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

ananthkamath · 11th January 2008, 21:34

Brilliant!! Tata has officially flushed conventional notions about the economics of car making as we know it today, down the drain.

Those wheel wells give me a lot of hope...looks like a decent set of 10" wheels should fit in there. I'm looking for the classic mini-lite look. Like this:

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ZQ5M-SKT/whminiliteduo.JPG

Can someone please do a photoshop of the nano with this style of wheels...please?

v1p3r · 11th January 2008, 21:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by urvava

2 years back when i was thinking of buying a Hatch Back- My Girl Friend Echoed a Resounding "NO" to Tata Indica as it is a TAXiiiiiiii.. (No Offence here..)
Wonder wa will happen to NANO.. or "NANO CAB"

That's pretty dumb (no offence here). Abroad, Corollas, Camrys, Vectras, even Mercs are used as cabs. Should we stop buying them? Buy a car based on its own merits, not based on who else drives it.

LandCruiser · 11th January 2008, 22:10

This thread has to be merged with another.

CrAzY dRiVeR · 11th January 2008, 22:15

With some basic mods, the car would really look good, and still cost less than the M800. Cool!

.anshuman · 12th January 2008, 12:37

Tushky please reduce the size of the pics.

v1p3r · 12th January 2008, 19:49

Barkha Dutt says:

Quote:

Small towns, big dreams and the beginning of the end of an India shaped only by the privileged few — that is the real story of the Nano.

The full article here.

paharino1 · 12th January 2008, 20:56

Ratan Tata answers the traffic /chaos question himself in a interview to ET

Q: There has been some criticism that this car is going to choke the already congested roads in cities. Do you think that is an elitist criticism?

Yeah, I asked myself. We produced about 7 million two wheelers earlier. Today, we almost have about 60-70 million two to three wheelers in the country. We produced about 1.4 million cars and at some point we will exceed 2 million. Nobody said anything about that. It only happens to be this car that is being targeted. You may say well OK the two wheeler takes lesser space.

Our car pollutes if not less, then certainly not more than a two wheeler and I am not talking per passenger but as a vehicle. We conform to Euro IV in terms of our engine. Today Bharat III is required, we conform to Bharat III. All scooters and two wheelers are Bharat II today, not that they are not conforming, but that's what their standard is. So, all I want to say is that yes you may take a view that this small car will take less space than a large car.

Yes, you may say that this car will carry four people instead of the normal two on a scooter and therefore you will have if, filled in with four people, you will have less on the road than two scooters. More of immediate concern, for anyone that drives a car, is that today two or three wheelers have become a little more of a menace on the road than a car has become because of their ability to weave in and out.

And it makes an assumption that a small car will not replace a bigger car. It just looks at it as an increment. You produce two million cars, you produce half-a-million Tata cars, you produce 2.5 million cars. That's not quite the way it is going to work. We will cannibalise some of the existing low-end cars or cannibalise some of the existing two wheelers. Some of the cannibalisation will be of our own product and Indica is also going to feel the effects of this. So, it will not be that it will just sit on top of everything and there won't be a square inch of space on the road or anything of this nature.

Secondly, we are looking at congestion in major cities. Have we drafted a form of affordable form of family transport for people in tier II or tier III cities. Is it their lot not to have it? Is it a sin to try to give it to them? Does it necessarily mean that the small car is only congesting the city roads in the major cities and that nothing is being done in the urban areas. Yes, we have high teledensity in the urban areas, we haven't done enough in the rural areas, but there is huge potential if rural India gets connected and the same is going to be true with transport.

madan80 · 12th January 2008, 23:17

I have been thinking for a long time about certain aspects of the 1 Lac car. What does this mean to the market. This is my way things might work out.
1. The nano might become a second car. Something that the family can use to run errands within the city / colony. college kids might find it trendy, and parents might gift this as presents.
However, since this IS being touted as a poor mans car... why woould someone who wants to move "up" the ladder buy something associated with this image?
If this clicks, then it will do wonders for TATA, but then again, where is the space? the bike has a mch smaller foot print, and the average bike purchaser will think many times before actually buying something like this. Firstly - consumption (there will be an average 3.5 time monthly increase in fuel consumption). secondly - maintainance- There will be much higher costs associated with a car.
Yes, people might buy this as the first car, and then use this for weekend travel and special occassions.
but then again - they might not.
These are just my ideas / opinions.

