Canadians developing love for Tata Nano

It may not be available in Canada for years, if ever, but Canadians have already fallen in love with the idea of the Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car.

With a top speed of 105 km an hour, a 33-horsepower engine and the looks of a snub-nosed beagle, the Tata Nano from India is hardly a vehicle that could be described as a “babe magnet”, according to a survey.

But the expected $2,500 price tag is drawing plenty of attention — including from young women — a poll of Canadians suggests. By comparison, inexpensive sub-compacts in Canada can cost upwards of $12,000.

The survey conducted in late January by Canadian Press on 1,004 adults suggests the Nano would be a hit in Canada if Tata Motors, which expects to start production this fall, decides to export the car.

Tata has said the Nano would be manufactured strictly for the Indian market for the next two years.

More than one in three respondents (36 per cent) said that someone in their household was either certain or likely to buy one if they could, although 41 per cent said that was unlikely.

As well, 21 per cent said they believe the five-seater will be a big winner around the world over the next 10 years, and 54 per cent said they believed it would be at least a moderate success.

The poll has a 95 per cent accuracy probability within a sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

“I think this tells us that as much as we’re seeing growth in the luxury car segment, there’s still burgeoning demand in the lower end segment, particularly among younger Canadians and those who are not as well off,” said Bob Murphy, senior vice-president with the polling firm.

Those open to purchasing the Nano were young Canadians in the 18-34 age group who reported household incomes under $60,000 a year.

There was almost no difference in appeal between men and women, but politically, supporters of the Green party (51 per cent) were far more favourably disposed to the car than Conservative supporters, at 33 per cent.

That may have to do with the fact that the car, which gets more than 20 kilometers per litre of gas and is regarded as less polluting than other automobiles, is viewed as relatively environmentally friendly, as opposed to other automobiles.

The irony is that the Nano has also been called an environmental disaster because it is expected to cause an explosion in car use in India, and after it is available for export, other poor, and developing countries.

Chief United Nations climate scientist Rajendra Pachauri, who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize, said last month that “I am having nightmares” thinking about the Nano.

But the idea of the Nano is a sweet dream for many in the developed world, leading at least one other manufacturer to say it too plans to jump into the micro-cost car market.

Meet Team Nano

"A dream turns into reality"

More then 500 engineers worked day and night over past 4 years to create the world’s low cost People’s Car - NANO

Some of the key engineers on the Nano team
Girish A. Wagh, 37
Head of the Small Car Project, was also involved in the design of the small truck Ace.

R. G. Rajhans, 46
Project Manager (Body Systems), was responsible for the body and trim design.

Nikhil KJadhav, 29
An industrial designer with INCAT (a Tata Technologies company), Jadhav was the lead exterior designer.

Jai Bolar, 29
Sr Manager (Development), ERC, Bolar was the chief engineer on the project.

Keshav K Mirasdar, 57
Dy General Manager (Prototype manufacturing), ERC, Mirasdar. Involved in manufacturing of the prototype vehicle.

Abhay M. Deshpande, 44
Asst General Manager - Vehicle Integration, ERC. Involved in the process of vehicle integration, packaging, performance & chassis design.

Viewpoint: India and Tata Nano

Days after the big launch of the much awaited small car, the Tata Nano the debate continues on its implications on Indian economy and the infrastructure. I know this post comes a bit late, but so what keep reading. Many argue that the car is going to slow down India in its Economical growth, even noted Journalists like Thomas L Friedman, of the NY Times asking not to follow American footprints. Dr. Pachauri, who had sleepless nights on the car, adds that the car is not the transport solution for India. It was never intended to be.

To begin with, Tata Nano does make a car’s dream for many Indian’s come true. Many of them who had a two wheeler as the only mode of transport would like to upgrade to this one. The implication of this as envisaged by Dr Pachauri is that it would rather add to the no of vehicles on the street rather not hitting the Indian bike market. Definitely, I would agree to some extent on that. A car can never replace a bike. The average Indian buyer would still like to own the bike, while adding the car.

