Tata Nano: 2008

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

All Charged Up For 'Nano Taxi'

Think Mumbai, think black and yellow Fiat taxis. For decades now, the trusted Fiat has helped Mumbai get around be it day or night, with the friendly taximan always just a wave away.

But the cabbies now want a change for the better. With the Premier Padminis no longer being manufactured, they are looking forward to the Tata Nano hitting the roads.

“Majority of them (drivers) are anxious and have enquired about this vehicle because there's no other viable option,” says President, Mumbai Taximen Union, A L Quadrose.

The drivers are more than happy. “It’s cheap, it looks good. Who wouldn’t want it?” says a driver N P Singh

But the Nano may not be viable just as it is. The taximen want few changes for it to become their ideal run-about.

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/nano-as-taxi-mumbai-drivers-all-geared-up/56675-3.html

Nano... to hit second hand car sales

Bangalore, Jan 15 Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, has not only created ripples in the new car market but also impacted prices in the used car market, industry sources said.

The most affected cars in the used car segment would be Maruti 800, 4-6-year-old models of Hyundai Santro, Tata Indica and old Fiats, said Pankaj Patel, vice-president of a car portal carazoo.com.

Patel said prices of the base model of Maruti 800 in the used vehicle market would decline by 30-35%, as buyers might compare these cars with the Tata’s Rs 1 lakh car as both comes under entry level small car segment. He said even other

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/----to-hit-second-hand-car-sales/261812/

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Tata Nano Interior Pics

Pictures of Tata Nano's spacious interiors.

VW plans rival to Tata`s Nano

Launch will be under separate brand name.

German auto maker Volkswagen has hinted for the first time that it is looking at developing a low-cost car but under a separate brand name.

“Volkswagen cars are associated with certain standards of safety; they are not meant to be used only for intra-city travel. So if we look at a low-cost car it would be with a new brand name rather than Volkswagen, Audi or Skoda,” said Andreas Prinz, managing director of Volkswagen India’s passenger car business.

Prinz was replying to a question on how the company would respond to the challenge from Tata Motors’ Nano, priced at Rs 1 lakh, currently on display at the Auto Expo in Delhi.

Volkswagen’s possible entry would mark the first real competition to the Nano, which will be the world’s cheapest car on the road when it is launched in September/October.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu1&subLeft=1&autono=310837&tab=r

Paran Balakrishnan: Tata leaves rivals in the dust

Has Ratan Tata shifted the goalposts for every carmaker in the world?

Last week the 70-year-old chief of India's giant Tata Group dramatically proved the naysayers wrong when he pulled the covers off the Nano - the $3200 car that could change the shape of the global vehicle industry.

The 3m-long Tata Nano is a looker - and it will be the world's cheapest car when it hits the market around October. The Tatas have shaved costs in innumerable ways and in the process they've pulled off an engineering coup that has astounded the car industry.

"It's a full-fledged car and not just an excuse for one. Though it's the cheapest car in the world you wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen in it," says Hormazd Sorabjee, editor of Autocar India, adding the caveat he has yet to take a test spin in it.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Nano Creates ripples in the US

Ratan Tata’s dream car, Nano, has not only etched his name in the world history for bringing out the world’s cheapest car but has also created a stir around the world, specially in the US, which is known for its car-crazy people.

While research has brought out that Nano could actually empower 65 per cent of the families in India, especially in the middle and the lower middle class to afford a car, the world itself has been in the awe of the compact car, which has put the critics on the back foot.

In the US almost all newspapers had the reports on it and most news channels devoted a special feature to it. It has also created a buzz on the Internet.

The New York Times in fact stole a march over rest of the media in the US with a scoop featuring general features of the Nano just a day before its formal launch here. It had details from suppliers of parts on how Tata was able to cut costs and how innovation had gone into its creation.

Nano to be sold through allotment system

In India’s auto industry, history will repeat itself. Almost 23 years after India’s first people’s car Maruti was sold through allotment, the Tatas avatar of the common man’s car Nano could also make people wait before they really own one.

Old timers recall that Maruti, the first people’s car manufactured by the Japanese auto maker, Suzuki Motors, had held city-wise draw of lots to meet people’s demand.

A number of proud owners of original lot of Maruti 800 proudly remember the time when the car was sold for around Rs 45,000.

Tatas are also going to adopt a similar exercise for the world’s cheapest car, when it would be eventually made available to the common man.

In an interaction with mediapersons, Chairman of the Tata Motors, Ratan N. Tata, clearly indicated at limited production of the car.

“It is certainly not going to reach one million mark. Certain concerns are being expressed about the car due to its anticipated high-sales volume that could create chaos on the Indian roads. We would be going for some sort of allotment.”