Steeroid · 13th January 2008, 02:01

Was just looking through the few dozen pics I had taken at the Expo, and hell our little scoop of a few months back was pretty much on the spot!!!

@#1#

adya33 · 13th January 2008, 02:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Was just looking through the few dozen pics I had taken at the Expo, and hell our little scoop of a few months back was pretty much on the spot!!!

@#1#

Nano was a greatly guarded secret.
Its amazing you could get such a great scoop picture

Zappo · 13th January 2008, 02:35

In fact there is an article in yesterday's TOI on Pakistan's Sitara (habib motors). There the MD or some such guy insisted that he saw this car month's back in some scoppe photo or something similar. Although TOI was loath to believe that I felt there is some truth. The guy insisted that he saw that car in a blue color. I think we did have another pic on this board which was again close to this final look and it was blue in color. Probably the guy saw it here. Or maybe somewhere else. Also, there is another post where it is mentioned that sometime in december someone from delhi booked the url Tata 'NANO' - The People's Car from Tata Motors. This was later on purchased back by Tatas at some cost. so maybe inspite of all the secrecy the news did leak out afterall.

GTO - Touring · 13th January 2008, 14:39

Quote:

Was just looking through the few dozen pics I had taken at the Expo, and hell our little scoop of a few months back was pretty much on the spot!!!

Can't agree any more with this. Assuming that your picture is from 2 years back, the Nano has evolved impressively.

salilpawar1 · 13th January 2008, 15:06

Thanks a lot, Steeroid!

rajtheindian · 14th January 2008, 00:49

Nano launch presentation by Mr Ratan Tata
Tata Motors Unveils Nano, the "People's Car" - VIDEO ENHANCED

GTO · 14th January 2008, 14:52

You know what will create the real impact? A 2 - 3 year old Tata Nano at 70,000. Or a 4 year old Nano at 50,000? If Tata can make the Nano durable enough to last a healthy 5 - 7 years, it will create a riot in the used car market.

Even if they dont, our "jugad" champions will ensure that a 2008 Nano is still running in 2028.

11th January 2008, 21:34	#226
ananthkamath Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mangalore Posts: 1,209 Thanked: 82 Times View My Garage	Brilliant!! Tata has officially flushed conventional notions about the economics of car making as we know it today, down the drain. Those wheel wells give me a lot of hope...looks like a decent set of 10" wheels should fit in there. I'm looking for the classic mini-lite look. Like this: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ZQ5M-SKT/whminiliteduo.JPG Can someone please do a photoshop of the nano with this style of wheels...please? Last edited by ananthkamath : 11th January 2008 at 21:39.
	() Thanks

11th January 2008, 22:10	#228
LandCruiser BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Chennai Posts: 711 Thanked: 51 Times View My Garage	This thread has to be merged with another.
	() Thanks

11th January 2008, 22:15	#229
CrAzY dRiVeR Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bangalore / TVM Posts: 18,037 Thanked: 79,060 Times View My Garage	With some basic mods, the car would really look good, and still cost less than the M800. Cool!
	() Thanks

12th January 2008, 12:37	#230
.anshuman Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Good-Gaon Posts: 7,763 Thanked: 11,131 Times View My Garage	Tushky please reduce the size of the pics.
	() Thanks