Agreeing with many, the car would also increase the traffic congestion situation in India, but I also add that attacking the small (read ‘also cheap’) car market in India is not the solution. The car does imply to change the economic geography of the citizens. What have to be looked upon are the policies that govern the car market in India. Definitely there shall be numerous ways to tax the car buyer with regard to controlling the traffic situation in India. If taxing is not politically feasible, then there can be different ways to police traffic situations in India. Taxing the car owner, in general can be seen as an elitist move by many. A move to tax the car owner can be seen as making the rich richer and the poor poorer. For many, the move will discourage buying a car. Taxing need not be in form of a direct tax levied at time of Income tax collection, but rather taxes can be levied depending upon the city’s traffic situation. For instance certain sections of the city can be cordoned off for using personal transportation and only public transportation. Many shopping roads, the crowd-ier sabji mandis, workplaces can be such a case wherein one is encouraged to use public/common transport.

The other issue that the small car boom that has arrived is the environmental concerns, which Dr. Pachauri long talks about. The foreseen increase in the no of cars shall also increase the petrol demand in the country. As of today the Oil companies loose around Rs 9 per liter of petrol sold. That translates to crores of rupees as of today’s sales per day. The Hindustan Times estimates that with the Tata Nano, increasing the no of cars on road, the demand is all set to sky rocket past expectations, and estimates that Tata’s car alone may lead to Rs. 164 crores in losses. Here’s an excerpt.

The Tata car will start off with a production facility for 2.5 lakh cars a year to start with, scaling up to a million per year by 2010. If we assume that the Tata car sells 2.5 lakh a year then in two years there will be five lakh new Tata cars on the roads. If on an average the cars use one litre of petrol a day (the car’s engine gives 25 kilometres to a litre) then the total petrol need in a year would be 18.25 crore litres. (India consumes over 1100 crore litres of petrol a year).

And if Tatas can add a million cars a year, that will add fresh demand for 37 crore litres of petrol every year. Its not just Tata, every carmaker is bringing in new small and big cars for India. In fact the automobile sector is growing at 22 per cent every year.

This is bad news for India, which imports 70 per cent of its crude oil. It’s even worse news for Indian petroleum product marketing companies. They lose over Rs 9 on every litre of petrol sold. With a surge in demand their losses will go up. The Tata car alone, may increase their losses by Rs 164 crore.

In such a case the government may have no option but to increase the present prices, even if the left goes red on that. The present scenario in India demands that we realize how much the government pays for the petrol, for out increasing demands. Oil companies insist that the petrol and diesel be freed from the government’s control, and rather subsidise only kerosene and LPG. It’s not just the government but the people themselves have to realize the need to go green, and cut petrol usage. For that regard the Tata Nano, is quoted to be very fuel efficient. Company figures claim a mileage of 20+, and confirmation to European and Indian emission standards. Here’s the excerpt from the Time,

Ratan Tata emphasized that the new car complies with India’s emissions laws and even with Europe’s much stronger Euro 4 standards. Emissions, Tata says, are “lower than a scooter’s today”. The company claims the car will also deliver 50 miles per gallon, or better than 20 kilometers per liter, which would make it one of India’s most efficient vehicles, and vastly more efficient than the average in the U.S.

Tata also argued that if the car adds to the traffic problems to a city, then it’s the Government’s problem to solve out the problem. Obviously, we do have traffic problem without the Nano on road, so why do we have these small cars being targeted. Just as the tax benefits on the small car has triggered a rage in the small car market as many manufacturer want to utilise the benefits, the Government should think of incentivising the development of ecofriendly cars, may that be hybrid/fuel call or electric for that matter and impose fuel efficiency norms.

But with India’s road infrastructure struggling to keep up with explosive growth in car sales, won’t the new Tata just add to the country’s road hassles? That’s a problem the Indian government has to deal with, not manufacturers, Tata said. “We’d certainly be concerned if our vehicle created absolute chaos all across India,” he told one questioner who complained that his morning journey of a few miles across Delhi took over an hour. “But if you had chaos today and it did not include our vehicles, then I would suggest the problem has to do with something else besides the presence or absence of our vehicles.” India, he agreed, “does desperately need mass transit systems… both within cities and between cities.” But poor Indian families also have a right to what millions take for granted elsewhere in the world. “Should they be denied the right to independent transport?”

