[wheelguy]

Goenka said Indians weighing 65-70 kg use an entire 1,500 kg car to travel individually, hinting at the wastage of resources that go into making the big car move.

MUMBAI: Indians use too big car by size for moving a single person, and the fate met by Tata Nano was unfortunate, Mahindra and Mahindra MD Pawan Goenka said on Saturday. He also conceded that the automobile industry does add to pollution, and pitched for adopting all the means to reduce it. It can be noted that the Tatas have discontinued Nano after poor response to the 600-cc Rs 1 lakh car. Many experts have blamed the product's utilitarian product pitch in a country where owning a car is seen as a lifestyle necessity as a reason for the failure.

"It is very unfortunate that nano didn't do very well," Goenka said, speaking at an alumni event organized by his alma mater IIT-Kanpur here.

"We need to have personal transport that is more tuned to moving a single person," he said.

Keeping the same requirement in mind, Goenka said his company has launched a smaller car, which should be hitting the market soon.

He also acknowledged that automobiles at present contribute 7 per cent of the carbon dioxide and a fifth of particulate matter PM 2.5, and every effort should be made to reduce the impact rather than mounting efforts to say that it is only this much of an impact.

India can lead the race on the connected car front due to its prowess on the information technology front, Goenka said.

There is a lot of work happening on the electric vehicles as well, with startups dedicated to niche areas like batteries, charging, two-wheelers and three-wheelers mushrooming, he said.

India is at present five years behind China when it comes to EVs, but can lead the world on a research and development as well as production front, he noted.

At present, India is trailing the world as a consumer of EVs, he said, adding that only 1,400 cars were bought in 2019, which is a very small percentage of the world demand.

The auto sector will have to play a crucial role in the overall economic development of the country, he said.

Goenka said the manufacturing sector has to contribute USD 1 trillion if the economy were to be a USD 5 trillion GDP and the auto sector will have to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 14 per cent for five years.

Source

[pannags]

He's missing a critical point - A vast majority of us use cars, sometimes for very short distances, for the simple reason that it is a significantly safer alternative!

I'd love to ride a bike or even a cycle to work, but the current state of roads, utter lack of discipline and pathetic enforcement ensure I can't even dream of it!!

[V.Narayan]

He makes a very valid point. For those like me who use a car literally all the time this won't change unless public transport and road safety undergo dramatic improvement. But that does not mean that we as a nation do not start our movement towards smaller cars.

[Nissan1180]

I think this was the point Tata made while creating the Nano- move a family in the least possible space, using the best possible comfort-price balance.
The Nano failed due to many reasons (Marketing, QC, status-sensitivity over practicality mindset etc.), but there is a great opportunity to make something that is a Nano 2.0 with better brand perception, a electric power train and a better service backing. The recently showcased quadricycle from Mahindra is close to the Nano in terms of space, so this maybe an unconventional way to promote it.

About safety- I don't get how people who have families to come back to spend 3 lakhs on bikes for commuting within the city, and talk about cars being expensive. I guess status matters more to them than safety. No where in the world would a person who can afford a used car go for a bike as his or her primary mode of transport, because most people care more about coming back home to the family than looking cool on some bike. I guess India is different.

[ani_meher]

Which is why we should thank Maruti to make lighter and lighter cars. Even though their power per tonne is bad, at least carriage per tonne (passenger weight/vehicle weight) will be best in segment!

[laluks]

Yeah!! If I have a predictable and easy access to public transport I don't need any cars. But if I do own one, I would choose based on my use case. Of course, I do not have the vitamin M to own a small car for city for single use and one for family use

I believe single person use is normally in cities, so please look at improving public transport and infrastructure than smaller cars in lieu of that!!

[1100D]

Not sure why Indians should be pinpointed and blamed alone! Do the more evolved world fill all the available seats in a Mercedes S class?

(Please note, the S-class correlation is purely indicative, of people using better cars than the ones we do, more often than not, when moving alone)

Not sure if this statement is a sign of the direction the leadership of this company is about to take. As a car enthusiast I am disappointed, even if the environmental mafia starts flaming me for saying this.

[anjan_c2007]

Yes, rightly said Pawanji. But Mahindra has restricted itself since 1945 into making 2000 cc plus engines since it's Willys years. The Jeep CJ 4A was an extended version of the Willys CJ 3B. We saw the Willys Station Wagon, Willys/ Jeep FC- 160 pickup and its extended chassis 260 and 260 D, CJ 500 D, CL 550 MDI, 540 DP, Armada, Marshal, Bolero, Scorpio, Xylo, XUV 5OO, XUV 3OO, Marazzo with many more commercial vehicles that I am not naming.

