Tata Nano: People's car, fourth largest light vehicle market in the world

The world's cheapest car hasn't ended. The Nano should be presented this year, but the mission began back in 2003, when Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors and the $50 billion Tata corporation, set a challenge to build a "people's car." Tata gave an engineering team, led by 32-year-old star engineer Girish Wagh, three chucks for the new vehicle: It should be low-cost, adhere to regulatory requirements, and achieve performance targets such as fuel efficiency and acceleration capacity. The design team initially came up with a vehicle which had bars instead of doors and plastic flaps to keep out the monsoon rains.


It's called the Nano, for its high technology, small size and for its cheap price. Tata Nano automobile is cute and squash. It's a complete four-door car. Tata nano gas engine is a 623-cc engine, gets 50 miles to the gallon, and the seats up to five. It's 8% smaller in outer length than its closest rival, Suzuki's Maruti 800, but has 21% more volume inside. And at $2,500 before taxes (value-added taxes increase the price by about $300), it is the most inexpensive car in the world. Starting this fall, the Nano will roll off the assembly lines at a Tata Motors plant in Singur, Bengal, and navigate India's potholed roads.


Tata nano cars, also known as the People's Car, is Ratan Tata's dream come true, and is India's contribution to changing the global auto industry. The car has put India on the global map. Tata has done in four years what the Japanese took 30 years to do. It will change the whole industry." Even rivals are gushing. "It's a red letter day for Indian industry, a day India should be proud of," says Venu Srinivasan, chairman of motorcycle maker TVS Motors. "Ratan Tata has the vision to create a new business model and all the naysayer are looking at it with concern. The Nano is a path breaker."


India will emerge as the fourth largest light vehicle market in the world owing to lower excise duty for low cost cars and will be ahead of developed countries like Germany, Russia and Brazil.


According to a public survey, Indian auto industry will stand in a special position by the year 2014. It will come forward as the fourth-largest light vehicle market in the world, riding on low-cost cars. India will be seen ahead of countries like Germany, Russia and Brazil in the years to come.


With Tata Nano and low-cost cars from Renault/Nissan and Hyundai hitting the Indian roads, the MINI CAR segment would lead. By 2014, the light vehicle sales are expected to reach a mark of 4.5 millions units.


According to analyst, “The demand for the low-cost car will be a great hit for the two-wheeler sales and also the people’s car Tata Nano would challenge Maruti Suzuki for market leadership.”


In the year 2007, the sales figure of light vehicle in India stood at 1.7 million units whereas America topped the list with 16 millions units. China was at seven millions, Japan - five millions, Germany - 3.4 millions and Italy at 2.7 millions units. With the growing demand for light vehicles, India will be able to reach the fourth position by 2014.


The factor that would contribute to the growth in the low cost cars would be the lower excise duty, which are 12 per cent compared to the 24 per cent for larger vehicles.

Tata nano cars also known as the People's Car

It's called the Nano, for its high technology and small size. Tata Nano automobile is cute and compact. It's a complete four-door car. Tata nano gas engine is a 623-cc engine, gets 50 miles to the gallon, and seats up to five. It meets domestic emissions norms and will soon comply with European standards. It's 8% smaller in outer length than its closest rival, Suzuki's Maruti 800, but has 21% more volume inside. And at $2,500 before taxes (value-added taxes increase the price by about $300), it is the most inexpensive car in the world. Starting this fall, the Nano will roll off the assembly lines at a Tata Motors (TTM) plant in Singur, Bengal, and navigate India's potholed roads. Here is the tata motors nano car pictures:


Tata nano cars, also known as the People's Car, is Ratan Tata's dream come true, and is India's contribution to changing the global auto industry. "The car has put India on the global map," says Fionna Prims, head of business development for Segment Y, a Goa-based automotive consultant for emerging markets. "Tata has done in four years what the Japanese took 30 years to do. It will change the whole industry." Even rivals are gushing. "It's a red letter day for Indian industry, a day India should be proud of," says Venu Srinivasan, chairman of motorcycle maker TVS Motors. "Ratan Tata has the vision to create a new business model and all the naysayers are looking at it with concern. The Nano is a path breaker."

Tata NANO - The People's Car from Tata Motors

In the world of Automobile, Tata Group’s again set a benchmark by made the car name TATA NANO, The world’s cheapest car of rupees 1 lacs. Tata Motors nano gave a very stout example in front of their competitors. However, as the expectations from the Indian middle classes soared, the opinions resonated with global sentiments on the need for an affordable car that would carry the common people. The light has ultimately shone with Tata Motors realizing the dream into reality.