It’s is a worth a thought that our transport policies need a change, a reform indeed. The policies regulating the infrastructure management in India need to shape up to meet the increasing demand in the country. There need to be faster planning with a foresight of the future to have developments, that won’t prove redundant in a short matter of time. I agree with Mr. Tata that everyone has the right to own a personal mode of transport and denying them would an elitist move. He is also qouted to say in an interview on the Tata website that the main attraction of the car is not getting the attention, rather the reactions are. an excerpt,

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.

Indeed, Tata Nano is a beautiful example of Indian Engineering capabilities. The very fact that the small car boom has triggered a variety of global auto manufacturers like Nissan, Volkswagen etc to think of something similar, proves that it is a viable business option. The car which now shall cater to the transportation need of the rural India, a potential market which was not accessed by any of the business giants. The car influx into these areas does create market for other business activities. The spending power of the people increases thus creating business oppurtunities for many. The advent of personal transportation in rural market also helps in cultivating local business and entrepreneurship. That’s a real good sogn to see for all of us.

Time shall tell how long can the company stick to the 1 lakh price tag. As the lower end models shall deliver lower margins for the company, we may see some heavy marketing for the higher version and more features including better engine options. Tata Nano is not a story of Indian engineering that ends with the big bang launch. The story has just began. The car which now makes into history books as the world’s cheapest car, is poised to hit a million sales a year. If that’s not enough the car shall continue with innovation that will change the transport is perceived in India. Imagine a battery powered Nano, just like Maini Reva or a hybrid or a fuel call version of the car.

Source: http://mutiny.in/

Used-car prices down ahead of Nano entry

Call it the "Nano effect" but less than a month after Tata Motors displayed its competitively-priced small car at the Delhi auto show, prices in the 1.3-million used-car market crashed 15 to 30 per cent, if not more.

The Nano, due to be launched this October, will carry an on-road price of about Rs 1.3 lakh (for the base model), which is lower than the price of many used cars in the A segment (which includes the Maruti 800 and Alto, for instance).

"The price of a second-hand Maruti 800 has dropped over 30 per cent since the Nano was unveiled. To give an indication, the price of a 2002 model has dropped from Rs 1.1 lakh in December to Rs 75,000 today," said Arif Fazulbhoy, director, Fazulbhoy Motors, one of Mumbai's largest car dealers.

A 2003 Hyundai Santro that was available for Rs 2 lakh before the Nano display, is now on offer with an 18 per cent discount at Rs 1.65 lakh.

A 2003 WagonR model from Maruti Suzuki is currently sold at Rs 1.8 lakh, a discount of Rs 33,000 on its used-car price of December.

Despite this steep price drop, Fazulbhoy said it is hard to find buyers because many are postponing their purchase decisions till the Nano launch.

"With Nano's entry the three-year-old Alto has now become affordable to the buyer who was earlier looking only for a Maruti 800 used car," added Sunil Mittal, vice-president -- network and business development -- of one of Delhi's largest used-car dealers, First Choice Wheels (earlier known as Automart India).

Mittal said the price of a three-year-old Alto has dropped from Rs 1.35 lakh to Rs 1.10 lakh since the Nano went on display.

The small used-car market accounts for over 70 per cent of all used-car sales within the country. Eighty-five to 90 per cent of all car sales from the Maruti True Value outlets are small cars.

However, despite car manufacturers getting into used cars the unorganised market dominates the country's used car market.

Analysts and dealers predicted that used-car prices will only head further south once the Nano is on the roads. "The Nano will cannibalise used-car sales by exerting more downward price pressure," said Vaishali Jajoo, auto analyst in Angel Broking, who sees prices falling 10 to 20 per cent more.

Accordingly, used-car dealers are bracing themselves for a squeeze on margins.

Admits Ankit Sharma, manager -- sales -- in Delhi-based Patliputra Automart India: "With the small car contributing 70 per cent of our sales, used-car dealers might have to refocus their business on high-end cars."

Also, as a Mumbai-based dealer pointed out, "When a Nano buyer is getting a better finance deal with a monthly instalment of Rs 1,100, at a much cheaper interest rate (11 per cent), why would he go for a second-hand car, which carries an interest rate of 17 to 18 per cent?"

