors' comprehensive community development programme for Singur, in line with the company's practices in other locations. The programme includes: a) training, according to an individual's educational qualifications and skill, to improve their employability; b) training women for employability - through facilitation of cooperative societies - to produce a diverse range of items, which could be used in the Tata Motors plant or the vendor plants; and c) social development in the Singur area, through community centres, and support for primary health, primary/secondary education and adult education.
Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 - The Washington Post
For millions of people in the developing world, Tata Motors' new $2,500 four-door subcompact - the world's cheapest car may yield a transportation revolution as big as Henry Ford's Model T. The company will, however, not say how the price was kept so low on the basic version and won't say how much the luxury Nano will cost until it hits showrooms toward the end of this year. The company also refused to let reporters sit in the car, let alone drive it.
A snub-nosed wonder
Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 - The Sydney Morning Herald
INDIA'S TATA Group unveiled on Thursday the world's cheapest car costing $2,predictions the no-frills vehicle could revolutionise how millions in India and elsewhere travel. The four-door: five-seat sportylooking can which defied prelaunch predictions that it would be little more than a "motorised bullock cart on wheels", is due to hit the roads later this year at just Rs 100,000, excluding tax, after the Tata Group cut costs to the bone. The Nano has a two-cylinder 623 cc, rear-mounted engine with a top speed of 105 kms an hour The theme from Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey played as Tata unveiled the snub-nosed Nano -- so called to appear both high-tech and small - to cheers and applause at the annual Delhi car show.
Another Indian icon
Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 -The New York Times
For MILLIONS of people in the developing world, Tata Motors' new $2,500 four-door subcompact may yield a transportation revolution as big as Henry Ford's Model T. The potential impact of Tata's Nano has given environmentalists nightmares, with visions of the tiny cars clogging India's already-choked roads and collectively spewing millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air Industry analysts, however, say the car may soon deliver to India and the rest of the developing world unprecedented mobility "It is a potentially gigantic development if it delivers what has been promised," said John Casesa, managing partner for the Casesa Shapiro Group, a New York-based auto industry financial advisory firm.
Another The no-frill smart car
Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 - The Guardian
It HAS no radio, no boot, no airbag, no passenger-side mirror and just one long windscreen wiper. And if you want air-conditioning to deal with India's summer heat you'll have to buy the deluxe version. India's Tata Group on Thursday pulled the covers off the world's cheapest car, the Nano, which goes on sale later this year with a price tag of Rs 100,000 £1,260 - to bring motoring to the country's billion-strong masses.
For 70-year-old Ratan Tata, the group's chairman, the launch of the Nano is a landmark in transport comparable to the first powered flight by the Wright brothers, or the first moonshot. Like a modern-day version of Henry Ford, Tata's idea of an affordable car that is light and simple, yet made from high-quality materials. The result is a jelly bean shaped vehicle into which five adults can squeeze. The basic model makes no concession to luxury: its price has been kept low by using more plastic than steel, and swapping hi-tech glue for traditional welding. Rival manufacturers had questioned whether the car would meet safety standards, especially if the company plans to export such models to Europe.
Tata have been very smart and have studied the market very carefully, said Abdul Majeed, of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Like Ford's Model T, which drove the American motor boom in the early 20th century, Tata will give the Indian consumer a tough, easy to drive, cheap to maintain and, most of all, affordable car.
Tata's Nano defies expectations
Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 - The Times
It IS 3 metres long, seats four comfortably or five at a squeeze, does 65mph and aims to revolutionise travel for millions. The "People's Car" is also the cheapest in the world at Rs 100,000 rupees (£1,300) - the same price as the DVD player in a Lexus. The car is the culmination of five years' research and input from across the world, including Italy and Germany. But it was designed and made in India, defying expectations that a company best known for its elephantine lorries could manufacture a cutting-edge passenger product.
Environment worry of evolution?
Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 - The Independent
IT'S EITHER the start of a people’s evolution of the trigger for social and environmental headaches across the globe. The Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, was unveiled with great fan fare in the Indian capital on Thursday amid bright lights and blaring music. Designed to put a stop to a family of four travelling on a scooter, the new model from Tata Motors – and more importantly its price tag of ?1,277 – should make motoring affordable for a new class of consumer in the developing world. But green activists predict trouble ahead for countries that already have inadequate infrastructures and CO2 emissions. Tony Bosworth, from Friends of the Earth UK, said “The Tata Nano makes motoring cheaper and growing car sales in India will lead to big rises in carbon dioxide emissions. This is another blow to efforts to tackle global climate change. But per-person emissions will still be much higher in the West. Our priority must be to increase efforts to cut our own emissions and to show the rest of the world how to develop a low-carbon economy Though Tata talked of helping solve the transportation needs of rural Indians with his now car, it seems his vehicle is targeted at the country's newly aspirational middle class.
One could be pardoned for thinking that the hype surrounding the world's most cost-focussed mass produced car was all a media creation. Given not the column inches but literally double and triple page spreads in most national publications of relevance the Tata Nano was burdened with a great deal of expectation, both from within the company and outside.
The objective of delivering a four-wheeled all-metal car with performance, safety and comfort also had to keep an eye not just on the customer price point framed in 1000-point letters on the engineers walls in the ERC but also the fact that the project has to make money as well. Clearly philanthrophy was not even considered by the team led by Girish Wagh to translate his chairman's vision of providing automobility hitherto unavailable to a great strata of Indians.
Many completely rebuked the concept as not just audacious but totally harebrained when it was first espoused. This is an even more incredulous lot today, changing its line of detraction and seeking to know how and where the cost savings were made to arrive at the price Ratan Tata promised years ago. And it looks all set to deliver from the third quarter of this year.
Clever design, intelligent solutions with simplicity thrown in to achieve the functional aspects, weight reduction by way of ample digital analysis and a strict adherence to cost were some of the means employed to get the project so clearly defined through each and every stage of the design and development process.
Wagh's team underpinned its efforts by zeroing in on three vital parameters: it had to be a low cost focused automobile. Secondly it had to be designed and developed to meet all statutory safety and emission legislation while also being package protected to meet additional safety and other legislation issues which changing homologation requirements could throw at it. And finally the car had to have acceptable performance.
Clearly the project was much too daunting to have even precluded the normally focused Japanese small car giants to cry off. It also eliminated the Chinese for this was an all-new out-of-the-box concept which hadn't been made before and therefore couldn't be copied. The Europeans were scared after the painful exercise with the Smart which lost out on the grounds of complexity and price all that it tried to gain by having a very small footprint on the road. This fact was not lost on the Tata design and engineering teams and so began the arduous process of not just lateral thinking but also involving almost everyone within the company to think collectively.
Yes collective thinking came to the fore given the project's attraction. The challenge was also the attraction, engulfing everyone from the man at the helm of affairs to the shop floor operator who could - and were empowered to - bring in their own knowledge and experience to bear on various aspects of the design and engineering, the latter focusing on both the product as well as the manufacturing processes. This collective thought process was perhaps the biggest money saver and the largest repository of common sense brought to bear on a car everyone wanted to play a role in creating.
Good design was the critical element behind making effective savings in material usage, reducing mass and weight, getting the weight distribution spot-on for both ride and handling plus also stability and safety. Good design also made the engineers opt for the rear engine placement, in the process gaining both large occupant space and also major cost savings. First off lets factor in the design vis--vis the monocoque chassis. Absolute structural stiffness analysis was done concurrently with the stylists at the I.De.A. Institute in Italy who penned the look of the car.
NVH characteristics were as important to tackle at this stage as was the torsionsal strength of the structure. Using very lean but intelligent design, the team did enough to achieve its objective of a robust build for the application intended while yet not falling prey to the downward spiral of either over-designing or over-engineering. I think this is an abject lesson of great value engineering over both under - as well as over-engineering a concept.
Given the rear engineered layout, the engineers were able to move the firewall well forward and this proved advantageous in terms of not just reduced weight but also enhancing the cabin footwell area. A great deal of digital validation occurred at every stage of the design and build process, ensuring that corrective measures if needed, could be taken quickly in the normal process. Two clear instances of low weight and low material requirements come to mind straightaway: the ribbed (or swaged) roof structure is not just a style element but also a strength structure by design using sheet metal of a thinner gauge. A second design detail which delivered cost and weight reduction along with the adoption of a cheaper manufacturing process was in the use of the rear glass windscreen bonded to the tailgate. This helped in maintaining the structural rigidity while cutting down on the weight and also in the stamping and blanking processes.