Specifications of 'People's Car' - Tata Nano

Tata Motors Ltd, on the first day of the 9th Auto Expo 2008, wheeled out the world's cheapest car, priced at Rs.1,00,000 ($2,500). Here are key facts about the four-door, mini hatchback named the Nano, which is due to hit the Indian market later this year.

Looks: The snub-nosed car keeps in the tradition of the Fiat 500, Nissan Micra and the Smart.
Dimensions: 3.1 metres long, 1.5 metres wide and 1.6 metres high. Capable to seat four to five people.

Engine: A twin cylinder 623 cc, 33 horsepower rear mounted, all aluminium, multi-point fuel injection petrol engine. Capable to power the car to top speeds of 105 kilometres per hour (65 miles per hour).

Fuel Efficiency: 20 kilometres per litre, or 50 miles per gallon as claimed by Tata Motors.

Pollution: Exceeds Indian regulatory requirements and can meet strict Euro IV emission standards. In terms of overall pollutants, Tata says the car is better than two-wheelers manufactured in India currently.

Safety: Car exceeds current regulatory requirements with a strong passenger compartment, crumple zones, intrusion resistant doors, seat belts, strong seats and anchorage.

Initial Annual Production Target: 2,50,000 units to rise later to 3,50,000.

Price: Basic model priced at Rs. 1,00,000 ($2,500) plus tax and transport costs, which will bring on the road price to at least Rs.1,20,000. The price of two deluxe models that will include air-conditioning and other features to be announced later.

Little Nano attracts big Sunday crowd

A massive turnout marked the fourth day of the Auto-Expo at Pragati Maidan here on Sunday, with most people making a beeline to catch a glimpse of the brand new “one-lakh” car from the Tata stable.

The state of affairs outside Pragati Maidan was also testimony to the spilling crowds within the gates. The approach roads to the venue were jammed not just with vehicles but also with hundreds of pedestrians making their way to the expo. The affected roads included Tilak Marg, Ring Road and Bhairon Marg. A religious function organised at Bhairon temple in the vicinity only compounded matters throwing traffic into another mess.

The unprecedented crowd compelled security personnel to temporarily bar entry to the expo premises from around 3 p.m. onwards. However, the sizable crowd on Saturday had prepared the organisers for an even larger turnout on Sunday and various measures had been put in place to tackle the increased number of footfalls.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Two-wheeler prices may fall due to Tata Nano

A vast majority of CEOs hold that Tata has given a stiff challenge to two-wheeler manufactures, whose market size could shrink as a result of the launch

About 20% price cut is expected in two-wheeler segment with launch of Tata-Nano and its another positive fall out as indicated in a survey by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) would be that bank’s loan exposure to four-wheeler industry would go up by 25% from October 2008 onwards after Nano cars roll down on roads with prices of second hand cars falling by 35%.

The survey in which 250 CEO’s, having affiliations with the ASSOCHAM views were obtained on fall out of People’s Car, 80% of them unanimously felt that with launch of Tata-Nano, India has become a member of Car creation club and no longer remains as its lead manufacture.

The 200 CEO’s that those who held this view also sought that just as TATA’s sacrificed their profits element in the Chotti Car, the government should waive off 12.5% VAT on it in public interest.

A Nano leap into the future

He's been hailed as the world's foremost thinker. He revolutionized the way corporate chiefs looked at markets through his bestseller, 'The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid'. And now, management mahaguru C K Prahalad writes exclusively for Sunday Times on the Nano launch.

The Nano represents an important inflection point in the global auto industry and in the evolution and maturation of Indian industry. There is great excitement because Tata Motors has introduced the global auto industry to a whole new consumer segment.

This emerging consumer base around the world will be a major engine of global growth. However, this growth will not materialise without fundamental rethinking of the price-performance (value equation) in the entire industry. I believe the Nano will spawn a new debate about manufacturing methods, use of materials, energy efficiency, and transportation. In India, it lays to rest skeptics who five years ago assumed India cannot compete in manufacturing. Yes,

Indian engineers—given the right challenges and leadership—can out-innovate and out-engineer others. Seldom does a single product introduction challenge the received wisdom in the industry so radically.

Tata's Nano making waves beyond Indian shores

Tata's Nano is making waves beyond Indian shores. It's quite a rage in London, hogging the headlines in the British media, which has called it no less than a miracle reports Sanjay Suri.

There’s been few occasions when even swanky sports cars and sedans have been splashed on the front page of newspapers in the UK but it's a different story with Nano. Tata's small car is getting big publicity and it's being called a miracle on wheels, a car a generation ahead of its' predecessors which is a revolution in the small car market.

"It's an interesting development certainly. The last people car was the vw beetle that Tata built on" says Dan Strong, motoring editor, Auto Express magazine.