Tata Motors unveiled the Tata Nano, the cheapest car in the world at the Delhi Auto Expo its price is only Rs. 1 Lacs so peoples are calling it Rs. 1 lacs car, which was held recently in the Indian Capital city. There were mixed reactions among the global manufacturers with some looking at it with envy and some dismissing it to be yet another gimmick only to say, "Let's see how long it lasts". International Automobile giant Volkswagen was all praises for the car. All emotions taken into account, it was a red-letter day for Tata Motors nano, which entered the annals of history for having released the world's cheapest car.

The Tata Nano Car is also much lighter than comparable models as a result of efforts to reduce the amount of steel in the car (including the use of an aluminum engine) and the use of lightweight steel where possible. The car currently meets all Indian emission, pollution, and safety standards, though it only attains a maximum speed of about 65 mph. The fuel efficiency is attractive - 50 miles to the gallon.

Hearing all this, many Western executives doubt that this new car represents real innovation. Too often, when they think of innovation, they focus on product innovation using breakthrough technologies; often, specifically, on patents.

Measuring progress solely by nano Tata patent creation misses a key dimension of innovation: Some of the most valuable innovations take existing, patented components and remix them in ways that more effectively serve the needs of large numbers of customers.

Everyone waits for TATA Nano

TATA MOTOR’S ultra-cheap car, Nano, still remains on top position of the hot topic chart and has already attracted a long queue of customers.


It is the taxi drivers and the cab drivers that stand top on the list; many taxi drivers have postponed their plans to buy new cars and prefer to wait for the Nano’s launch, which will be in this October.


Nano was unveiled at the 2008 Auto Expo in New Delhi. The small car is enhanced with 600 cc engine and a seating capacity for four persons.


Earlier, it was Tata’s Indica and Sumo, the preferred vehicles on account of high fuel efficiency, easy maintenance, and easy affordability, but once the Nano is launched, it is going to pull all the crowds towards itself.


Tour operators and business process outsourcing (BPO) cab fleet owners feel the TATA cars provide enough power to run their operations at a lower cost. Taxi owners and cab vendors around the country swear by Tata Motors’ hatchback car, Indica, and multi-utility vehicle, Sumo.


Presently, Indica is the single largest used taxi across commercial transport in India. The diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) versions remain the most fuel efficient hatchback in its segment. In spite of spiraling costs, Tata persistently has worked out the cost/profit ratio and has managed to stick to its Rs 1 lakh target. Taxi operators and BPO cab vendors want to have a combined fleet of Tata Indica and Micro to achieve optimum operational costs.


Nano would worst hit the auto rickshaw manufacturers. Currently, an auto rickshaw costs Rs 1.4 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi), an Indica car costs Rs 3.5 lakhs and an ambassador car costs Rs 4.5 lakhs onwards. Auto rickshaw owners are also eagerly awaiting Nano’s release and want to upgrade their services according to the impact it will have. The advent of Indica and Sumo into the market phased out the Ambassador cars from most cities, auto rickshaws might just be the next.


However, it is yet to be known if the government will allow Tata’s one lakh car for commercial purposes. The taxi operators are keeping their fingers crossed over the government’s decision. They hope that the small car would be a major hit in their intra-city operations and also in the tourism segment. It could also create huge employment opportunities in smaller cities.


The small car will be available in both diesel and petrol versions. The diesel version contains the new common rail direct fuel injection developed by Bosch, German leader in automotive component manufacturing, especially for the low cost cars.


The taxi fleet operators hope that the diesel version will fetch them higher fuel efficiency than any other car on road. They are expecting the small car to repeat the success of the one-ton truck Tata ACE. It was a runaway success and sells more than any other light commercial vehicle and three-wheeler and is the highest selling small utility truck in the Indian market.

source: http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=133052

How Tata has built a car that costs less than a motorbike

Consumers are familiar with the price of electronic products falling, whether it is digital cameras, wide-screen televisions or DVD players, and even passenger cars have reduced in price in real terms over the past decade. But January’s launch in India of the Tata Nano Car, priced at just 100000 rupees (around E1720), has come as a shock to many people.


Everyone appreciates that labour costs are lower in India than in Europe, but material costs are similar. How can a car cost less than we are used to paying for good quality motor scooters here in Europe?