The adoption of good design and packaging of the mechanical aggregates brought in great savings. The compact manner in which the engine is configured with a transverse twin-cylinder layout placed ahead of the rear axle line with the four-speed transaxle immediately behind it aided mightily in weight distribution plus also deriving a low centre of gravity. The battery being placed under the driver's seat helped spread the weight optimally while the radiator placed at the rear on the right hand side, ensured good placement of the ancillaries from an ease of operation point of view.
The rear-engined layout also helped save costs and complexity given that the driveshafts didn't need complex joints as in a front engined, front-wheel drive car wherein these shafts also needed to swivel with the steering. GKN came up with a great set of driveshafts which are robust yet light and pretty efficient to handle the power and torque. Speaking of engine performance, the 623.6cc engine makes 33bhp at 5000rpm coupled to a lusty 48 Nm of torque at 2500rpm. In fact the commuter nature of the car is best shown on the torque front with the low engine speed peak torque is produced, staying in a linear line all the way to the upper ends of the rev range.
Driveability isn't compromised while effecting major gains in fuel efficiency. Bosch played a major role in the development of the multi-point fuelling system and also the electronic management system enabling consistent and precise fuel delivery with optimized spark control, resulting in the frugal consumption of the 623.6cc engine.
Another element of good design and engineering concerned the 623.6cc engine displacement. Earlier a 580cc engine was designed but Ratan Tata himself found this inadequate in driveability and fuel efficiency. Bumping up the displacement helped the volumetric efficiency and with good thermodynamics, achieved the engine performance characteristics to haul four adults easily in the cut and thrust of our daily commute.
Another area where critical weight was saved, both physically and also dynamically concerned the adoption of the tubeless tyres made by MRF who are the single source tyre supplier's for the Nano. Given the lack of a tube in each wheel, a total of two kilogrammes were saved from the tyres alone, the lack of mass manifesting itself in low unsprung weight and resultant benefits in dynamic ability.
The use of just the right amount of plastics for the given surface area they covered in the cabin plus the architecture of the seats with optimised cushioning are details which might not seem very glamourous but they did aid the packaging engineers in their battle to balance costs, comfort and complexity. Bare basic instrumentation for this class of car comes across as more than adequate.
Finally, the complete project cost for the Nano, from design, development and production engineering a facility to make 250,000 units per annum are pegged at Rs 1700 crores - exactly the same amount the company spent a decade ago to kick start the Indica project. If that isn't good value engineering, pray tell us what is, for a car that you can buy for the price of top notch TAG Heuer sports watch? Need of the hour or a sign of the times? Or maybe both - the clock is now ticking for all the others to try and get their Nano clones ready.
It was an unlikely venue for the launch of a revolution. The gleaming lights, the massive stage, the smell of freshly minted cars, leggy lasses, popping flashbulbs, video cameras, cables feeding television channels across the world… the stage seemed set for a rock concert.
As Ratan Tata stepped onscreen via a 3-D hologram in a virtual cameo to narrate the journey of man’s romance with mobility, he looked every bit the rock star, even if in formals. A minute later, when Tata, in real flesh and blood, drove on to the stage to a standing ovation, it was clear that Indian innovation had shifted to a higher orbit on January 10. The 624cc four-seater Tata Nano promises to herald a revolution that will change the way India moves.
Priced at $2,500 or Rs 1 lakh at the dealer end, the car is the cheapest fourwheeler in the world. The next cheapest car would be the Chinese QQ3, which costs $5,000 (Rs 2 lakh). Indexed for consumer price inflation, the Nano is less than half the price of the 1983 Maruti 800, which was Rs 48,000.
A quick, back-of-the-envelope indexation for inflation shows that if the Maruti 800 had been launched today, it would have been priced at Rs 2,67,000. Consider the arithmetic of the proposition. At a rate of interest of around 12 per cent, the EMI or equated monthly instalment for the Nano could range between Rs 2,200 per month for a five-year loan and a little over Rs 3,200 for a three-year loan.
At over 20 km per litre of petrol, the car would have an operating cost of Rs 2.5 per km, which is well worth the safety of travelling on four wheels and the pride of personal mobility.
