| Sneak preview of Tata's 1 LAC car - DH - no pics though
from DH
Sneak preview of the cheapest car
Some people who have seen the Tata's People's Car" describe a tiny, charming, four-door, five-seat hatchback shaped like a jellybean, tiny in the front and broad in the back, the better to reduce wind resistance and permit a cheaper engine.
The Tata’s Rs 1 lakh “People’s Car” is a carefully guarded secret. The company refuses to provide details of how it was built, and it has signed legal agreements with suppliers not to divulge details.
But as the debut date (the car will be premiered at the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi on Thursday) approaches, a handful of suppliers broke their silence to offer an early, impressionistic picture.
Some of the people who have seen the car describe a tiny, charming, four-door, five-seat hatchback shaped like a jellybean, tiny in the front and broad in the back, the better to reduce wind resistance and permit a cheaper engine.
The car swims against the current, with a rear-mounted engine, a trunk that fits little more than a briefcase, and plastics and adhesives replacing metal and bolts in certain nooks.
The car is a triumph with potential to change how cars everywhere are made, industry experts say.
“It’s a nice car — cute,” said A K Chaturvedi, senior vice president for business development at Lumax Industries, a supplier in Delhi that developed the headlights and interior lamps for the car.
The model appearing on Thursday has no radio, no power steering, no power windows, no air conditioning, and one windshield wiper instead of two, according to suppliers and Tata’s own statements.
Bucking prevailing habits, the car lacks a tachometer and uses an analog rather than digital speedometer, according to Ashok Taneja, who until recently was president of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India, representing many of Tata’s suppliers as they signed deals with the company.
Tata’s focus on reducing the weight curbed material costs and also permitted a cheaper engine. People familiar with the car describe a $700 rear-mounted engine built by the German company Bosch, measuring 600 to 660 cubic centimetres, with a horsepower in the range of 30 to 35 — no more powerful than some commercial lawn mowers.
(Input by IHT) | 
9th January 2008, 08:03