When the Nano was unveiled the senior managers from Tata made it clear that this is a ‘proper’ four-door family car, not a motorised quadricycle or four-wheeled moped. Given that the two-seater Smart Fortwo costs around E9000, it is worth taking a closer look at the Nano to see how it has been designed so as to achieve such a low showroom price.

First, however, Tata acknowledges that there is really no profit margin on the base model; profits will come from customers specifying the deluxe models with air conditioning, electric windows, colour-coded bumpers and other options (Fig.2). And this highlights one way in which the Nano costs have been held down – the standard model is very basic by modern standards. Nonetheless, care has been taken to ensure that the car has adequate performance, meets current emissions standards (EuroIV), is fuel-efficient (20km/litre) and is safe thanks to crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat belts and other features.

Indeed, the Nano will inevitably be considerably safer than the popular mode of family transport in India today, consisting of a motorbike or scooter with the father driving, his child standing in front, and the mother seated behind, holding a baby.

Furthermore, the Nano is better suited to all-weather journeys and is a genuinely affordable alternative for many people.

Tata has launched the Nano as a family car for four or five people, but the company concedes that the Nano is no limousine, with its dimensions of 3.1m long by 1.5m wide and 1.6m high. Once again, though, the compact dimensions help to keep costs down, as the smaller the vehicle is, the fewer materials are required for its construction.

A small, lightweight car can also be fitted with a smaller, lighter engine. In the Nano’s case, the 624.6cc, 33PS, 48Nm twin-cylinder aluminium engine is mounted transversely under the rear seats, ahead of the rear axle line and mated directly with the four-speed transaxle.

Because the Nano was being designed to be such a low-budget car, all components had to be designed from scratch, with nothing carried over from Tata’s other vehicles.

Furthermore, this clean-sheet-of-paper approach enabled the company to use production technologies that were appropriate to the Nano’s specification and projected volumes. For example, it is reported that hydroforming is being used for tubular structures, and rollforming is being used in place of stamping. Other design features have contributed to the reduced weight, such as a ribbed roof that adds stiffness and enables thinner steel to be used.

Elsewhere on the car, great care has been taken to minimise tooling and production costs. One small example of this is similar handles and mechanisms for the left- and right-side doors. In preparation for exporting the Nano, it has also been designed with a central instrument binnacle instead of mounting the instruments in front of the driver – which is a concept seen on other ‘people’s cars’ such as the Morris Minor and Morris/Austin Mini around half a century ago.

Girish Wagh headed the team of almost 500 people that developed the Nano over a four-year period. And although some of the vehicle’s production processes may seem ‘low-technology’ when compared with the heavily automated plants found in Western Europe, a great deal of digital analysis was carried out during the design and development phases of the project.

In addition, Tata empowered and encouraged everyone in the company to contribute ideas and suggestions, on the basis that collective thinking – and a vast pool of common sense – would benefit the design and engineering, as well as helping to save costs.

Where particular expertise was deemed essential to the success of the project, Tata used leading suppliers as development partners, such as GKN for the drive shafts and Bosch for the multi-point fuelling system and electronic engine management system.

High volumes are an important element in low-cost products, and Tata wants to build one million Nanos per year.

However, a conventional plant to build such high volumes would require a substantial investment, so Tata has looked at a distributed manufacturing model, in which entrepreneurs can establish manufacturing facilities based on Tata’s low-cost manufacturing unit that offers a low break-even point.

Nonetheless, Tata has constructed a new factory in Singur, and many of the suppliers are establishing their own facilities in an adjacent vendor park. It has been reported that around 90 per cent of the car's components will be outsourced, with some 75percent coming from single-source suppliers that have received long-term contracts and high-volume commitments in exchange for even lower component prices.

Similarly, unconventional servicing concepts have been investigated, such as training self-employed people who can be certified by Tata to perform servicing at the customer’s premises.

The Tata Nano is the type of project that stems from one person’s vision, and the Nano is the brainchild of Ratan Tata, the company chairman. Originally he wanted to create a ‘people’s car’ as a safer, all-weather alternative to two-wheelers for families of four or five. Mass transport in India is either not available or of poor quality, and the nations improving economic climate means that there is a market for a low-cost car. The first ideas centred on a low-end ‘rural’ car with plastic roll-down curtains instead of doors and windows. However, as the project progressed, it became clear that the market would respond better to a low-cost version of a conventional car.

Something else that changed during the design phase was the choice of materials and production processes. For example, high-technology engineering plastics and adhesives were abandoned in favour of welded steel, as the high-volume production targets meant that waiting for adhesives to cure was impractical.