And you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the potential. Growing at 9 per cent, India’s GDP is over a trillion dollars (Rs 40 lakh crore), delivering an average per capita income of $1,000 (Rs 40,000). The launch of the Nano is timed to perfection. Consider the synchronisation with the emergence of India as a manufacturing centre that helped them cut costs, along with a highgrowth market with a scaleable potential.
One doesn’t have to rely solely on the market share occupied by Maruti. Currently, 80 lakh two-wheelers, 13 lakh cars and 6 lakh three-wheelers are sold in India every year. Add 5 lakh used car sales. Hypothetically, each of these buyers is a potential customer. At the price the Nano is being offered, there could be a new set of users—for instance, fuel-guzzling old taxis or unstable three-wheel rickshaws.
This proposition that prompted Tata to think about a people’s car: Typically, the trigger was a social concern. On a wet August night in 2003 Mumbai, when Tata was driving back home from his office Bombay House in Flora Fountain, he saw a young couple travelling with their two children on a two-wheeler and was struck by the enormous risks of riding on a wet road.
The thought of a small car germinated in his mind and a week later, on a visit to the Tata Motors plant in Pune, he shared his thoughts with MD Ravi Kant. Instinctively, his first query was whether the two-wheeled scooter could be made safe. “The first doodles,” in Tata’s words, “were sketches of a two-wheeler with a bar around it and some weather-proofing.”
Thereafter, a core team of 500 (including those in charge of setting up the plant) worked on the concept for four years. Indeed the first thoughts centered on a door-less four-seater that was more a quadricycle than a car.
The design envisaged the use of plastic weather-proofing of the kind seen in rickshaws and contemplated using new materials. But somewhere down the line, the ideas ran into a conflict with Tata’s brief. It was simple: it would seat four, have a low operating cost and meet all safety and emission standards. The team dumped the nascent design and focused on the process of building what would be a car differently.
As they worked on Project X, affectionately referred to as “chhota baba”, the market environment changed considerably. Product design and innovation cannot happen in a vacuum. It is not just the risk of competitors breaking the queue, there is also the changing cost structure.
For instance, in the last five years, crude prices have shot up—from $20 (Rs 800) per barrel to $100 (Rs 4,000)—and so has the cost of steel. With rising fuel and material costs, the need for a light, fuel-efficient car couldn’t be over emphasised. Being green was no longer just fashionable cultural liberalism, but made sound economic sense too.
All along, the competition, including Japanese and Korean giants, ostensibly masters of efficient design and innovative pricing, scoffed at the very proposition of a car that cost a lakh of rupees. Can’t be done, they said. Osama Suzuki, president, Suzuki Motors, jokingly speculated that “it would be a three-wheeler or a stepney”.
Tata, who wears his Indian identity as proudly and prominently as the Titan watch on his wrist, was confident that his team could make it possible. “Barriers to innovation,” he said, “were usually in the mind.”
He believed that there was room at the base price and with the skills of Indians, known for engineering cost-effective solutions, it could be done.
Maruti, which has 210 vendors and over 1,000 sub-vendors, is said to build the 800 at around Rs 1,10,000. So on the face of it, a smaller engine, a lighter build and reengineering could deliver a cheaper car for the Tatas.
When Tata invited his core team led by Kant and Girish Wagh on stage at the launch, it was as much a salute to Indian skills as it was a riposte to those who had said it couldn’t be done.
The Nano could not just change the way India will move, but also move the world to change the way it views Indian capabilities.
The car is not revolutionary in its looks or in the materials used. As far as the looks are concerned, it leans towards the Benz’s Smart, but the similarity ends there. The Nano is very, very Indian. What is revolutionary is the thinking, the philosophy behind the design. It has all been done before, but the elegance of the packaging makes it such a big draw.
The architecture—for instance, the placement of the engine below the rear seat—delivers cost and operational efficiency. As Tata points out, “The rear passenger seat is on the engine, so you save space; the engine is driving the wheels directly so you save engineering for the drive; you save the space in the bonnet and construction helps keep the costs down but yet meets safety standards.”
The result is dramatic in terms of utility and costs. The location of the engine also enabled the designers to give the car a rakish face that is bound to attract the youth as much as the running cost will.
