SCOOP! Tata's One Lac Car - REAL PICTURE! And a debate on its suitability and impact.

[katalysm76]

With the new wonder car,the Nano, out and everyone excited about it,i think what would the future be like. Just like the Maruti 800 before it the Nano too will ,I think, someday be replaced by a cheaper and better car.What I wonder is what traffic will be like then?Youngsters who are now opting for a two-wheeler can stretch their budgets and consider buying the Nano.I believe in the future when cars get much cheaper people will not bother with modes of transport other than a 4 wheeler.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

Cool Down Sagar,
You go to Europe, White MERCs are not preferred by owners. You go to Saudi Arabia, White Camry's are not preferred by owners. Reason? Taxis.
It is a fact and we gotta accept it.
Back in 1999, I had a white Camry in Saudi Arabia, Fully loaded, Automatic, but, on Jeddah and Dammam Streets, every other guy would wave to me "Taxeee". It was a company given car and I had no option to change it. Later company realized the problem and they went for other colors and we gained some 'respect'

Same thing applies here. It is not a 'degrading' to the car, its the 'image' of a particular car model preferred by taxi runners... that deters other owners from that model...!!

i am cool Raja. my point is why do some guys only single out tata and mahindra products when they are used as taxis. i mean i often see guys saying they don't want to buy scorpio, sumo or indica because these cars are used as taxis. ok. now what about accents, fiestas, accords, skodas, innovas, camrys and even Merc and Beemers which are used as luxury taxis right here in this country. how come no one complaions about these cars. we indians take potshots at out very own products. Our desi effort, Nano looks million times better than that European Logan.

[RajaTaurus]

Dear Sagar,
It is not the question of "singling out" Indian Products versus foreign products. Even Tavera and Innova are facing the same fate, being tagged as a Taxi, these are good family vehicles).
Back in 80's, we had Fiats and Amby's only in India, 'purely Indian' and people used to stay away from White cars, as white cars were govt. cars or cabs.
A car was a status symbol to own, (and still it is, I guess) and you don't want to be waved by bystanders on the road having been mistaken as a cab.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by shajufx

I happend to see a flashing news and a couple of photos of Mitsubishi's new car planned for India as a rival to Tata Nano, this morning on TimesNow channel. I am not sure if they repeated the news throughout the day. The car is to be named something like 'Lano' or 'Leno' priced in the 1.3 lak. The photos that were shown on the channel were shockingly attractive and very well designed much better than all our 4-5 lak segment cars in India. I spent lot of time googling on net and checking few other news channels but could not find any trace of such a news. If anyone happend to see it, please share it here.

If automobile brands are going to compete each other in bringing out the cheapest but likeable cars as a trend, its a boon for the regular users. Majority will drive cars on roads. Tata Nano has a global competitor already (Mitsubishi) apart from Bajaj's new car !!

Above post is corrected and elaborated with latest photos in the new thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...nos-rival.html

[katalysm76]

I keep wondering how this will impact the world.Just think : the vastly over populated third world countries producing such amazingly cheap cars> Considering our number and the price of these cars,well soon become gas guzzlers number 1. I wonder if the sheikhs are thinking of hiking oil prices just to irritate the makers of such cheap cars.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by katalysm76

I keep wondering how this will impact the world.Just think : the vastly over populated third world countries producing such amazingly cheap cars> Considering our number and the price of these cars,well soon become gas guzzlers number 1. I wonder if the sheikhs are thinking of hiking oil prices just to irritate the makers of such cheap cars.

Classic argument made by first world countries, to stop third world countries from progressing. After the first world have hogged the world's resources, now they are concerned that India/China may do the same, so stop them from consuming as much, under the guise of protecting the environment, reusable energy and the other kinds of blah

[katalysm76]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Classic argument made by first world countries, to stop third world countries from progressing. After the first world have hogged the world's resources, now they are concerned that India/China may do the same, so stop them from consuming as much, under the guise of protecting the environment, reusable energy and the other kinds of blah

Exactly what I was going to say.They not only are being hypocritical they are also justifying their excessive consumption as the reason why the world has progressed so much.They made good slaves out of us and turned our lands into colonies so that they had raw materials and a ready market>Now that we are free and progressing,their wealth and power are no match for our consumption capabilities.But in the end it is still mother earth that suffers.

[pgsagar]

I agree with you Apache, West is very hipocrytical towards third world, especially India and China. They probably did not relish Tata's impending takeover of their prestigious brands' Jaguar and Rover. And now Nano. Digressing for a minute here, Tatas are going to have one hell of a range of cars in their showrooms. All the way from royal Jaguar down to humble Nano. I guess Jag's headlight unit would cost more than the price of Nano, hahaha...

