[CarJunki]

Another balderdash from another know-it-all head honcho.
This is akin to highest paid person being correct. Why is it that M&M has not been able to provide better electric mobility options. Not even an e-Bike for the larger population who are looking towards two wheeled transportation.

This comment here by him mostly amounts to nothing more than "see i have now a product for so and so market, thus any one using something else is not wise".

[ndp88]

1. Nano failed because of poor planning & suicidal marketing.
   
   
2. Not long time ago, people used to buy bigger expensive car just because it had safety features that are quite standards across the world but lacking in small lower-end cars because nobody cared about passenger safety as long as sales were climbing in India.
   
   
3. Every Indian OEM so much concerned with 'climate' and 'fossil fuel' today had made passenger safety 'optional' for decades, because 'profit maximization'.
   
   
4. We should thank the current Transport Minister for slowly introducing number of safety measures as mandatory across all vehicles for OEMs in India. Although that increased the unit cost, competition forced all Indian OEMs to take home a slimmer margin & many safety measures are present right from 'base model' in India today.

I will buy the biggest possible car and use it to travel alone, that's my choice. It is nonsense to lecture others about what kind of personal transport they should choose. Corporates have no business commenting on policy matters. Try grounding your private jets for a year first.

I am sure even Mr. Goenka would agree on many counts & article headline is provocative.

[BrakingBad]

Whether we like it or not, cars are still considered status symbol and not just a transport mechanism to go from point A to B. First Mr.Goenka should lecture to auto makers to come up with this kind of messaging so that public starts thinking in the right direction.

Next we need safe, comfortable & cost comparable public transport. Today it is cheaper to go by car if you’re going with family. Be it long or short trip.

[Malyaj]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

Well, it is indeed easier for them to point fingers at others, so its the fault of Indian consumers who are to blame for using 1500 kg cars to transport their puny 65kg bodies. No one is asking the indian customer if there is a safer alternative to the 1500 kg automobile. Let M&M or Tata launch an efficient electric 4 wheeler with a decent range, reasonable battery replacement costs and adequate charging stations in the major metros and see how we lap it up. Till then, don't expect any dramatic changes to our automotive choices.

Even if Indians are not physically the biggest people on the planet, adjusting for our body weights, there is no way Nano is the benchmark car. If 1500 Kg is the guilt free threshold for Europeans or Americans, we puny Indians should be equally guilt free at around 1200-1300 kgs, which mind you is still a fairly large car.

American preference for larger vehicles was a result of lifestyle choices and circumstances, not because they thought that smaller cars were struggling to cope up with their body weight. Most vehicles will carry 2 average sized persons without fuss. Single person using a car is not an India specific problem either. Its a rubbish statement made solely for the purpose of adding some legitimacy to their supposed new launch which shall miraculously absolve us undeserving Indians of our SUV sins.

[Mortis]

I would definitely swap my hatchback or other sub 4m car for a 2 seater 'pod' car. It makes sense. As long as the car is safe in a crash, stable with its narrow wheelbase, powerful enough to get up to 80-100km/hr and has the usual creature comforts then I have no issue at all with owning one. Basically a Swift or similar car car chopped in half lengthwise in ICE or Electric avatar is basically what I envision.
With regards to status, you can very easily make luxury or performance variants of such cars too.

[imranstael]

Originally Posted by Malyaj

Even if Indians are not physically the biggest people on the planet, adjusting for our body weights, there is no way Nano is the benchmark car. If 1500 Kg is the guilt free threshold for Europeans or Americans, we puny Indians should be equally guilt free at around 1200-1300 kgs, which mind you is still a fairly large car.

Us Indians are no longer puny anyway. Eating carb heavy diets with no protein and tons of processed sugars these days is the norm. And a reckless embracing of fast food culture. We're well on our way to being as big as the citizens of the developed West. We will soon need larger displacement vehicles and bigger door openings to ferry us to work and back.

Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

[AirbusCapt]

In a simplistic viewpoint, Mr Goenka is right. In a practical world, his views make no sense. What he thinks like is a socialist society. Who in their right mind will work hard, make money and then cut back spending on a home, car etc to "save the world"? As is, with emerging EV tech the IC engine will be phased out sooner than we expect. Then a 1500 kg car or 5000kg car makes no significant environmental difference.