Source: Business Standard

What gave Nano a headstart

It is pretty difficult to term Tata’s Nano anything but success, going by the reception it received. This perhaps indicates that the real game is one of strategy.

The Nano could potentially challenge the conventional wisdom within the auto industry that wholly new concepts do not live long enough. New launches basically add a whistle here and a bell there to the plethora of existing models. Indeed, in more than 70 car launches worldwide, there have been not more than a handful of seminal shifts within this industry.

But the Tata offering has come to topple all those casts by reordering the status-quo. The whole story seems to strike two notes at once. The first one is true to the old adage among businesses that the wise profit from giving that which profits their customers; the second dares to contrarily create and nurture a space that others overlooked or even rejected.

Some known facts
Not too long ago, many pundits within the industry had held that small cars such as the Maruti 800 have outlived their use and must, therefore, pack up. Yet, just into 2008, a glowing Mr Ratan Tata drove on to the stage in his Nano, that sports a far lower powered engine and which may soon storm the Indian roads.

Surprisingly, many of the same pundits who had bemoaned the twilight of Maruti 800 have now begun to celebrate the business sense that the Nano exudes. It looks like, in any case, the Tata Nano project has defied textbook constructs of successful venturing.

In fact, we knew for good reasons that there is much less money to be made in small cars. We also knew that products conceived for specific markets have less possibility of success than those visualised on a global basis.

And, admittedly, auto majors with a wider, deeper portfolio of cars are rightly believed to be able to gain more profitably from a radical but relevant offering.

Such manufacturers, it is often acknowledged, are able to reap from the economies of scale that can be got from sharing the costs of design, manufacture and retail, among their entire product line-up.

Small-car concept
The Tata project bore none of the above usual stamps of success. Yet it is pretty hard to term Nano anything but a success going by the reception it received. This perhaps indicates that the real game is one of strategy.

Indeed, it is not so much about cars or of experience as about getting clear the underlying concepts and attitudes. Ironically, Tata’s capture of the “small car concept” is in itself hardly path-breaking.

One recollects that when the Maruti 800 was introduced around the mid-1980s, it was, even after adjusting for the then stronger rupee, an immensely affordable car (well below a lakh of rupees). It was, in fact, India’s first small, sweet car.

But, over time, the sweetness of Maruti 800 — rather than the real demand for small cars — had diminished. That was primarily because of its price, which kept on surging.

What is certainly path-breaking is the the price tag of the Nano. Even if we went all the way back before all those price rises and income growth spread over the past two consecutive decades, Nano’s price would have still generated a landslide sales record in the mid-1980s.

The price element

And, what is important is, where a pre-liberalised mid-1980s represented stunted buying power, “today’s India” that is to receive the Nano, represents greatly enlarged buying power.

This, in effect, gives the Nano an exceptional welcome thrust. Besides the element of price-point — where Tata Motors led the pack on a wide margin — almost every other major car company in the world seems to have otherwise just as seriously investigated small cars.

If anything, notwithstanding the environment dimension, the persistently high oil prices of the present decade have, in fact, made all makers gravitate toward more fuel-efficient, smaller cars.

The key question, then, is: With so many auto firms zeroing in on small cars, how did Tata Motors achieve such astounding price levels? Indeed, when global industry majors were talking about a small car with trendy, tiny engines, they were all, in effect, attempting to scale down on what they were traditionally good at: Medium and big cars.

Two perspectives
Unlike Tata Motors, almost none of the global majors had paid due attention to the thought of an all-new small car. There is, for sure, a big difference between scaling down a big-sized car to a viable small size and creating one ab initio.

The gamut of idea generation, concept, design, making, retailing, and so on, differs a great deal between the two perspectives. The first perspective tweaks to fit what is already on hand, whereas the second creates afresh to fulfil what is widely sought.

Consequently, the processes that colour the making of an inexpensive and cheerful car are not at all ‘cheap’.

Understandably, those processes have to be richer in innovation, bolder in imagination, nimbler in evaluating and, of course, shrewder in putting together the pieces (ideas, hardware, and costs) appealingly.