12th January 2008, 20:56	#232
paharino1 BHPian Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hyderabad, India Posts: 299 Thanked: 30 Times	Ratan Tata answers the traffic /chaos question himself in a interview to ET Q: There has been some criticism that this car is going to choke the already congested roads in cities. Do you think that is an elitist criticism? Yeah, I asked myself. We produced about 7 million two wheelers earlier. Today, we almost have about 60-70 million two to three wheelers in the country. We produced about 1.4 million cars and at some point we will exceed 2 million. Nobody said anything about that. It only happens to be this car that is being targeted. You may say well OK the two wheeler takes lesser space. Our car pollutes if not less, then certainly not more than a two wheeler and I am not talking per passenger but as a vehicle. We conform to Euro IV in terms of our engine. Today Bharat III is required, we conform to Bharat III. All scooters and two wheelers are Bharat II today, not that they are not conforming, but that's what their standard is. So, all I want to say is that yes you may take a view that this small car will take less space than a large car. Yes, you may say that this car will carry four people instead of the normal two on a scooter and therefore you will have if, filled in with four people, you will have less on the road than two scooters. More of immediate concern, for anyone that drives a car, is that today two or three wheelers have become a little more of a menace on the road than a car has become because of their ability to weave in and out. And it makes an assumption that a small car will not replace a bigger car. It just looks at it as an increment. You produce two million cars, you produce half-a-million Tata cars, you produce 2.5 million cars. That's not quite the way it is going to work. We will cannibalise some of the existing low-end cars or cannibalise some of the existing two wheelers. Some of the cannibalisation will be of our own product and Indica is also going to feel the effects of this. So, it will not be that it will just sit on top of everything and there won't be a square inch of space on the road or anything of this nature. Secondly, we are looking at congestion in major cities. Have we drafted a form of affordable form of family transport for people in tier II or tier III cities. Is it their lot not to have it? Is it a sin to try to give it to them? Does it necessarily mean that the small car is only congesting the city roads in the major cities and that nothing is being done in the urban areas. Yes, we have high teledensity in the urban areas, we haven't done enough in the rural areas, but there is huge potential if rural India gets connected and the same is going to be true with transport.
	(1) Thanks

12th January 2008, 23:17	#233
madan80 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 1,358 Thanked: 82 Times View My Garage	I have been thinking for a long time about certain aspects of the 1 Lac car. What does this mean to the market. This is my way things might work out. 1. The nano might become a second car. Something that the family can use to run errands within the city / colony. college kids might find it trendy, and parents might gift this as presents. However, since this IS being touted as a poor mans car... why woould someone who wants to move "up" the ladder buy something associated with this image? If this clicks, then it will do wonders for TATA, but then again, where is the space? the bike has a mch smaller foot print, and the average bike purchaser will think many times before actually buying something like this. Firstly - consumption (there will be an average 3.5 time monthly increase in fuel consumption). secondly - maintainance- There will be much higher costs associated with a car. Yes, people might buy this as the first car, and then use this for weekend travel and special occassions. but then again - they might not. These are just my ideas / opinions.
	() Thanks

13th January 2008, 02:01	#234
Steeroid Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: N.A Posts: 7,025 Thanked: 2,757 Times	Was just looking through the few dozen pics I had taken at the Expo, and hell our little scoop of a few months back was pretty much on the spot!!! @#1# Last edited by Steeroid : 13th January 2008 at 02:04.
	() Thanks

13th January 2008, 02:35	#236
Zappo Team-BHP Support Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 5,908 Thanked: 2,746 Times	In fact there is an article in yesterday's TOI on Pakistan's Sitara (habib motors). There the MD or some such guy insisted that he saw this car month's back in some scoppe photo or something similar. Although TOI was loath to believe that I felt there is some truth. The guy insisted that he saw that car in a blue color. I think we did have another pic on this board which was again close to this final look and it was blue in color. Probably the guy saw it here. Or maybe somewhere else. Also, there is another post where it is mentioned that sometime in december someone from delhi booked the url Tata 'NANO' - The People's Car from Tata Motors. This was later on purchased back by Tatas at some cost. so maybe inspite of all the secrecy the news did leak out afterall. Last edited by Zappo : 13th January 2008 at 02:38.
	() Thanks

13th January 2008, 15:06	#238
salilpawar1 BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mumbai (MH-01) Posts: 853 Thanked: 252 Times View My Garage	Thanks a lot, Steeroid!
	() Thanks

14th January 2008, 00:49	#239
rajtheindian BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Syracuse, US Posts: 247 Thanked: 8 Times	Nano launch presentation by Mr Ratan Tata Tata Motors Unveils Nano, the "People's Car" - VIDEO ENHANCED
	() Thanks

14th January 2008, 14:52	#240
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 71,822 Thanked: 322,718 Times View My Garage	You know what will create the real impact? A 2 - 3 year old Tata Nano at 70,000. Or a 4 year old Nano at 50,000? If Tata can make the Nano durable enough to last a healthy 5 - 7 years, it will create a riot in the used car market. Even if they dont, our "jugad" champions will ensure that a 2008 Nano is still running in 2028.
	() Thanks