[Superleggera]

Don't know to which country he is comparing India to. If you look at the streets of USA, cars are more being considered as a personal space and SUVs and Minivans which are as twice as XUV500 is driven by a single person except for the occasional ferrying of kids football matches.
I don't agree with his statement in general. Majority of the vehicles on Indian roads are carrying more then their capacity. A bike carrying 4 , a Share auto in Bangalore carrying 8, a bus packed with 60-70 people , a stuffed Train exceeding capacity in 100s is very common. Wait for the days where people are standing inside an airplane for domestic flights !

[AirbusCapt]

Originally Posted by Superleggera

I don't agree with his statement in general. Majority of the vehicles on Indian roads are carrying more then their capacity. A bike carrying 4 , a Share auto in Bangalore carrying 8, a bus packed with 60-70 people , a stuffed Train exceeding capacity in 100s is very common. Wait for the days where people are standing inside an airplane for domestic flights !

I think he is cocooned in his privileged bubble to actually know the reality. It's easy to say "use public transport" when one has actually not travelled in a Mumbai local in peak hours, or say "save nature" when one doesn't ever step out of his air conditioned existence. Plus if he feels so strongly I suggest he return the hundreds of crores he earned selling his claptrap jeeps and boleros which poison this Earth.

[chittybang]

What is the point of the statement? He is surely a well travelled man and it is dumbfounding to think that we Indians use too big cars. To begin with we Indians do not even have access to the real big cars. The fortuners and Endeavours of our roads aren't even considered big SUV's if we look at the Ford expedition, Chevy Tahoe or GMC Yukon. Also its common site to see single passengers travelling in these behemoths in the US.

Mr. Goenka usually makes sense in his comments and this seems to be a poorly thought and worded comment. Maybe if he just said people in general and not Indians I could get the point. Dragging Indians into this comment was uncalled for when the rest of the world is literally riding away to glory in their gas guzzling monster trucks while most Indians still do not own cars and travel in packed buses like Canned Sardines. Among those who own cars, there is a large percentage who have opted for micro hatchbacks and then an even smaller percentage have SUVs. So who is he targeting? Sure there seems to be a shift towards mini SUVs in general but thats still not such a big number to come out with a blanket statement.

[fhdowntheline]

Its time we had a thread on which auto honchos speak off their you-know-where and which honchos do nothing but put hands to the table, feet on the shop floor and deliver good quality vehicles, period ( including all forms 2w/4w). Names like Hyundai, Hero, TVS come to mind from recent times. On the other hand theres MSIL and some others , to add to this current gaffe from Mahindra.

[Guite]

Majority of the cars on our roads are hatchbacks. So I don't necessarily agree with Mr Geonka's statement. He is probably pitching for his next small car.

While for most days of the week this one car maybe transporting a single person, on weekends and other family ocassions it will be transporting the entire family. I am sure majority of Indians are still single car household.

[mvadg]

Now if he could provide this one for Rupees 2.38 Lakhs, I'm sure we would worship him!
The new Citroën Ami - 70 Km range, 45 kmph max speed, about Rupees 4.75 Lakhs

...It's cheap, too, particularly for an EV. Batteries are routinely the biggest cost driver for EVs, and the one in the Ami only holds 5.5 kWh. Hence, you can buy it outright for just €6,000 (US$6,590), or put down less than half of that and rent it for €19.99 (US$22) a month...

I assume we could produce a low quality, lead-acid battery based version with a 40 km range and 25 kmph speed, dirt cheap.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by alpha1

So does this imply that Mr Goenka travel everywhere using public transport like metro and buses?
Or does he move around in small Alto sized vehicle?

I think he is pitching for us to use this

[Suprit]

To digress slightly, I think Tata Motors would have achieved great success if they had positioned the Nano as a replacement for auto-rickshaws! Similar road footprint, space for 3 passengers, and the comfort and safety resulting from 4 wheels and an enclosed cabin!
IMHO where the Indian auto industry is missing a trick is that they are designing primarily for private owners rather than for public transportation (i.e. taxis) and car hire.
Many of us own cars under duress because of lack of options rather than for a pressing need!