Speaking of Hipocracy, our environmentallist are not far behind. Sunita Narain and Pachauri were highly critical of little Nano. As though the whole planet was under threat from this cute lillte car. In a TV interview, Sunita was harping on public transport all along. She was silenced by Hormazd Sorabjee when he asked her how she came to the studio and she replied she came by a car. Surely, preaching is for others. What gives these two any right to decide what is good for millions of wannabe car owners? Curiously, they do not seem to care a hoot about the safety aspect of a small family perched on a wobbly 2-wheeler. Nano is so cute and so low-cost that I'm sure Sunita and Pachauri will also stand in line to buy one---albeit with masks on their faces.

[katalysm76]

I agree with what Sunita Narain preaches .I too drive a car but I keep its use to a minimal as I too care about the enviornment. A friend of mine suggested that Private transport in mumbai should be allowed but heavy taxes should be imposed on owners of vehicles.At the same time public transport should be improved with innovations and also certain things like seperate lanes for buses,introduction of trams,etc.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

A large number of cars aren't even painted, but stickered beige, so you dont need to repaint the car, plus you just peel off the stickers when selling it. Remarkable!

Actually Karl all the taxis I see, here in Munich are cream, not beige. In Stuttgart the taxis are sky blue Mercedes cars instead of cream.
BTW, I am yet to see this stickered beige, that you mention. The only stickers I've seen are red and blue colored ads.

This morning, at my workplace, I saw a taxi pull in and disembark its passenger. This taxi’s platform was a Bentley estate car.

A thought: Would people avoid a cream Bentley, just because it is a taxi?
In fact, ordinary people don’t splurge on taxis – they use trains (U-bahn and S-bahn) and buses and trams.

In this case the passenger happened to be a top IT corporate manager from India, who mints millions from his German customers.

Ram (aglow with national pride)

[akshay1234]

ram - thats a Chrysler 300c estate. not a bentley.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

ram - thats a Chrysler 300c estate. not a bentley.

Ah. But of course! You are right akshay1234.
How short-sighted of me. Thanks for pointing it out.
The cream taxi is a Chrysler 300C Touring. It costs € 46,500 on the road (Rs. 26.9 lakh). It has a 5.7 litre V8 and can reach 250 km/h on the autobahn.
Ram

[RajaTaurus]

When Ratan TATA launched the Nano, he said proudly that this car will replace the two wheelers which carry the father, mother and 4 children and their luggages like scooters in Delhi roads...!!
How much a 645 CC engine, pulling its own weight + at least 300 kg payload, can give in terms of mileage and how it compares with a two wheeler on road?
My best guess will be this car can give around 15 kmpl. with full load, while a two wheeler gives minimum of 50 kmpl. (nowadays with advanced two wheeler engine technology, some bikes give even 60 kmpl).
Imagine the monthly cost impact on an average two-wheeler user.
He will have to shell out at least three times MORE than what he would spend in case of 2 wheeler, which is sure going to bite into his budget. Combined with the maintenance expenses of a car versus a two wheeler...!!!
In my opinion, this CAR can satify the 'DREAMS' of people who can't afford any other car, but in the long run, they are going to regret having bought the car, just for 'owning a car'...

[Suryam]

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

When Ratan TATA launched the Nano, he said proudly that this car will replace the two wheelers which carry the father, mother and 4 children and their luggages like scooters in Delhi roads...!!
How much a 645 CC engine, pulling its own weight + at least 300 kg payload, can give in terms of mileage and how it compares with a two wheeler on road?
My best guess will be this car can give around 15 kmpl. with full load, while a two wheeler gives minimum of 50 kmpl. (nowadays with advanced two wheeler engine technology, some bikes give even 60 kmpl).
Imagine the monthly cost impact on an average two-wheeler user.
He will have to shell out at least three times MORE than what he would spend in case of 2 wheeler, which is sure going to bite into his budget. Combined with the maintenance expenses of a car versus a two wheeler...!!!
In my opinion, this CAR can satify the 'DREAMS' of people who can't afford any other car, but in the long run, they are going to regret having bought the car, just for 'owning a car'...

Typically father/mother/two-kids, will not daily commute on 2-wheeler. They atmost go 4/8 times monthly(on weekends as an approximation). Most of te people might even take an auto/public-transport(aprt from two wheeler).

So what Mr. TATA envisoned is:
* Go to such occassions safely
* Also weather the all weather-conditions

By products of Nano are many(Which have been mentioned all over this site)
* They can goto such partying/occasion places with some sort of pride
* In case they use Auto/etc if they want more safer options than bike, fare would defnitely more than Nano's 15/20kmpl cost

[Trapezio]

I am from Goa. I am confident that the Nano sales man can sell it like hotcakes in rainy season just by going shop to shop speaking to those two wheeler families waiting patiently for the rain to subside!