For several years the Nano has been talked about as a 100000 rupee car, and this figure is one aspect of the project that has not changed. Ratan Tata says that the figure of 100000 rupees was first quoted in an interview with him in the UK’s Financial Times. Although he had only said that the car would cost in the region of 100000 rupees, he decided to adopt that figure as a target price.

Over the intervening years, this has been increasingly challenging due to inflation and rising costs of raw materials such as steel.

Nevertheless, the Nano was launched on 10th January 2008 and Ratan Tata said the Nano will be on sale later in 2008 for 100000 rupees plus value-added tax and delivery charges.

The most popular European low-cost car is the two-seater Smart (Fig.3), but its price is four to five times higher than that of the Nano. While the two cars are similar in some respects, they are far apart in more ways than price.

Smart’s philosophy is to offer a compact, safe, clean, economical yet fun vehicle primarily for transporting one or two people around urban areas. No doubt the Smart Fortwo has been the subject of considerable value engineering to reduce the manufacturing and assembly costs, but not to the same extremes as seen in the Tata Nano.

Furthermore, Smart cars are available with a wider range of powertrains, with a particular emphasis on fuel economy and exhaust emissions (but note that Tata plans to introduce alternatives engines and transmissions for the Nano in the future).

The Smart micro hybrid drive (MHD) is based on a conventional 71PS petrol engine with an automated manual five-speed gearbox. However, the starter motor and alternator are replaced by a belt-driven combined starter-generator unit to serve the car's fuel-saving start-stop function.

When the driver brakes and the speed falls below 8km/h, the engine is automatically switched off. As soon as the driver’s foot comes off the brake pedal, the engine restarts, first gear is selected and the car can be driven off – all without any noticeable delay.

Fuel savings are said to be 8percent in the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), giving 4.3litres per 100km. Carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by a similar percentage to 103g/km. In city traffic, fuel savings can be as high as 19percent.

For drivers wanting a ‘zero emissions’ vehicle, Smart is trialling an electric drive (ED) version of the Fortwo in Paris and London during 2008, with a view to this variant entering series production in 2009. With fully charged batteries – which takes around eight hours – the Smart ED can travel approximately 115km in the Extra Urban Driving Cycle (EUDC). An 80percent charge is possible in four hours and it is claimed that the battery will last for 10 years.

At current energy prices, the Smart ED’s fuel cost is said to be approximately E0.02/km, which is considerably lower than the fuel costs for petrol or diesel versions of the Smart.

Furthermore, the 0-60km/h acceleration time of 5.7 s is similar to that available from the petrol variants, despite the electric motor’s power output being much lower at 41PS (30kW).

Many drivers will also be attracted to the Smart ED because they can enjoy tax advantages and additional benefits such as exemption from road charging schemes. Although the carbon dioxide emissions are quoted as being zero, it has to be remembered that much of Europe's electricity is generated in power stations that emit carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

With the two cars aimed at very different markets, it is not surprising that the Tata Nano and Smart Fortwo have little in common beyond their compact dimensions. Nevertheless, the remarkably low showroom price of the Tata Nano does suggest that Western automotive manufacturers could probably reduce the price of their vehicles considerably if they were able to devote resources to that, instead of continually working towards higher specifications than their competitors, and striving to meet ever-stricter safety and environmental targets imposed by politicians.

Tata Nano booking will be started from June

Tata Nano is going to e in the market in the October month, let see if all thing would be fine then it would be launched in October. As news in the market that its booking would be started from June.

Its very good news for the keen desire who ever is waiting for Tata Nano car. Because as soon as the Tata Nano would come in the market, peoples could easly drive and see the facility of the car.

Tata Motors presents the Nano at the Geneva Motor Show

Tata Motors today presented at the 78th Geneva Motor Show the Tata Nano, the People’s Car, and three other vehicles, the new generation Indica, the new Safari DICOR 2.2 VTT and the Xenon.


The Nano will first be launched in India later in 2008. The new generation Indica will be launched in the latter part of 2008 in international markets. The Safari DICOR 2.2 VTT and the Xenon have just been introduced in select markets.


Speaking on the occasion at the Geneva Motor Show, Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group and Tata Motors said, “1998, when we displayed the Indica at Geneva, marked our entry into passenger cars. The last decade has been a period of significant development in Tata Motors’ capabilities. The display of the Nano, which is a first for the global automobile industry, and the new generation Indica signifies this in-house progression.”


