(Source: Autoblog)

 (Source: Business Week)

As the commercial model of India’s microcar is unveiled, U.S. carmakers would do well to learn from the innovations that brought it about

When Tata Motors (TTM) unveiled a prototype of its Nanomicrocar at the Delhi Auto Show in January 2008, auto executives around the world were aflutter. Quickly, they hustled teams to India to document the planned $2,000 “people’s car.” And industry watchers and innovation experts soon reported on the engineering and supply-chain breakthroughs behind the car.

Some 14 months later, Tata is set to show off the commercial version of the Nano, on Mar. 23. Today, the U.S. auto industry is struggling to survive, with General Motors (GM), once the world’s biggest carmaker, on the brink of bankruptcy. Look beyond the Nano halo and it’s clear that Tata Motors has problems of its own, from the $2.3 billion in debt it took on to purchase Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor (F) last year to the sums sunk into the Nano assembly plant in West Bengal that had to be abandoned. On top of that, there are the Nano competitors in development.

Still, no one disputes that the Nano is innovative on multiple levels—from its engineering to its marketing to its manufacturing. So it’s hard to avoid the question: What can a humbled Detroit learn from the Tata Nano?

A lot. The lessons start with the vision of Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors’ parent, Tata Group, to create an ultralow-cost car for a new category of Indian consumer: someone who couldn’t afford the $5,000 sticker price of what was then the cheapest car on the market and instead drove his family around on a $1,000 motorcycle. “Just in India there are 50 million to 100 million people caught in that automotive chasm,” says vice-president Vikas Sehgal, a principal at Booz & Co. And yet none of the automakers in India were focused on that segment. In that respect, the Nano is a great example of the so-called blue ocean strategy.

ROADS TO GREATNESS

“Great companies are built on creating new markets, not increasing market share in existing ones,” says Vijay Govindarajan, a professor at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and chief innovation consultant at General Electric (GE), who quickly runs off 10 lessons for Detroit. Among them: U.S. automakers should focus less on incremental improvements to existing cars or adding a new model to the Cadillac line in order to compete against Lexus, and think more broadly about new market opportunities. Where, in other words, are Detroit’s blue oceans?

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source:  Autocar via Autoblog/Jalopnik)

Autocar’s review:  Riding on small 12inch wheels and tubeless tyres, the Nano rides surprisingly well. Most bumps are rounded nicely, but as the speeds climb the ride can get a little choppy. The steering has a little vagueness around the centre position, dial in more lock; it feels direct and provides good feedback as well. Grip levels are decent but are limited by the narrow tyres. Straightline stability is also commendable.

Here is the verdict: 

So is it a proper car? Yes, it definitely is. It offers better space than even a Santro at the front, while backseat space is quite decent. Comfort levels are good and it will come with an efficient engine as well. It isn’t perfect; owners will want more power and a 5-speed gearbox. But Tata has achieved what it had set out to do – Affordable motoring for the masses. 

Our good friends at Jalopnik say this after watching the review from Autocar:   The reviewers seem amazed the car is able to drive down the road and not feel like it’s going to roll over at any moment. Sort of like Sarah Palin in Vice Presidential debates, if you set the bar so low you’re only expecting to see a human being able to put a three-word sentence together, you can’t not clear it. Thus, the reviews are filled with notes galore on the tiny wheels, flat seats, and comparisons to the Model T.  

(Source: Wired; Photo: Associated Press)

(Source: BBC Earth Watch)

So far, just about everyone seems to love the self-styled “world’s cheapest car”, the Tata Nano.

Writing on these pages, Indian motoring journalist Hormazd Sorabjee writes that “It thrilled me with its ‘proper car’ feel”; while for Adil Jal Darukhanawala of zigwheels.com, “The Nano has the makings of a mega winner.”

And what’s not to love? A five-seater car that does about 20 km per litre (that’s 56 MPG in old money) and costs $2,000 – come on! – and it’s not the end of the line, with Bajaj, the company that principally populates South and Southeast Asia’s roads with auto-rickshaws, planning to launch its own tiny car (the Pico?) within two years.

Just about the only people sounding a cautionary note on the tiny Nano’s giant appeal are environmental groups, notably the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

They judge it inappropriate for Indian cities, choked by traffic, where jams mean a journey across town can already be measured in hours.

“Cars may drive growth and aspirations, but they can never meet the commuting needs of urban India. Cars choke cities, harm public health and guzzle more oil.”

CSE’s simple prescription is more investment in mass transit schemes.

Although one can see the logic of their argument, it’s hard to imagine it prevailing.

Many Indian cities already have swarming bus networks and suburban rail networks. They’re slowly being supplemented by true mass transit rail systems – up and running inCalcutta and Delhi, under construction in Mumbai and Bangalore.

(Source: Jalopnik)

Pre-orders are officially being taken today for the Tata Nano in India at an MSRP of 100,000 rupees (just under $2,000). That makes the Nano officially the cheapest automobile in the world.

The on-road price will be a little bit higher, probably around $2,400, once you factor in excise duty, education fees and road tax, along with transportation cost, local taxes, insurance and registration fees and “a lifetime parking fee” (applicable in some locations).

(Source: BBC)

He has worked as a chauffeur for top businessmen in Pune and Mumbai – ferrying them around the country, to important meetings in big, fancy and expensive cars.

He has sat behind the wheels of dozens of cars, from an old British Morris to the Land Rover he’s driving now.  It’s been an honest, hardworking life – albeit austere.

The salary of a driver in India can only afford you so much. Mr Pandurang has worked hard to support his family – putting his children in English language schools, so that they would get opportunities he never had.

He’s never been the kind of man to want anything for himself, working night and day to feed his family instead. But throughout his life, he has had one dream: to own a car of his own.

Last January, Mr Pandurang and his family watched in awe and excitement as the unveiling of the world’s cheapest car was broadcast on television screens across India.

They were sitting in the living room of their modest flat when they first saw Ratan Tata, the boss of the Tata Group, announce on national television that the Nano would be sold for 100,000 Indian rupees – around £2,000 at the current exchange rate.

“I was shocked” says Rakhee, Mr Pandurang’s 24 year old daughter. “It was like God had answered our prayers – we could finally help to make dad’s dream come true.”