Read More http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/tatas-nano-making-waves-beyond-indian-shores/12/53/321015

The whizkid who shaped Tata Nano

When he first joined Tata Motors 16 years ago, Girish Wagh had no idea he would one day head the company’s now-legendary Rs 1-lakh car project. Although he was part of the Indica vendor development team in 1997, Wagh was actually reluctant to get into full-scale product design with the Ace.

He remembers how Tata Motors MD Ravi Kant hand-picked him for the job and convinced him that it was as important as the work he was doing with the company’s excellence group. That was December 2000. The Ace rolled out in May 2005 and almost singlehandedly helped beat a recession in the commercial vehicle space.

Is the Nano bad news for the M-800? Maybe not

The potential target audience for the Nano does not seem as effusively as the media over the low price tag of the car, discovers Mohini Bhatnagar at the ninth Delhi Auto Expo

New Delhi: The hugely hyped launch of the Tata Rs1-lakh car has led to much speculation on

Maruti Suzuki withdrawing the M-800, or at least reducing its prices substantially to compete with the Nano that is priced at half the prevailing price of the M-800. However, the ground realities may be different.

Walking towards the exit of the Delhi Auto Expo in New Delhi with a brief from my editor to get the views of 'king' consumer, I managed to get visitors at the Expo to talk about their views on the Nano and on the chances of their buying the Tata car.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

World's cheapest car upsets environmentalists

The world's cheapest car, a £1,290 four-seater designed to appeal to India's burgeoning middle classes, was unveiled in Delhi today as environmentalists warned of its drastic consequences for pollution.

Tata, the giant Indian company that designed and manufactured the Tata Nano, is marketing the car as a safer mode of transport for families who squeeze on to the back of motorbikes.

It will go on sale in India for 100,000 rupees but it will not be available in the Europe due to more stringent safety and emissions standards.

Tata Nano, the world’s least expensive car

Meet the world’s least expensive car, the Nano.

The car costs only $2,500, gets 50 miles per gallon and is supposed to bring the gift of rapid transportation to the world’s poor. It also looks a lot like Biggs’ car, which we often tease him about.

Made in India, the manual transmission Nano, created and designed by Tata, has a 33 horsepower, two-cyinder engine and enough room to hold four people.

Tata Nano: The $2500 Tata Nano, Unveiled in India

After months of rumors and tantalizing leaks -- and as we first told you earlier this week -- Indian automaker Tata Motors has finally unveiled the Tata Nano -- its already legendary $2,500 (1-lakh)car.

As expected, the car that Tata claims will change the face of not only the Indian car market, but the global auto industry will be a four door, five seat hatch, powered by a 30 HP Bosch 624 cc four stroke engine mounted out back and mated to a CVT. That makes the Nano the first time a 2-cylinder gasoline engine will be used in a car with a single balancer shaft. The Nano's also expected to get 54 US miles per gallon.

Tata Motors’ shares ease post Nano launch

MUMBAI: The launch of Tata Motors’ Rs 1 lakh car saw the auto major’s shares surge 4 per cent, but soon gave away some gains.

At 12:25 pm, Tata Motors shares were up 1.38 per cent at Rs 781.05, coming off a high of Rs 802.30 with volume traded at 5,92,215 against two-week average of 2,85,995 shares.

The small car named ‘Nano’, a hatchback with a 624cc engine, is priced at about half that of the current cheapest car in the market, and is a sharp contrast to the luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands that Tata is negotiating to buy from Ford Motor Company.

Tata Motors unveils Nano @ Rs 1 lakh

Ratan Tata on Thursday delivered on the promise he made four years ago with the launch of the “people’s car”, even if buyers will have to fork out a little more than the much-talked about Rs 1 lakh price tag for the basic model.

They will have to pay an additional 12.5 per cent value added tax, transportation cost and an insurance charge. But that will still be about half the cheapest car in today’s market, the 25-year old model from rival Maruti Suzuki.

Christened Tata Nano, the four-seater will be available in the market by the second half of this financial year in three variants, including one with an air-conditioner.

Tata Nano will be have a 623 cc/33 bhp rear-mounted petrol engine and the “boot” (storage space) in the front. The car will be sold with a four-speed manual transmission, but work is on for an automatic transmission as also for a diesel engine,

Tata said, after he unveiled the car at the Auto Expo in New Delhi.

Tata Nano: The World’s Cheapest Car

Tata Motors today took the covers off the world’s cheapest car — the Nano.

Over the past year, Tata has been building hype for a car that would cost a mere 100,000 rupees (roughly $2,500) and bring automotive transportation to the mainstream Indian population. It has been nicknamed the “People’s Car.” Over the course of the New Delhi Auto Expo, which began this week, anticipation had grown to fever pitch.

Tata Nano Launch Pictures

'Nano' the cheapest car in the world was unvieled by Indian auto giant Tata Motors in New Delhi Auto Expo.

Tata Nano