Taking the lead
The stalwarts of the car industry never quite saw ‘small cars’ as ‘small cars’. Here is where Tata Motors strode ahead, giving Mr Tata and his team a head-start. The Nano, then, brings home the truth that lacking certain advantages can actually prove more rewarding.

The car industry, unlike the insurance industry, which enjoys safety cover from reinsurance, has never been able to obtain a guaranteed cover for assured success.

One could say that the future Nanos would certainly get their shots of incremental improvement. So, too, would be the approaches of many other aspiring small-car makers, after taking note of this primordial shift.

Well-known thinker, George Santayana, once famously quipped that those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

So, Mr Tata, one hopes, will remember what made the Nano a product of luminous leadership. Success is indeed its tailwind although it is a little too early to be looking for it in the rear view mirror!

Source: Hindu Business Line

Made in India

Driving through the American countryside, an Indian visitor was taking in the sights when something caught his eye. Amid the vast, rolling fields was a farmer riding a Mahindra tractor. Conceptualised and designed at Mahindra and Mahindra’s RandD centre in Mumbai, this made-in-India farm vehicle has managed to grab 6% of US market share in its segment. And now it’s making inroads into mark-ets as diverse as Europe and Sri Lanka.

Surprised? Not when you consider India’s steady emergence as an engineering and design hub. Tata’s Rs-1 lakh Nano has already made a global splash. Then there is HCL’s homegrown Mileaptop. Weighing less than a kilogram and priced below Rs 15,000, the entry-level laptop is touted as the cheapest in the market. "The idea is to increase PC penetration in India and improve Net accessibility," says Rajendra Kumar, executive VP, HCL.

And let’s not forget Maruti’s first concept car. Saurabh Singh and Rajesh Gogu created waves at the recent Delhi Auto Expo. The duo designed the A-Star at Maruti Udyog’s Manesar plant. Soon, the car will be seen on European motorways. Maruti engineers have worked with Suzuki Motors to design Swift and Zen Estilo as well. "We hope to design and produce our own car model from India by 2011," says C V Raman, chief general manager (engineering), Maruti Udyog.

From cars to tractors, refrigerators to laptops, made-and-designed-in-India is becoming a sought after label. One that also means serious business. According to some studies, India’s contract industrial engineering revenue is expected to grow from around $500 million to $10 billion in the next five years. Worldwide, the market is growing exponentially. International market research firm IDC expects the product engineering services industry to double, hitting $53 billion annually by 2009.

Closer home, Nasscom in its study ‘Engineering Service Outsourcing (ESO)’, pegs global spending on engineering services at $750 billion per year - almost equal to India’s GDP. By 2020, this amount is expected to increase to more than $1 trillion. Of the $750 billion being spent today, only $10-15 billion is being offshored. India has about 12% market share. By 2020, the ESO market would be worth $150-$225 billion. India’s share will be 25-30%, or $50 billion annually.

In fact, much like software design, the volume of sophisticated engineering design work being done out of India is growing rapidly. While many IT majors have already set up captive centres for design development here, local firms too are getting good business from global customers. Harita TVS in Bangalore does engineering design services for customers across US and Europe. It’s the preferred partner for many OEM and Tier-1 customers. Similarly, Plexion Technologies has worked on interior design and windows for a top European car brand. Other car makers like Toyota Motors, Ford, Ferrari, and Honda have all boosted Indian outsourcing.

Realising the potential, Indian companies are now focusing a lot more on innovation and design. Sona Group, the well-known auto accessories maker, is now working on an electric power steering for non-highway vehicles in the US. "We are trying to create a mindset for innovation. To keep ahead of the competition, innovation in design is a must, we are creating tools and developing skills so that people are able to think out of the box," says Kiran Deshmukh, COO, Sona Kyo Steering Systems. The company was involved in the making of the Nano’s steering wheel.

"A lot of product design is already happening in Indian industry. The final products will be as impressive as the Nano," assures Sarita Nagpal, deputy director general, CII. Take, for instance, Godrej’s latest fridge-in-the-works. The folks who gave us our first indigenous locks, vegetable-oil soaps and colour fridges have come up with the low-cost Hedge. "It’s a refrigerator with convection floors that allow uniform cooling and is competitively priced," says G Sundarman, president, product strategy, Godrej Appliances. Competitive pricing is also the USP of HCL’s rural PCs that run on car batteries.

