Rs.8K bike and a 400cc engine for the Rs.1 Lakh car

[Steeroid]

Here's the article on Hero Motors plan to introduce a no-frills bike for Rs.8,000/-

The reason this post is in this section is that the article also talks of Hero Motors talks with Tata to make a 400cc engine for their 1 lakh car....

Interesting times, Economic Times!!!

[Abhay]

Yep read it in TOI today....

Probable outcomes are
8k motorbike = cycle with an engine
1 lakh car = glorified rickshaw

[Mpower]

There was already a 22cc MOFA by enfield that was a spectacular failure. Wonder how this will be different.

[tifosikrishna]

Originally Posted by Abhay

Probable outcomes are
8k motorbike = cycle with an engine
1 lakh car = glorified rickshaw

hey, i beg to differ. we have a tendency to associate quality with price, however if price performance equation can be altered, then we may have a very good product at the fraction of a price. case in points are jaipur foot ( quality wise very good but available at a very cheap rate), arvind eye care in tamil nadu ( providing world class eye care at a very low rates), tata indione ( budget hotel from tata - they fixed the price of the room first and then the infrastructure was build backwards with that price point in mind).
for more on this read "fortune at the bottom of the pyramid".

no body knows, we may even have a car as good as maruthi 800 for a lakh of ruppees.

regards
krishna.

[thief]

hey guys is it worth
??????? i dont think so

[skandyhere]

Originally Posted by Abhay

Yep read it in TOI today....

Probable outcomes are
8k motorbike = cycle with an engine
1 lakh car = glorified rickshaw

come now, people. we all should be celebrating diversity. if there are options to suit the poorest to the richest, who's to quarrel? why do we sneer at low-cost products... none of us on team-bhp is a bill gates, right?

cutting-edge technology is not just what daimler chrysler does. it is equally pervading in novel attempts at taking economy to new levels. in fact, that is what the world needs. when the rich in the west are talking about SUVs being anti-ecology (guzzling fuel) and are beginning to look at ways to correct such prodigality, what's this talk in the team about 'the indian obsession with fuel economy' or deriding tata's efforts?

economy is essential. and it's difficult to achieve. let's raise a toast to those pioneers who brave the storm.

[Surya]

This is only going to make the traffic scene much worse on the roads. Once these puny creatures come on road and become popular, the real biggies (in terms of power) will be just following them as they will be occupying all the lanes and will be killing our time and driving pleasure.

After all its India and who is following Traffic rules and lanes.
Lanes which are crowded by the autos will now be crowded with these puny creatures as well...

These should be banned b4 they give headache to the motorists.

Surya

[DrunkenMonk]

If I actually did make a 1 lakh car (or 8000/- bike),
I'd shut-up and sell it for 10 lakhs (or 80,000/-).

- mvnk

[Abhay]

Originally Posted by skandyhere

come now, people. we all should be celebrating diversity. if there are options to suit the poorest to the richest, who's to quarrel? why do we sneer at low-cost products... none of us on team-bhp is a bill gates, right?

Good sentiment skandy.
But I was not scoffing at it or anything (neither am I rich in any sense nor a snob) but I just pointed out a little pragmatically what we can really expect.

Do you really think a 8k bike would have good quality, performance and comfort as a normal bike? If yes then why arent current bikes selling for less??

If indeed we see new materials etc being researched for buiilding a cheap but decent quality product I am all for it, but what I sense is we will get a flimsy, underpowered vehicle which will clutter up the roads and not be an actual alternative to current products but will lead to the scene like mobile phones where everybody has one and in general its more of a nuisance in a public place.

[GTO]

economy is essential. and it's difficult to achieve. let's raise a toast to those pioneers who brave the storm.

Well said, sport. Its all about the guts in trying to meet the need of an extremely challenging market segment.

GTO

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by Surya

This is only going to make the traffic scene much worse on the roads. Once these puny creatures come on road and become popular, the real biggies (in terms of power) will be just following them as they will be occupying all the lanes and will be killing our time and driving pleasure.

After all its India and who is following Traffic rules and lanes.
Lanes which are crowded by the autos will now be crowded with these puny creatures as well...

These should be banned b4 they give headache to the motorists.

Surya

There was a point of time when you would have been unable to afford a car yourself.

If this were the approach to be taken by the government, Maruti wouldnt be around. And we all know what happened AFTER Maruti came in.

Motoring is not the privilege of a chosen few - who are we to ban others from the road just because it would make things more difficult for us? What if those who started driving before you had the same attitude?

skandyhere has given us the RIGHT perspective to this effort. Let us not sneer at something just because it is cheap, because it take more effort to create something out of the least inputs. It is an art.

The previous generations in India used to get by on very little - not because they didnt know how to spend, but because they were farsighted enough to fund our future. Would we sneer at them for their parsimony?

[Conan]

I guess someone needs to come with automotive equivalent of Moors Law.
Especially for India, since our auto industry is still in its infancy.

Cheers to the people who push the envelope...

[muni]

All that i can say is you never know what you are gonna achieve until you start working on the dream and c for yourself what you can accomplish. Tata wouldnt have talked somethin in the air without doing some ground work and it does look possible. It all depends upon the seriousness, the energy and the resources that will be spent and the commercial aspect will always play a very important role.

Maybe the 1 lakh car may end up at 1.2Lakh but atleast, we are trying to make things more accessible to the common man.

Minimum Safety of the vehicle will definitely be something that the vehiclle manufacturer has to wiork on.