The Nano

The Nano is designed as an all-weather, safe family car at an affordable price. When launched in India, the car will be available in both standard and deluxe versions. The standard version has been priced at Rs.100,000 (about US$2500 / Euro1700), excluding VAT and transportation cost.


The Nano can comfortably seat four persons. Its mono-volume design will set a new benchmark among small cars. It has a rear-wheel drive, all-aluminium, two-cylinder, 623 cc, 24.6 kW, multi point fuel injection petrol engine.


Its safety performance exceeds regulatory requirements in India. Its tailpipe emission performance too exceeds regulatory requirements. In terms of overall pollutants, it has a lower pollution level than two-wheelers being manufactured in India today. The lean design strategy has helped minimise weight, which helps maximise performance per unit of energy consumed and delivers high fuel efficiency. The high fuel efficiency of the car results in low carbon dioxide emissions, thereby providing the twin benefits of an affordable transportation solution with a low carbon footprint.


The new Indica

The new generation Indica has been given a complete makeover. The new Indica is bigger than the current Indica with a length of 3795 mm (existing 3675 mm), width of 1695 mm, height of 1550 mm and wheelbase of 2470 mm (existing 2400 mm). The rear sloping wind screen also increases the sense of spaciousness in the passenger cabin. The new Indica will be available with a new range of world class diesel and petrol engines and transmissions with a new suspension. The car will be offered with the new 1.3 litre Quadra-Jet Common Rail Direct Injection Diesel engine and 1.2 and 1.4 litre Safire MPFI VVT Petrol engines, in addition to existing Tata powertrains. The new engines will be manufactured at the new Tata-Fiat joint venture plant in India.


The new Safari DICOR 2.2 VTT

The Safari is powered by a 2.2 litre 103 kW common rail direct injection Euro IV compliant diesel engine. The new styling and comfort features are complemented by convenience and safety features, such as ABS and airbags.


The Xenon

The Xenon is also equipped with a 2.2 litre 103 kW common rail direct injection Euro IV compliant diesel engine. With superior styling, comfort and safety features this is a versatile pick up truck suited for business as well as leisure applications. It is offered in single cabin, double cabin and space cabin versions in 4x2 as well as 4x4 configurations. Superior fuel mileage and better payload capacity make it a profitable choice for commercial and personal usage. While continuing to be manufactured in India, the Xenon will also be manufactured in Thailand and will be marketed in Tata’s existing European, Asean and African markets.


The Tata range has been selling in select European markets since 1993 and has continued to gain increasing response year after year.

source: http://www.tatamotors.com/our_world/press_releases.php?ID=353&action=Pull

Tata undecided about reducing Nano price

Following the reduction in excise duties in the union budget, automobile major Tata Motors has slashed the prices of its Indica and SUV models. However, the company Saturday said it was undecided about lowering the price of its forthcoming model Nano, already considered the world's cheapest car at Rs.100,000 ($2,500).

'It's too early' to say whether this would have a bearing on the prices of the proposed family car, Tata Nano, expected to hit the market at Rs.100,000, a company spokesperson told IANS.

According to present indications, Nano will be available in the showrooms in the second half of this year.

Among existing models, the prices of the popular Tata Indica car series have been slashed between Rs.8,500-Rs.14,600.

In the commercial light motor vehicle segment where the company has more than 150 models, including Tata Sumo and Safari, the prices have been reduced by two percent across all models.

'We want to pass on the benefits of the excise duty relief to our consumers,' the spokesperson said.

Another auto major Maruti Suzuki has also announced price reductions following the tax cuts.

source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/indiaabroad/20080301/r_t_ians_bs_

Toyota to make India small car hub

The ‘big daddy' of the automobile industry seems to be finally fuelling up for India. As it wraps up small car plans for the Indian market, the Japanese auto major promised to the Government to make India a base for export of the car to other markets, a development that would sure provide a boost to the Government's intention of making India a hub for manufacture of small cars.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe on Monday called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and apprised them of the company's plans for the market. "He met me and informed me that Toyota would be doubling its investments in India and would also make small cars in the market that would be exported to other countries as well," Nath said after the meeting.

Watanabe, whose team included Indian joint venture partner Vikram Kirloskar, refused to speak about plans for the market and officials dubbed his meetings as a "courtesy call".

However, Nath said the company would finalise small car plans in the next 3-4 months before going in for expansion of production. "They have said they would be expanding at their current manufacturing location, near Bangalore, and would not go for any new location," Nath added.

