[Poseidon]

Read this in the 15 Jun issue of Outlook Money (AutoMotive column by Veeresh Malik):

"... the old rules about higher initial cost of diesel cars will not really hold true anymore. And in this context, the Indian manufacturers are way ahead of their Japanese, American and European competitors. There is already talk of a 0.75 litre to 1-litre turbo-charged diesel engine for an Indian car on the test tracks, providing almost 35-40 km perlitre. While I can’t speak about the car, I do know that the factory which will make these turbo-chargers in lakhs per annum is already up and running."


Any guesses?
One lakh Tata small car, maybe?

[DRC]

.75 l engine is the tata ace engine...

Clever tata will use the same engine for so called 1 lac car, and produce engine in volumes

[zenx]

I know a 180cc 2 wheeled car that gives me 35-40kmpl Its my good ol Pulsar 180 'classic'. And thats petrol!

[bike_bug]

I guess it is a TATA small car.

[Rayden]

That will be a super super hit Im sure even if it dosent have the basic needs in a car.

[tifosikrishna]

i heard that the engine for the 1 lakh car is to be sourced from kinetic engineering....

[revharder]

Originally Posted by zenx

I know a 180cc 2 wheeled car that gives me 35-40kmpl Its my good ol Pulsar 180 'classic'. And thats petrol!

a car needs atleast four wheels in contact with ground to be called a car.

add one more pulsar bike to that, and your economy boils down to 17.5-20kmpl!

and that's way too less than an Indica(D) / MarutiZen(D) running under standard test conditions!

[triggercool]

Sure you would require that much of fuel average(35-45kpl) for 1 lac car as there will be goooood traffic jam cause of such cheap cars.

[zenx]

Originally Posted by revharder

a car needs atleast four wheels in contact with ground to be called a car.

add one more pulsar bike to that, and your economy boils down to 17.5-20kmpl!

and that's way too less than an Indica(D) / MarutiZen(D) running under standard test conditions!

You're right! Maaaan, thats a pretty efficient bunch of cars....
Tho trainer wheels/sidecar may do the trick to qualify, and make me ride less hard and increase my FE!

[garvit2002]

if this car gets on road it will be a superhit no matter how does it looks.

[greatmana2000]

i guess we could imagine a smart cdi clone ...

[Psycho]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

While I can’t speak about the car, I do know that the factory which will make these turbo-chargers in lakhs per annum is already up and running."

Two things come to mind

1) As you said the TATA small car
2) The factory for turbo's being set up by the Maini group

[Poseidon]

Originally Posted by DRC

.75 l engine is the tata ace engine...

Clever tata will use the same engine for so called 1 lac car, and produce engine in volumes

Tata Ace already costs Rs 2 lakh. Though this car must be from Tatas (being reigning kings of diesel cars), on 2nd thoughts it need not necessarily be the 1 lac offering - they can price it higher also....

Originally Posted by triggercool

Sure you would require that much of fuel average(35-45kpl) for 1 lac car as there will be goooood traffic jam cause of such cheap cars.

I agree, but big, costly cars are enough trouble already. Atleast this one promises FE in these troubled times!

[Poseidon]

Originally Posted by Psycho

Two things come to mind

1) As you said the TATA small car
2) The factory for turbo's being set up by the Maini group

Mainis setting up diesel plant? I thought they were into refining their EV Reva

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

Tata Ace already costs Rs 2 lakh. Though this car must be from Tatas (being reigning kings of diesel cars), on 2nd thoughts it need not necessarily be the 1 lac offering - they can price it higher also....

Not necessarily. A vehicle designed to carry a 0.50 tonne payload will require different engineering than one that is designed to carry 4 people, because a 0.5 tonne vehicle in India usually ends up getting overloaded to twice its payload and will be therefore overengineered for load.

From the concept that Mr. Tata has been talking about the new 'car' will be very light, employing plastics and composites wherever possible and engineering adhesives instead of welding. I'm assuming the cost of steel required itself will reduce drastically, especially when one considers the ladder frame of the Ace.

Then there will be excise duty cuts when the vehicle is assembled in SSI units around the country. Volumes generated by a car sold at that cost will also drive down the cost of various components required.

The engine itself may be shared with the Ace, which is already doing about 100,000 units plus a year. Other components may be shared with the Indica family. Obviously the cost would come down with such volumes.

I think it may be possible. And if it does give 30+ kmpl of diesel, it will have long waiting lists as well - it will be hard to resist in times like these. Hell, I'd buy one to run around the city in.