Along the way, the vendors, which include Bosch for powering the car, Lumax for lights, Sona for steering, Shriram and Ricoh, were coaxed, corralled and challenged by Kant to cut costs.
As he told a vendor at a meeting at the company’s technical centre, “If this car clicks, it will be as much your success as ours.”
The vendors took up the challenge and reengineered their own products and thereby brought down costs by 15 per cent—and in some cases, even more. Indeed, Tata quipped that now when he asks his team if a certain element could be altered, “they say that would be so many rupees more and silence me”.
Indeed the Nano—which means small in Parsi-Gujarati—turns out to be a font of innovation, generating as many as 40 new patents for Tata Motors.
It wasn’t all smooth-sailing; there were hiccups. For instance, they had originally planned to launch a continuously variable transmission system on the lines of gearless scooters, but Tata was not satisfied and they opted for a conventional gear kit drawn from the home grown Ace.
So it looks like the world's cheapest car (the Tata Nano) could soon be the world's cheapest electric car as well.
The price of the Nano is just above $2,500 and Tata's chairman Ratan Tata says he expects demand to exceed supply. Tata's plant in the city of Singur in the state of West Bengal will eventually have the capacity to make 350,000 Nanos a year.
Tata Motors plans to make a second generation of its four-passenger Nano with a diesel engine. But initially, it will have a gasoline engine capable of 50 miles to the gallon.
But the interesting news out of Mr. Tata's talk to shareholders at the annual general meeting last week was that the company is competing for an Eco car in Thailand and looking at other ways to make even more fuel-efficient versions of the Nano.
Tata is working with a French firm in developing an electric Nano. The electric car will use compressed air. Tata Motors also announced earlier this year it is in talks with Chrysler on developing electric vehicles.
According to the Economic Times of India, a diesel engine for the Nano is being developed by a German company and will use a fuel injection system. Sources told the newspaper that the 800 cc, turbo charged diesel engine will be a two-cylinder and capable of at least 30 per cent more mileage compared to 800 cc gasoline powered cars.
It's hoped that the cheap vehicle willenable more people in developing countries to be able to afford their own car. But at the same time, there are concerns about the congestion and pollution caused by more cars on the road. In India, there are seven motorcycles sold for every car, according to the World Bank.
An all-electric or efficient diesel option would certainly decrease from those concerns. However, with India being coal powered, and lagging on emissions standards, it's not clear how much greener these cars really will be.
Today I got a chance to experience the most awaited car of the world - TATA NANO at one of the Local Tata Authorised Dealers and I must say SUPERB is a word to define this car, it breaks all myths that it would be an compromise rather than a true promise to deliver a complete family car at the price committed. Mr. Ratan Tata seems to have delivered his promise very well & I salute him for that. The car I experiences was the top model TATO NANO LX having Fog Lamps, A/C, 3 spoke stearing wheel, power windows & it was a bright Champagne Gold Colour (My Fav colour). I have managed to click some photos of this masterpiece do have a look and I am sure you gonna fall in love with this car but the only problem is that only 1,00,000 cars to be alloted through lottery system & I guess there wont be less then 20,00,000 applications for the car. My fingers are crossed, hoping I might be among the lucky ones .
Read more...Tata Nano’s online game has got the buzz going in the virtual world as well, with over 1.2 million test drives already. The game, developed in association with Zapak Digital Entertainment, is available in the ‘play’ section of www.tatanano.com. The web site has received 25 million hits since the launch of the car on March 23.
In this racing game, the player can customise the Tata Nano by choosing colours, wheels, decals, etc. The game can be played at three levels, with different sets of exciting challenges. The player has to reach the destination within a specified time limit.
Says Arun Mehra, chief marketing officer, Zapak Digital Entertainment, “The Tata Nano is a dream come true for India. Everyone wants to own the Tata Nano and experience it in every way possible. The game is a hit among our users and we are thrilled with the response.”
LONDON: Tata Motors has confirmed that it is collaborating to develop an air-powered car with French inventors, a
newspaper reported.
Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant told the Financial Times newspaper that his group last year signed an agreement with MDI, a private French company developing cars driven by compressed air.
"It's a very exciting concept, this way of running a car. We hope something will come out of it," Kant said.