Toyota Kirloskar's small car project is believed to be in an advanced stage. The company is currently finalising key vendors for the project that would help it get it sales numbers, considering it had a poor 3.6% share of the passenger vehicle market last fiscal.

Government officials said Toyota's plans were in line with India's intention of becoming a hub for small cars.
Toyota has already signalled that India could play a big role in the coming years. The company has said it would increase production capacity in the country more than ten-fold to 6 lakh units by 2015 from the current about 55,000 units as it hopes to corner a big 15% share in one of the world's fastest-growing auto markets.

Src:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/Toyota_to_make_India_small_car_hub/articleshow/2738901.cms

Tata Nano Details

TATA has launched a new car Tata Nano at Pragati Maidan, Newdelhi on Jan 10th first day of Auto Expo....when all car manufacturer company was waiting for Tata New arrival in the market and they all were waiting to see the feedback of the market but when Tata Nano had been lacuhed then each and every one become keep mum...at that time some one thought that this Tata Nano will become NUMERO UNO brand car in the market....but see when it will come in the market. As we all know that its booking has been started from the January'08 but people could see this car in mid of June.



VEHICLE SUMMARY
Name: Tata Nano 1 Lakh Rupee Car
Model: Petrol
Top Speed:90
Fuel Consumption(Highway):26
Fuel Consumption (City):22


ENGINE DETAILS
Displacement:796cc, 3 cylinder
Engine Type:Petrol
Maximum Power:33bhp


OTHER DETAILS
Seating Capacity:4
Tyre Size:0
Steering:No Power Steering
Brakes:Front Disk, Rear Drum
Gears:4 Manual
Fuel Tank:30.00

SPECIAL FEATURES
AC: Don't have Climate Control
Power Windows: No
Central Locking:Manual
Driver Seat Adjustment:Manual
Leather Seats:No
Door Mirror:Driver Side

The making of the Tata Nano

Ratan Tata rolls the window down and talks about the vision and conviction, the innovation and improvisation, and the leap of faith that went into creating the People's Car.


The launch of the People's Car by Tata Motors is a defining moment in the history of India's automotive industry. For Tata Motors, the car — christened the Nano, because it is a small car with high technology — is the next big step in a journey that began with the Indica. For the Tata Group, it is the realisation of a pioneering vision to create a breakthrough product globally that rewrites the rules of the small-car business.

What does this path-breaking endeavour really mean for the Chairman of the Tata Group, in many ways the inspiration behind the car? That's what Christabelle Noronha set out to discover when she met Mr Tata at Pune, as 2007, a momentous year for the Group, was drawing to a close.


The Tatas and you, in particular, are on the brink of realising a long-cherished ambition. Do you feel vindicated? Are you apprehensive?
There has always been some sort of unconscious urge to do something for the people of India and transport has been an area of interest. As urbanisation gathers pace, personal transport has become a big issue, especially since mass transport is often not available or is of poor quality. Two-wheelers — with the father driving, the elder child standing in front and the wife behind holding a baby — is very much the norm in this country. In that form two-wheelers are a relatively unsafe mode of transporting a family. The two-wheeler image is what got me thinking that we needed to create a safer form of transport.
My first doodle was to rebuild cars around the scooter, so that those using them could be safer if it fell. Could there be a four-wheel vehicle made of scooter parts? I got in touch with an industry association and suggested that we join forces and produce what, at that point, I called an Asian car: large volumes, many nations involved, maybe with different countries producing different sets of parts… Nobody took the idea seriously, nobody responded.
This was similar to what happened when we wanted to get going on the Indica. I had proposed a partnership with an industry body to create an Indian car, designed, developed and produced in India, something that could be conceptualised and executed as an Indian enterprise. Everybody scoffed at the concept. I remember people saying, "Why doesn't Mr Tata produce a car that works before he talks about an Indian car." My confidence got a boost when we finally succeeded with the Indica. Willy-nilly, we decided to look at [the low-cost car] project within Tata Motors.


It was never meant to be a Rs1-lakh car; that happened by circumstance. I was interviewed by the [British newspaper] Financial Times at the Geneva Motor Show and I talked about this future product as a low-cost car. I was asked how much it would cost and I said about Rs1 lakh. The next day the Financial Times had a headline to the effect that the Tatas are to produce a Rs100,000 car. My immediate reaction was to issue a rebuttal, to clarify that that was not exactly what I had said. Then I thought, I did say it would be around that figure, so why don't we just take that as a target. When I came back our people were aghast, but we had our goal.