Last year, Mahindra created Shaan, a multiutility farm vehicle which won an award from the American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers for design. "We have a patent for it. The tractor is aimed at people who use it in their farms, as a family vehicle and for transporting goods," says Manrao, senior VP, Mahindra and Mahindra. They also created India’s first bio-diesel tractor in 2004.

Likewise, the Tata Group has been in the forefront of design engineering in India. Their Indica was touted as the ‘first truly Indian car’. Now the Nano’s become a global talking point. As Sunil Sinha, CEO, Tata Quality Management Services explains, "As a group, we started looking at innovation seriously in the ’90s. Internally, we have amplified the message of innovation, strengthened our RandD and increased our budget spend."

And it’s showing. While Tata Tetley designed an iced tea dispenser that’s become a rage in the US, Tata Technologies, which operates in 12 countries, is designing cars and vans for top foreign carmakers. However, Sinha feels a lot still needs to be done. "In 2006, India had filed only 400-odd IPRs while companies like Microsoft and Intel alone filed more than 2,000. We need to change the mindset and make innovation happen here."

The problem is that over the years we have focused more on excelling in production engineering rather than on creating our own designs. "It’s time to think beyond and recognize the importance of product design and innovation. Only then can we remain competitive," says Deshmukh. Else, we may only end up creating the occasional ripple with a Nano or a Shaan - hardly adequate for the long drive to design stardom.

Source: Times Of India

Owner’s pride, neighbors envy

In the belly of a city,
Where there are roads all over,
It’s even more difficult,
To remember the goal.
Binod Kumar in a Hindostani gazal

In the land of arguably some of the most argumentative people in the world, manufactured consent has edged out all contestations from the public sphere. Instead of debating the crises of food, water and energy; rampant ignorance and illiteracy; the unchecked rise of communalism; the accelerating marginalisation of the poor; continuing caste discrimination; the alarming democratic deficit or pitiful public squalor even in metropolitan cities – the Indian media is regularly full of celebratory stories of concern to a miniscule section of its middle class.

With apparent relish, the press offers the antics of Bombay cine actors, the exploits of cyber coolies of Bangalore, the shenanigans of cricket stars of Bengal, the outlandish ways of the entertainment tsars of Madras, the machinations of media moguls of New Delhi, and the mega-deals of Gujaratis and Marwaris propounded as achievements of an ascendant nation. Manmohan Singh once gloated, “There is no better way of assuring oneself that all is well with the world, than seeing your newspaper at your doorstep every morning.” The tone of today’s television reports must certainly make him feel that everything is indeed still getting better.

This leap year began with India leapfrogging into a bigger league. The initial public offer (IPO) of Reliance Power was subscribed to twice over within 58 seconds of its opening, attracting five million applicants and USD 190 billion before its closing. The Ambanis had started small a few decades ago, they started thinking big, doing bigger and delivering astounding numbers. The Tatas have been around for decades, but these days they seal gigantic deals abroad – Tetley Tea, Corus Steel and Jaguar Cars are not for desis. For the home market, it has now unveiled a motorcar with an ex-factory price-tag of a hundred-thousand rupees, the cheapest passenger car in the world.

The media din over the wonders of the Nano car’s one-lakh asking price eclipsed another record-setting figure. India’s National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector announced that nearly 78 percent of the country’s population – slightly more than 830 million people – were earning just 20 rupees or less a day. Presumably, after the daily daal-roti, they do not have much left over to invest in share-bazaar or to buy a micro-car.

Owner’s pride
Nobody knows what the Nano’s future holds. It is yet to be tested on the crowded, potholed city streets or the bumpy rural roads. Despite the hype about Ratan Tata coming to the rescue of an archetypal middle-class Indian family – the husband, wife and two children precariously perched on a rickety two-wheeler, braving rain, sun and wind – the bulk of Nano buyers are likely to be the ones who already drive around in better cars. In other words, it is not the poor who will rise to ride the Nano, but the rich who will stoop to add to their stock of four-wheelers.

