HISTORY was made on January 10, 2008 when Ratan Tata launched the ‘people’s car’ aptly named Tata Nano. It is the cheapest car in the world; but by no means a ‘cheap’ vehicle. It is a full car; contrary to what people assumed, it is not a ‘scooter with four wheels’ or an ‘auto rickshaw on four wheels’ or ‘two 2-wheelers welded together. Tata Nano is a ‘grounds up’ designed car that has several breakthrough features, all for an unbelievable price of Rs 1, 00,000 (US $ 2,500) at the show room (taxes extra). Interestingly, there are about 40 patents that encapsulate the ‘intellectual assets’of the Tata Nano.
WHY’S NANO IMPORTANT?
The Nano has been a dream for many countries.Exactly 100 years ago Henry Ford launched his Model T in the US, Volkswagen in Germany had a similar goal when it launched its Beatle model; similar attempts made elsewhere include Citreon 2CV in France and Fiat 500 in Italy; Suzuki Motors launched its Maruti 800 in India in 1981. What sets apart Tata Nano is the price; for example, the launch price of Maruti 800 in 1981 was Rs 60,000, which in today’s terms would translate to Rs 2,50,000. Nano makes a better case, because it has features comparable to contemporary cars, unlike some of its predecessors who had stripped down versions of the cars of that age.
Ford’s Motel T, Volkswagen’s Beetle and Fiat’s Fiat 500 changed their countries; it all started with the farmers using these vehicles to move their farm produce. All those countries did not have a road network when the vehicles debuted. It is a different time today (21 st century and not 20th century); yet, if Tata Nano indeed can mobilize rural India,surely the country will be on its way to prosperity.In USA there is a car for every three persons, in India there is a car for every 1,000 people. If every Indian starts driving the Nano today, there will be an environmental hazard; but the Nano will evolve, as Ratan Tata himself mentioned; it will look at alternate fuel including hybrid and electric versions. Hopefully, over the years governments will build infrastructure too and the Tata Nano will be a ‘watershed event’ in the growth story of India.
The nine lessons from the Nano are:
ENDURANCE IS THE KEY
Tata Nano is the result of four years of toil for a dedicated team of 500 professionals under design head Girish Wagh — a wiz-kid designer who worked earlier on Tata Ace mini truck and Tata Indica passenger car. The Chairman of the $50 billion Tata Group Ratan Tata was personally involved throughout. There was considerable skepticism (even ridicule) from global players. It is to the credit of Ratan Tata and his team that they worked against such adversities. Such endurance is the first lesson for students.
GET INNOVATIVE
Tata Nano posed several technical challenges;the decision to go for a two cylinder engine, introduction of a balance shaft, rear mounting of engine and power train are key design decisions calling for boldness and innovation, the second lesson.
LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE
For the IT crazy youngsters who limit their vision to Java and c++, the engine management system (EMS) and the engine control Unit (ECU) of Tata Nano have a lot of software and hardware challenges;one needs to look at IT in much broader terms, the third lesson for students.
PRESS AHEAD
A hue and cry was raised against Tata Nano; the misguided political establishment is bent on stopping the production of Tata Nano in the Singur plant; the scientific community had some misplaced criticism; instead of pointing out the need for better public transport, rail and road infrastructure, traffic management and alternate fuels, the environmentalists find fault with Tata Nano for making every middle class Indian a potential car owner. It is to the credit of the Tatas
to continue in their pursuit
of excellence, in spite of
such heavy criticism; such
an unrelenting pursuit of a
goal against severe criticism is the fourth lesson for students
KEEP YOUR PROMISES
Over the past four years, the prices of raw materials (particularly metals) have gone up more than the national average price increase. Yet, Tatas decided to keep the price at Rs 1,00,000. As Ratan Rata himself said “A promise is a promise” — a worthy fifth lesson for students.
LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITY
Interestingly,Ratan Tata got the inspiration for Tata Nano by observing a common scene on Indian roads; in Ratan Tata’s words “I observed families riding on two-wheelers, the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby.It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe,affordable,all-weather form of transport for such a family.”Only Ratan Tata could see a ‘hidden opportunity’ in that sight. Such keen observation and ability to see hidden opportunities is the sixth lesson.
COMMUNICATE CLEARLY
The marketing communication during the launch is the seventh lesson for students. The full page advertisement said “It is here, the new Tata Nano, to end all speculations, debate and talk”, and “to change the way India travels”, a simple, compelling way to articulate the value proposition and quietly silencing the critics. For others there were just four points:
• Seats four
• Eco-friendly
• Fuel efficient
• Meets safety standards
BE EXCITED
The eighth lesson for students is the way Ratan Tata reacted to journalists about his feelings on Tata Corus acquisition vs Tata Nano launch. True, Tata Corus is a huge $ 10 billion (Rs 40,000 crores) deal. According to Ratan Tata,”Corus was a transaction; there is a different level of excitement when you are building something.” Students should get this message right.“Creative engineering jobs are as exciting as Wall Street (and Dalal Street) analysts’jobs.”
GET INSPIRED!
One hopes that Ratan Tata will be the hero of your generation — he speaks your lingo and through the Nano — you should be inspired to create something that solves the problem of your country, in your life time. That would be the ninth lesson.
S Sadagopan
Source: Times Of India
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