He confirmed Tata Motors had the technology rights for India and was "studying whether it can be used".
Tata was looking at applying the technology for both mobile and stationary uses, he said in an interview published Sunday.
Reports last week said Tata was looking at the feasibility of applying the technology to power generation. According to MDI, which is based near Nice, compressed air technology can be applied to emergency generators.
Guy Negre, the French engineer who is working on the invention, was quoted saying last week his five-seater OneCat, with zero emissions in cities, will be marketed within a year.
"The first buyers [of the air car will be people who care about the environment," Negre said, adding: "It also has to be economical."
However, Kant said the group had "not yet announced when we will have a car".
A representative of the French company said Tata had bought rights to its engine, but not its car concept.
The paper said the car would be run by compressed air tanks at speeds below 50 km per hour, and by petrol, diesel or another fuel at high speeds.
The Tata Nano is finally here, sadly for the skeptics it is real and funnily enough for the competition it does even more than its most fervent
supporters deemed it possible. How do we know this when the car was launched only today? Because we are among a select few who actually got to test drive the Nano through traffic infested streets, national highways and swirly ghats!
Everyone knows the social cause to which Ratan Tata tried to find a solution and the overall solution has manifested itself into an automobile unlike any in the world. The Nano in itself is the epitome of the phrase “man maximum, machine minimum” principle. Our day long drive in the Nano gave us a sense of all what we wanted to know, on the performance and behavioral fronts.
Speaking of performance, the Nano is no slouch but isn’t a rocketship either. Given that median speeds in India are very low, the Nano has ample poke from its motor to run alongside a BMW in sketchy traffic clearly annoying the Bavarian bruiser but then that is the objective, of running along as easily in the city as it is painful for the BMW to hold its horses in check.
Thanks to it being light in weight, the steering gear is unassisted rack and pinion and the smallish steering wheel only needs slightly more effort than you would have wanted. Of course in future we would get electronically assisted power steering but for now even the direct version is more than adequate and spot on in its efficacy.
First look at the Nano may not impress you in terms of dimensions but even though the car looks tiny and miniscule in images but it is only when you come up close to it that you can make out that its virtual length constitutes the very cabin space! The Nano can definitely be termed as cute yet sensible.
The Nano drive was excellent, but we know that what really excites the ever price-conscious Indian car consumer is in fact the complete package that Tata has to offer with its new small car. With the recession hitting most automobile giants across the globe pretty hard, how long will Tata Motors be able to uphold common man’s dream car in the turbulent market?
Needless to say, big revolutions start with small ideas. We enjoyed driving the Nano and for you we have a special report so keep reading.
NEW DELHI: For aspiring engineers and entrepreneurs, it will be more than a means of cheap transport. In fact, if Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata has his way, it could even earn them their livelihood.
In the coming years, Tata has a plan to invite entrepreneurs to assemble the small car across the country, just like his vehicles are assembled overseas. For a small investment to set up these plants, these entrepreneurs will be supplied the vital components like engine, power train and chassis. The assembly plants would just put the car together at their works.
Similarly, Tata also plans to recruit local service engineers who will be provided with basic amenities like a cellphone, tools and training. They will then be given a few customers in their vicinity, so that these customers can directly contact this person to look after the car.
Says Tata: "I believe this is a way of distributing our wealth to the larger society."
Though the plans are still at a nascent stage, the design of the car has already incorporated elements that would make assembly and easy servicing possible. For example, Tata Motors and Bosch have dumbed down the electronics for fuel injection inside the engine quite a bit to make it easily serviceable. The car has fewer welded parts, again to ensure that entrepreneurs will not need to invest in expensive high tech machinery to put the parts together.
Industry expert are divided if such a scheme is simple to work out. Car assembly needs high degree of expertise and quality control. And going by the few available examples, it could also be a capital intensive process as the entrepreneur would have to buy car kits before he assembles them.
Tata Motors officials were not willing to talk about the plans for the project yet. Says an executive: "It will be a while before the idea is implemented but after we saw the expertise of our vendors in designing components for the car, we are confident that there will be others who will capable of putting the car together."
There is a buzz that there are a few international companies who have approached the Tata group to assemble their cars in India. Austria-based Magna Steyr known for its expertise in contract manufacturing is said to be talking to Tatas for this project.
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