The comfortable classes will probably buy Nanos as birthday gifts for their adolescent progenies. For the middle-class urbanites, the ones who begin to shop around for cars as soon as they acquire creditworthy status, the one-lakh price-tag is undoubtedly tempting. But for street vendors and government clerks who brave the elements with their families on two-wheelers out of compulsion, a Nano still costs five or six times the price of an average scooter or entry-level motorcycle. All those allusions to a car for the Aam Aadmi of Bharat are obviously overstated.

In fact, there is no pressing need to exaggerate the genuine concerns about congestion on the narrow streets of small towns, or the worsening air quality of metropolitan cities: the ‘no Nano’ scenario is unlikely to make commuting or living in urban India any better. The ones with access to credit will still be buying enough Marutis and Indicas to make life a nightmare for pedestrians. Zillions of diesel generators clanking away to power ‘affordable’ air conditioners add as much to pollution as does any overloaded Tata truck belching black smoke. However, as a potent symbol of unrepentant capitalism, Tata’s micro-car signifies much more than a revolution on the roads. It is the clearest statement yet that the era of ‘planned economy’, which emphasised cheap public transport and taxed luxurious private mobility, is finally over. Indeed, there is more to Ratan Tata’s famous quip – “Cars make roads for themselves” – than meets the eye.

The Maruti heralded the age of the ‘me-too’ generation – toiling to keep up with the Joneses, as every trader aspired to get into the import-export businesses, with the help of an Uncleji in Dilli or a Bhai in Dubai. Yet even as they indulged in underhand exchanges, members of that generation looked over their shoulders and feared being caught red-handed. The post-liberalisation ‘me-only’ generation has no such compunctions. The glorification of greed has become so commonplace that nobody pays any attention to the misery of the masses anymore, as a select few amass fortunes by pandering to the fantasies of the upwardly mobile.

As nannies of super-rich families begin to drive their Nanos, they will not notice that close to a third of Indian children are below average weight at birth – a figure that says more about women and children than just about anything else. Granted, the situation was not much better during the socialist era of Jawaharlal Nehru, but back then no one could boast of increasing his wealth by “roughly 40 lakh rupees every single minute” without attracting commensurately punitive taxes. At this rate, the Nano will likely soon become the icon of the ‘me-only’ generation, with neither time nor inclination to think about anyone or anything other than themselves.

Neighbours envy
Perception is to politics as evidence is to the physical sciences, or logic is to the humanities. A concerted effort to portray India as a country on the path to peace through the power of prosperity has beguiled its intelligentsia into a pitiable complacency. The Calcutta literati find solace in the condescending comments of Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, that “India’s navy has an aircraft-carrier force; its air force has the latest Sukhoi and MiG aircraft; its army is among the best trained and equipped in Asia.” When Lahore commentator Masood Hasan rues that “The four richest Indians can buy up all the goods and services produced over a year by 169 million Pakistanis, and still be left with $60 billion to spare!”, the chest of the Amritsari swells with pride. Meanwhile, a locksmith in Aligarh probably wonders, “Wow, are those four Indians really one of us?” In the end, the inevitable conflict between the confident bourgeoisie and the bewildered masses will determine the stability of the largest democracy of the world.

The clash between the consuming classes and the deprived citizens of Southasia will be completely different from anything the world has seen till now. The experience of the Maoist insurgency and continuing turmoil in Nepal offers a preview of the chaos that can ensue if a majority begin to feel that they have little, if any, stake in the stability of the state. But by then, the upper crust will have decamped with their booty, and taken shelter in safer locations. Buying one’s way to Non-Resident Indian status, after all, has never been easier.

Once the confrontation begins to engulf the country, the beleaguered government in New Delhi will be prevailed upon to test the efficacy of Tank-Ex – the new top-secret tank that will be proudly paraded through the streets on Republic Day this year – against its own citizens. It has happened often enough in various parts of Africa and South America, where the order of priority for private investment follows the pattern of cars, vacations, housing and then education. For decades, Indians saved for their children’s education, dreamt of owning their own home and considered the purchase of a car a gratification that could easily be delayed indefinitely. But throughout human history, relative mobility – think of faster runners among our hunter-gatherer ancestors – has always been one of the most significant causes of jealousy. Buyers of the Nano today may well be forced to replace their shattered windshields more than once in the days to come.

