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

[killjoy]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Nope. Dont post the two other pics - I know where you got them from and that you were asked not to post them too.

well if you allowed to post 1 pic, then.......

anyway, cool, its upto you mate.

[abdul 65 amg]

tushky so tata had the idea of making a small and affodable car longtime ago.The car is going to be rear mounted engine with cvt transmission around 34 hp only?No plan for diesel?what about dimensions?weight?will get airbag as option?will it be worldwide sold?

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by abdul 65 amg

The car is going to be rear mounted engine with cvt transmission around 34 hp only?

Yes.

Originally Posted by abdul 65 amg

No plan for diesel?

It is definitely there in the plan. Tatas are on record saying both petrol and diesel options are being considered. Even if the diesel does not come out immediately on launch it will do so in sometime soon.

Originally Posted by abdul 65 amg

what about dimensions?weight?

No concrete news on this as yet. It may be a little smaller than the erstwhile Matiz. Expect it to be as tall as the Indica if not more.

Originally Posted by abdul 65 amg

will get airbag as option?

On a 1 lakh car?! Are you nuts? It will be a very basic car with minimalistic approach towards things. At least the ones that get manufactured for the local markets won't have any such thing.

Originally Posted by abdul 65 amg

will it be worldwide sold?

Worldwide will be a stretched dream at this stage. Tatas do harbour some dreams though they are clamped on that count as yet. It may get pushed to other countries where the demographic and economic strata matches that of india. So Tatas may look at some african countries, latin america countries and asian countries as well.

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Jeh?
eh?
Why not Bleh? Sounds much better!

Because Jeh is short for Jehangir, as in Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata.

[cncity]

The car looks great for 1 lac, but i wonder if it will survive a crash test even at 60 km/hr.

[GTO]

Even if the diesel does not come out immediately on launch it will do so in sometime soon.

I am pretty sure the diesel will be available from launch itself.

[sreedotk]

Originally Posted by cncity

The car looks great for 1 lac, but i wonder if it will survive a crash test even at 60 km/hr.

If they borrow / get inspired by the Smart car's tridon safety cell and incorporate an inspired version of it the car can be as safe as it gets.

BTW tata and Merc were/ Are (?) Partners and they would be the best people Tata should ask for some safety tips

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by GTO

I am pretty sure the diesel will be available from launch itself.

Hmmm... you reckon they would have it ready to use by now? I guess it will be the world's smallest passenger car diesel engine at 600cc. That will be some achievement. And then considering that it will have to meet the E-III norms now and then the E-IV norms by 2008 end or 2009 begining this will be some achievement for the Tatas.

[navdeep]

The Rs 1 lakh Tata car project is entering the last lap. Tata Motors, which is planning to launch the car in early 2008, has finalised 15 vendors and technological alliances for the project.
A team, led by former Tata Quality Management Services executive Girish Wagh (35), has been formed to finish the project on time. While R Balakrishan is heading the planning division for the small car project, BB Parikh is at the helm of vendor development. The company is readying a war chest to fund its expansion plans and the new launches. It announced on Wednesday a decision to raise $450 million (Rs 1,833 crore), excluding a greenshoe option, through overseas securities.
The company has firmed up the list of 15 vendors to supply parts for the small car, to be built at Singur in West Bengal. These include Sona Koyo Steerings, Rico Auto, Kinetic Engineering and Gabriel, besides Tata’s own subsidiaries Tata Ryerson, Tata Bearings and Tata Johnson Controls.
These vendors will provide parts for the car, and will be responsible for their overall quality. According to analysts and street estimates, the Rs 1 lakh car needs to sell millions of units for the venture to be profitable. Ratan Tata has said the car will create a “high volume” market.
Technology for the future portfolio of Tata Motors’ passenger cars is also in place. Tata Motors has a declared investments of Rs 796.86 crore for acquiring technology in design and development in the last year. Most of this technology was imported from Europe.
Italy’s Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering is a major source of design and styling for Tatas’ passenger and commercial vehicle platforms. Tata Motors tied up with Austria Delphi of France and AVL List of Germany for common rail diesel technology. Technology for safety, in vehicle networking and sealed integrated braking systems is currently being made available by various companies and institutes in Europe. In the past year, Tata Motors has tied up with five such companies for transfer of technology to India.


Tatas name vendors for People’s Car- Hindustan Times

[panky12345]

see this

Rs 1-lakh car: An open letter to Ratan Tata

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by panky12345

see this

Rs 1-lakh car: An open letter to Ratan Tata

Must be a really cantankerous person who always sees a 'half-empty bottle', never a 'half-full' one.

[LLL]

I am thinking that once the the 1L car is launched and if it proves to be a "decent car"..i might want to buy 1 for daily runs to market/bank/office etc. it will have good FE, easy to drive, maintain & park.

For longer drives..keep a safari/sx4. What say?

[Thil]

Originally Posted by panky12345

see this

Rs 1-lakh car: An open letter to Ratan Tata

I have no idea how come media give publicity to this kind of trash..Obviously he doesn't have the full picture to understand the future impact

[jesal]

im sorry but im gonna give out a honest view. this car looks like stupid plastic box. main things to see here is what is the material used to make this car in the first place. what fuel it runs on, what safety i doubt any of it. the way i see it is as soon as this car is launched maruti should automatically make its 800 to the price of 1 or 1.5 lak and give it a lil facelift which i read else where it is comin for sure, and customers again have the profit of owning a maruti, plus ppl looking out for cheaper alternative fuel can install lpg or cng later on. its weird can anyone post ex showroom cost of 800 in delhi pricing. should be under 200000 right ?

[harshavardhan]

TATA's have in-house Crash Testing facility and Anechoic chamber (for NVH Testing). These facilities exist with TATA's since almost a decade, even well before the statutory agencies had acquired one. Pics and a thorough writeup was featured in Car & Bike International just prior to the TATA INDICA launch about a decade back. Any doubts about the crash worthiness of TATA cars would be surely taken care of by TATA engineers. As far I remember, Indica and Safari were crash tested (though never tom-tommed) unlike some of their competitor products - Scorpio comes to my mind immediately.

TATA's have more or less been on target w.r.t pricing. Just to remind, a day before Indica's price was announced, MUL slashed prices of M800 and ZEN and also launched newer versions with more "features" at a lower price point. Even if TATA does not stick to Rs. 1 lakh price point, atleast it will trigger a price reduction amongst the competition.

This is not to demean any manufacturer / product. Let us be proud of a home grown auto giant and give credit where it is due.

-HARSHAVARDHAN