In the M & M portfolio the E2O and the KUV 100 presumably manufactured for private ownership (though now too much in the taxi trade) appear to be smaller in dimensions. Hence, if anyone uses a Mahindra other than the E2O and KUV 100 , the two smaller ones, they are bound to be under the purview of the statement , "Indians use too big car to move single person: Pawan Goenka."

Hopefully, Pininfarina could design some smaller cars for their portfolio.

[Rajeevraj]

A strange statement I would say. A car is a car and a vast majority of our cars would probably fall in a compact category-Apart from a few SUV's higher up in the chain. 3-4 feet here and there makes no difference.

A 'smaller car' would not help reduce the congestion in any way. What we need are not 'smaller cars', we need impeccable public transport infrastructure so that we can move towards 'No cars'

[Miyata]

First thing I did on reading the news - checkout Goenka's drives! The man has precept and practice that seem very well converged. Kudos. Not too many we come across (in positions of authority) that actually practice what they preach. He apparently only recently bought his first privately owned vehicle in 26 yrs - XUV300

While I agree with what he says in principle, in practice, I don't see that as very practical. At least at this stage of our personal transport maturity. A big enough car serves multiple purposes. A small car would be good only for a smaller percentage of overall use.

We are not yet in a place where we could just rent a bigger car for that occasional need. Once it becomes a reliable alternative, I guess many people might just prefer the smaller car - with appropriate push from regulatory bodies!

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by wheelguy

Goenka said Indians weighing 65-70 kg use an entire 1,500 kg car to travel individually..........[/center]

Says the company which started its car business on the back of a 2+ ton Scorpio. Ok, I said it in a jest. What Mr Goenka said is true of us. The bigger the better seems to be the mantra. Most of the cars on morning run to work have no occupants other than driver. We need cars with smaller noon-shadow but high GC to tackle our urban mayhem. Which is why SUVs are ruling the roost. Slowly, all hatchbacks will get lift-job to end up as under-4m SUVs.

[condor]

Looks like he forgot the sub-4m environment that the government created and the number of small un-safe cars we have around us.

[DicKy]

That's a pretty rich statement coming from a man whose company survives on Scorpios and Boleros.

And to make it even more ridiculous, I feel Indians use a vehicle to its maximum or plus seating capacity more frequently than other countries.

Of course, it is a colossal waste for one person to use a 1.5 tonne 4m+ vehicle for just personal transport.

Would love an 800 size 3 door hatchback, or a Honda Beat kinda car. Or a Miata.

If Mahindra is planning for a Twizy like vehicle, am all for it. Would be perfect.

But if it is another one of those KUV contraptions, then

Don't think he would be making this statement for the Atom, which is a good one from spec, but it is meant to replace autorickshaws right? Like the Qute did....
.Didn't work out, eh.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by wheelguy

It can be noted that the Tatas have discontinued Nano after poor response to the 600-cc Rs 1 lakh car.

Nano was marketed as Rs 1L car. Very few people managed to grab it at Rs 1L. In 2013 when I was at a Tata showroom, they quoted me Rs 2.57 L for a AC Nano, whereas for Rs 3.10 L OTR, Alto 800 was available in the market! The choice for me was clear and it's the same for the majority too.

Now coming back to the topic-
If a person buy a car, it's for his family. In India majority of the people are not that rich to buy & maintain more than one car, one small car for his solo office commute and the other for his family usage. One versatile car can do all the jobs for a typical middle-class Indian family.

Public transport is still a mess in our country, specially during the office hours. Safety is another concern too.
Using a two wheeler is always a good option, but it depends on the weather. During monsoon or peak summer it might get tricky.

To reduce pollution there are now some popular app's like S-Ride or similar, which allow one person to share his car with others and in return he earns some money. The rides are cheap for the passengers and the owner of the car is also earning some money. At-least the owner of the car can retrieve his monthly fuel bills!
These are brilliant ways to save pollution, traffic, money and time.
Rather than promoting one car per person, it will be better to promote 4 persons per car in the same route! It will be a win-win situation for everyone!

Sharing rides, using two wheeler's, using public transport or office buses whenever feasible are always very good options, one can choose from!

Originally Posted by wheelguy

We need to have personal transport that is more tuned to moving a single person," he said. Keeping the same requirement in mind, Goenka said his company has launched a smaller car, which should be hitting the market soon.

A much more smarter marketing strategy, than what Tata did for promoting their Nano as a poor man's car!

[Thermodynamics]

If we rate all countries with respect to average vehicle size/weight, Indian cars would probably be the smallest and lightest. On the other hand we would also be among the largest users of public transport.

IMO, all this looks like promotion for their upcoming launch of low weight low cost vehicle. If we go by hints in his speech it could be a three wheeler EV targeting primarily city/office commuters.