Ratan Tata unveils what is perhaps the most-hyped four-wheeler of the year at the Auto Expo show in New Delhi. Nano is priced at Rs 1 lakh, excluding taxes. Ratan Tata has unveiled the much speculated Rs 1 lakh car that was dismissed by many across the globe as a 'myth'. Called the "Nano", Tata's new car will be available in three variants -- one 'Basic' version, and two 'Deluxe' versions; with the basic model carrying a dealer price of Rs 1 lakh (exclusive of taxes).
The Tata "Nano" sports a 624cc 33bhp engine, and is expected to return a fuel economy of 20 Kmpl. It is 8 percent smaller externally than the Maruti 800, but claims to have 21 percent more space on the inside. And now that the "People's Car" has become a reality at the 'Auto Expo 2008' being held in the capital today, much remains to be seen how it will influence the people of India, the existing traffic congestion, and the country's economy. But for now, it's a promise fulfilled, as the man behind the vision (reality) chooses to put it.
Remember that uber-cheap, almost entirely plastic car that India's Tata Motors was working up? Turns out, the still codenamed 1-Lakh automobile is expected to launch in mid-2008 and get around 15 miles-per-liter, which should give the Maruti 800 some serious competition in the budget car arena. According to R. A. Mashelkar, a nonexecutive director on Tata Motors' board, it should provide ample room in "both the front and rear" for a six-foot individual, and he also noted that a "new kind of welding" would be used instead of bolts in a variety of locations on the motorcar. Still, there's just something about the idea of riding in a brand new $2,500 vehicle that doesn't sit well with us -- probably something to do with the dearth of safety features, but who knows.
Barely hours ahead of the launch of Tata's much awaited Rs one-lakh 'People's car', speculations are rife about its name with the latest buzzword around 'Jeh' or even 'Atom'.'Jeh' has been taken from Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata's first three letters. In Persian, it means 'Conqueror of the world'. The car, which will be launched tomorrow, is already taking the market with a storm, as the company is assuring to meet the safety and emission standards while pricing it just twice as the price of a bike and half the price of Maruti Suzuki.
India's small car market accounts for over two-thirds of domestic sales in the country of 1.1 billion people. The sales for small cars is expected to double by 2010 about two million units as the country is going through a surge in income and people looking to move up from motorcycles to cars.Tata Motors is the country's largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles and the second largest in passenger vehicles. In fiscal 2007, the company sold a total of 589,428 vehicles.
Nano, according to industry research organisation Crisil, may bring 65 per cent more families into the ambit of those who can now afford a car.
"It is a record for the Auto Expo. On Saturday, it was 160,000 and by 12 pm the figure hit the 180,000-mark just within 2 hours," said Gurpal Singh, deputy director general of industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), one of the organisers of the show.
The pavilion had to be closed for almost 2 hours to control the rush. "The crowd is anything but nano," said a Tata official.
The Indian Trade Promotion Organisation has asked CII to shift one exhibit of the Nano to the Lal Chowk theatre, which will make it easier for the organisers to tackle the crowd.
The Tata team has in fact doubled the temporary staff at their pavilion for the Sunday rush. They have also put up emergency units outside the pavilion.
It's almost the same story at the CII information booths. "The query begins and ends with the Nano," said an executive.
But it is not just Delhiites who are thronging the venue. A huge number of tourists, including many first timers, have changed their tour schedule to catch a glimpse of the Tata car.
"I don't care about the car necessarily but I wanted to take a moment and celebrate the awesomeness that is the word 'lakh'. It means 100,000 and it is what Indians use to express a big number the way we use million," said American Keetsa Mattress who managed to squeeze her way through to crowd to the Nano turntable.
And many like South Korean Jimmy Yep agreed Nano would change the way the world looks at developing countries.
"The Tata Nano is a microcosm and instructive example of the very real growth and poverty problems facing India and China and the reaction of environmentalists who want to restrict their growth in the name of global warming," he said.
The response to Tata's small wonder is mega but its actual test will be once it is out on the roads to be experienced by the common man.
As Tata put it, "The final judgment will be made by the consumer. Let's wait and let them decide."