Today, on the eve of the unveiling of the car, we are close to the target in terms of costs. We are not there as yet, but by the time we go into production we will be. This project has proven to everyone that if you really set yourself to doing something, you actually can do it.

Two-three important events have influenced the development of the car; inflation, for one. The cost statement was made three-four years back but we are holding on to that price barrier. This will definitely diminish our margins. The price of steel, in particular, has gone up during the intervening period.


A second point is that we initially conceived this as a low-end 'rural car,' probably without doors or windows and with plastic curtains that rolled down, a four-wheel version of the auto-rickshaw, in a manner of speaking. But as the development cycle progressed we realised that we could — and needed to — do a whole lot better. And so we slowly gravitated towards a car like everyone expects a car to be. The challenge increased exponentially; there was the low-price barrier, inflation, adding more features and parts to the vehicle, substantial changes in basic raw materials… What the team has been able to achieve, in the face of all these constraints, is truly outstanding.

What does it mean to me? It means that we have in us the capability to undertake a challenge that many car companies have chosen not to address or have been unable to address.

What are the innovations that have made the Tata Nano possible, from design to product finalisation?
Initially I had conceived a car made by engineering plastics and new materials, and using new technology like aerospace adhesives instead of welding. However, plastics didn't lend themselves to the volumes we wanted because of the curing time required. Volumes mean the world in this context: if we produce this car and if it is for the wider base of the pyramid, we can't settle for small numbers because then the purpose is defeated.

When we were planning facilities for the car and working out a business plan, the business plan shown to me was looking at a figure of 200,000. I said 200,000 cars is crazy. If we can do this we should be looking at a million cars a year, and if we can't do a million then we shouldn't be doing this kind of car at all.

But such a figure (a million cars) has never been achieved in the country before. If it had to be done the conventional way, it would have meant investing many billions of dollars. So we looked at a new kind of distributed manufacturing, creating a low-cost, low break-even point manufacturing unit that we design and give to entrepreneurs who might like to establish a manufacturing facility. We looked at different ways of servicing the product, at the customer's location, and through a concept adopted from the insurance industry, wherein self-employed people are trained and certified by us. And we went back to innovation in design and scrupulously took, as much as we could, cost out of the product.

We did things like make similar handles and mechanisms for the left- and right-side doors; we developed our own small engine which could sit under the rear seat, enabling us to craft a smaller overall package; we looked at a new type of seats; and we worked at cutting costs everywhere. We have put our instrument cluster in the middle, not in front of the driver. This means the same dashboard will work for a left-hand-drive vehicle. There are a lot of such innovations that are low-cost and future-oriented.

Equally important to the cost structure was the incentive we could get from having our manufacturing facility at a particular place. The benefits on this count will be passed on to the customer.

Our move to West Bengal was a leap of faith and a sign of our confidence in the leadership in the state. We were breaking new ground, not only on the product front but also in helping industrialise a previously ignored part of India. But we did not start out getting the incentives that other states were offering. I remember telling the chief minister [Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee], "Sir, much as we have tried, it makes no sense for us to come to West Bengal. We cannot meet the cost requirements we have without incentives." It was then that we negotiated a set of incentives that, long-term, work out to be the same as we may have had if we set up in some other place.

Other than emission norms and safety standards, what are some of the other challenges, physical and psychological, that Tata Motors had to overcome to make this car happen?
There was the usual dilemma of what is basic and what is nice to have. A basic car may not have all the niceties its fancier cousins sport, and when you're looking at saving money on every single bit of the car — even parts that cost as little as Rs20 — you keep facing these dilemmas. Hundreds of such dilemmas have risen.

However, we were always conscious that there should be no quality stigma attached to the buying of this product. One thing we were clear about: this was never going to be a half-car. Nobody wants a car that is less than everybody else's car. Our car may have a small engine and certain limitations in terms of being basic, but that does not make it inferior. Also, we have a higher version of the car — with air conditioning, leather seats, etc — that we will be displaying at the auto show in Delhi. We hope people will look at that, too. Down the line, as we widen our range, we will have dressed-up versions with higher-powered engines, diesel engines, automatics and the like. We have a whole bunch of innovations coming along on this platform.

What we now have is a car that is truly low-cost which has, approximately, the same performance as a Maruti 800 in terms of acceleration, top speed, etc.