Source: www.morungexpress.com

The promise of the Nano

The recently-launched Nano has created extraordinary ripples not only in India but across the globe. While in the early weeks, the debate on the potential impact of Mr Ratan Tata’s dream project was largely confined to the automobile sector and on the urban infrastructure and environment, lately the focus seems to be shifting to a more broadbased discussion on India’s emerging prowess in the domain of engineering/manufacturing. In such discussions and media posts, by and large, the overall tone is highly positive on India.

Can, therefore, Mr Tata’s dream project and his dogged determination to make it a reality mark another major turning point for India and do for the Indian manufacturing sector what Infosys, Wipro, and TCS did for the Indian IT sector? Would the vastly enhanced international admiration for Mr Tata spur other Indian business titans to dream big on the scale of the Nano and lead to unprecedented product and business process innovation across multiple industrial and service sectors in India?

A lot, of course, depends on the on-road performance of the prototypes shows at New Delhi earlier this month and the ability of Tata Motors to manage the Nano business itself. However, should the Nano live up to its promise in terms of price-performance-experience, the implications for India would be absolutely wonderful!

India is seeing an unprecedented quantum of investment in many sectors. Beyond the boost for the Indian automotive sector and the likely emergence of India as the world’s small car development and manufacturing hub, the first indirect fallout of the potential success of the Nano could be a vastly greater interest of global capital goods and equipment manufacturers to look at developing and producing the next generation of products for emerging markets like India that offer far more appropriate price-performance ratios. There are already some signs of the same in the healthcare equipment arena, where global giants like GE, Siemens and Philips are reportedly looking at engineering new low-cost, enhanced-performance medical equipment, especially in the diagnostic/imaging areas designed specifically for low-income countries like India. The same trend could well extend to other engineering sectors too including construction/earth moving equipment, farm equipment, and power generation equipment.

Beyond manufacturing, I hope that the “Nano” challenge is taken up in other sectors too. For example, textile and clothing remains as one of the most important industrial sectors for India. This sector continues to provide the highest quantum of direct and indirect employment compared with all other sectors, and impacts India right from the hundreds of thousands of cotton farmers to the 1.2 billion consumers of textile products in the country. Unfortunately, for all its promise and India’s competitive strengths at every level of the textile value chain, the sector has largely underperformed in recent years compared to its potential. A Nano-like mission to provide good-quality, good-performance textile and clothing products to all but the top 150-200 million Indians (i.e. the remaining 1 billion) has the power to make an incredible positive impact on the Indian economy itself. Like the Rs 1 lakh car, a seemingly improbable price point of a Rs 100 shirt or a pair of trousers or jeans, or a Rs 250 saree set or salwar suit has tantalising implications.

Healthcare is another area where a Nano-like missionary zeal has the potential to transform the quality of life for hundreds of millions in India and many more outside India that do not yet have access to affordable, quality healthcare services. With a little support from the state and central governments to create the right policy framework to give an initial fillip to massive private investment in this sector, a Rs 1,000 preventive health check-up, a Rs 1,000 per day high-quality hospital bed or a Rs 100,000 cardiac (or other major) surgical procedures is certainly feasible and deliverable.

Applying cutting-edge research and development, and appropriate technology as well as agri methods and processes has the potential to transform fortunes of over 700 million Indians living in rural India and directly or indirectly dependent on the performance of the agriculture sector. Reform in just the cotton-growing sector — with the introduction of genetically modified BT cotton — has led to a near doubling of India’s cotton crop output in the last five years. Much more can be done in almost all other agri-product categories since India’s output per hectare remains at the lower end of the spectrum compared to international best practices. If only the political thinking can get liberal on the subject of agriculture, and if only the government can consciously allow and encourage the entry of private enterprise, Nano-like thought processes can happen in this sector as well.

Whatever be the outcome of the actual launch of the Nano on the Indian roads, Mr Tata has to be given credit for dreaming to make possible and viable — the impossible and commercially unviable. It is now up to others in his elite peer group to make and deliver similar promises in other sectors too.

Source: Business Standard

Tata "Nano" plant under-construction at Singur

‘NINE’FROM THE ‘NANO’

There are several lessons that students can learn from the Nano

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