India may not have made a mark yet in auto Industry like Germany in engineering superiority, or Japan in durability and innovation.  But we do have a new feather in the cap – the world’s cheapest car – that comes with a distinct set of advantages and disadvantages. Tata motors have claimed their fulfillment of a promise to India and to offer a safer alternative (compared to 2-wheelers) when it comes to mode of transport in India and possibly other developing countries where Nano is set for launch in the next few years.

Jyothi Thottam on TIME.COM writes -

In New Delhi in the early 1970s, my family traveled by scooter in the classic, death-defying Indian fashion. My father would drive, with me, a toddler, standing in front gripping the handlebars and my mother seated pillion, my infant sister in her arms. My father was a civil engineer and my mother a nurse, and in India at that time, cars for a young family were far out of reach.

More than 30 years later, I recently listened to Ratan Tata, chairman of one of India’s largest companies, describe a family just like mine as the inspiration for the Nano, the ultra-cheap “people’s car” that Tata Motors officially launches today. “What sparked it off was riding in a car and looking at them and saying, ’surely there’s a safer way that these people can be transported,’” Tata recalls.

Driven by an adept leadership that understood the user requirements and the chasm in the automotive industry between the 2 wheeler and the 4 wheeler market in India – the idea of Nano looked feasible to Tata Motors that now owns Jaguar and Land Rover brands.

The Nano project has been touted as a management success as much as it has been lauded for its technical innovation and supply management.

97% of the materials are locally manufactured. The mileage is nearly 54 miles/gallon and the engine is in the rear of the car though the vehicle is still front wheel drive. More facts here…

Nano’s launch was not without its share of controversies and the possibility of the small car adding to the problem of clogged up metros and cities in India which are under severe logistical problems during rush hours where the average traffic speed is 10-20 miles per hr, and more 4 wheelers on the road would possibly add to the chaos.

Then there were political problems involved with the Nano car plant first being set up in Singur, West Bengal but ran into problems with the land acquisition process with the farmers who were backed by Mamta Banerjee and protests took a violent turn. The Nano manufacturing plant then shifted to Sanand, Gujarat.

While, the profit margin on the car is low, and the market scenario is not really the best time to launch a new product, Tata Motors seem optimistic of the fact that the low priced car would fit a common man’s needs and give him the luxury of a 4-wheeler in countries in Asia and possibly South America in a few years.

TIME.COM also has a gallery dedicated to Nano here… (Tip -Santosh)

While India celebrates its mark on the auto industry in a unique way – debate is still on about pollution, and traffic congestion problems that continue to dog the ‘people’s car’.

But the fact cannot be denied that, the world has taken notice of India’s unique needs and solutions that come from within the country, that can also help other people across the world.

The ink has not even dried on the papers and the goodwill has started to flow in. Barely a month has gone by after he signed a $2.3 billion deal to buy prestigious, but ailing British car makers Jaguar and Land Rover from their overlords in Detroit, Ratan Tata is already doing his bit for their turnaround.

A few weeks ago, barely days after the deal was signed, UK’s premier car magazine, Autocar, reported that Tata had toured Jaguar and Land Rover’s facilities for a week and come off complimenting the ‘can do’ spirit of the companies. While that is not cause for any surprise really, what caught the eye in that article was that he was going to tour the US later on and meet with the dealers of the two brands.

And as Autoweek has reported (via Autoblog), this tour has taken some of the oldest and the biggest dealers of the two brands in the US (who opposed the deal vehemently) by pleasant surprise (link).

“I was wrong,” Gorin now admits, speaking by phone on Friday, June 27, from Jaguar’s design center in Whitley, England. “Any concern I may have had has been completely dispelled. I couldn’t be more impressed.

If one was to believe the words of the dealers, Mr. Tata’s tour seems to be setting benchmarks for the whole auto industry (link) Read the rest of this entry »

And so it finally goes down… sort of.

Autoblog is reporting (via Autonews.com) that Ford and Tata have put in the finally signed off on a 2.65 billion deal. Finally, Tata gets its hands on Jaguar a once proud brand that has since fallen into bad hands and a inept management, and Land Rover, a iconic brand that has seen a sharp resurgence in the past few years.

One can’t say for sure that Ratan Tata is the knight in shining armor, but hope is certainly the last resort of the damned. And fans of the these brands, while not exactly the damned, can certainly hope for better days.

While Autonews mentions that Ford will pad up pension funds by almost 600 million before Tata takes over, more details are expected once Ford makes its formal announcement before the NYSE opens tomorrow.

Last week, I speculated that 2008 could turn out to be India’s solely because of the trendsetting auto industry. It can be argued that these trends are by no means cutting edge technological. Rather, this upswing in newsworthy snippets has solely been caused by some smart economics and business decisions. And curiously one company, Tata has featured in most of these discussions.

It has mostly been about Nano. Tata’s new golf cart like roundabout has created ripples in the world automotive press. Skepticism abounds regarding the car’s emissions, but I consider this a damning sign of the ignorance of the world’s automotive press. The fact that the car can accommodate 4 adults and could boast of 50mpg performance has been lost in the brouhaha over emissions(I’ll leave my emissions explanation for another day).

Not for long, though. The fuel consumption of the Nano and other cars of its type, has now entered the fray as a major talking point, set off by CNN, no less. But not in the way you would expect. Read the rest of this entry »

The last couple of months have seen a bunch of India related news snippets in the automotive media. The three major auto blogs that i subscribe to, Autoblog, Jalopnik and The Truth about Cars have all devoted multiple posts to India related subjects recently. While the Nano and the Jaguar/Land Rover sale have gotten the majority of the mileage, a couple of other pieces caught the eye this past week.

First, it has emerged that Chrysler’s electric cars division, Global Electric Motors (GEM) is working with Tata Motors to bring a electric mini truck to America. According to unconfirmed reports, the proposed mini truck will be an electric variant of the Ace.
Read the rest of this entry »