When future versions of this car hit the market, will they not be in direct competition to the Indica?
No. The way I see it, this vehicle will cannibalise some of the lower-end car market and some of the higher-end motorcycle and scooter market. It will eat into both of those markets but it will also create a market of its own. It will expand the market by creating a niche that did not previously exist. It may well cannibalise some of the higher-end car market, but to a small extent, and probably only when people look to buy a second or third car.

About the criticism that the car will add to India's pollution problems, why are the Tatas being singled out?
This is something I'm going to talk about at the launch. For now, let me just say our car will cause less pollution than a two-wheeler.

I'm trying to think of a parallel where someone has introduced a product at a disruptively low price and changed the market. A good example would be the Swatch watch, low-cost, trendy and with a wide range. Did Swatch finish off the Swiss watch industry? No (in fact, it was a Swiss company that created Swatch, the same company that produced Omega). Did it finish off Citizen and Seiko and other Japanese competitors? No. Did Swatch cause the Japanese and others to produce something like the Swatch? Yes, it did, but Swatch continued to dominate its niche.

What did this do to the global watch industry? It enabled somebody to look at a wrist watch almost like cufflinks: you could buy 10 Swatch watches, you could wear different ones for different occasions. Swatch sold multiple watches for a single wrist. I think something similar could also happen with the Nano.

Why are people attacking only the Tata Group?
I think it comes from vested interests. Let's ask ourselves why the car is attracting so much attention and why it is being attacked so much. My view is that if the car were not attracting all this attention, it wouldn't be attacked. This car has provoked serious apprehensions in some manufacturers. There are people in our company even who fear what it will do to the Indica. Do you think there's a concern among three-wheel manufacturers that it might replace their vehicles? Yes, there is because some three-wheelers cost more than what the Nano will cost. All in all, I think people are attacking us because they are apprehensive.

Has the Indica experience helped in the creation of the Nano?
Oh yes, enormously. The Indica experience and the Ace experience have helped; Ace especially because it was another tight, cost-based exercise.

From the Rs1-lakh car to products costing many millions, if the Jaguar deal comes through: What next for the Tatas on the automotive front?
I won't comment on the Jaguar deal, but to answer your question, we are not in an acquisitive mode. That's not our strategy for growth.

The Tatas have been on the front pages constantly of late-- what is it like being in the middle of it all?
Embarrassing and unpleasant. Whenever you are on the front page, you are also — each time, and more so in India than elsewhere in the world — creating detractors and critics. For every action there is some kind of reaction, somebody who is hunting for something to criticise. And most often it is the reaction that people remember. This is all the more embarrassing because we are not a Group that seeks publicity.

If you look at the coverage that has happened, you cannot fail to notice how the low-cost car has been turned into an issue of congestion, of pollution, of safety. Initially it was all about why a car at this cost was simply not possible; that talk is long gone, only to be replaced by these 'new' concerns. We are not really talking about how it will change the way people live or transport themselves, what their aspirations may be.

Ideally, I would really wish we didn't have the visibility and the media publicity because we haven't sought it.

Source: www.Tata.com

History

The project to create a 1 lakh rupee car began in 2003, under the Chairman of Tata Motors, Ratan Tata. The strategy behind the project was the awareness of the number of Indian families who had two wheeled transport, but couldn't afford a four wheel car, and was based on the company's success in producing the low cost 4 wheeled Ace truck in May 2005.

Industry convention was that a reliable car couldn't be made at such a low price, so initial media speculation was that the car would be a simple four-wheeled auto rickshaw. However, The Times of India reports that the vehicle is "a properly designed and built car". The Chairman is reported to have said, "It is not a car with plastic curtains or no roof -- it's a real car."

During development the company reinvented and minimized the manufacturing process, brought in innovative product design, and asked component manufacturers to look at current work and design approaches in a different perspective to produce logical and simple solutions.

The car was designed at Italy's Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering, with Ratan Tata ordering certain changes during the process, such as reducing the number of windscreen wipers from two to one.

Tata Nano - Word Cheapest Car

All you know that Tata has launched new car called Tata Nano in the market. Its really very nice car as a color and rate as well. We all know that in the market there is lot of car manufacturer company is in the market but what tata has lauched its really very nice. But still we have to wait for the feedback after coming in the market of Tata Nano.

When we discuss about its features...it has most of all features which basicaly need for a successful car. According to my knowledge Tata has launched this car to target not only upper level family but also middle level family as well. If some one ask to me now a days any suggestion about car so obviously i will suggest for Tata Nano.. as it is available in multiple color...here i m showing some of them and its interiors....