I think we can discuss this without getting personal. For most of us on this thread (and forum), neither of these cars are interesting enough to be in our stable. So why so serious ?
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Originally Posted by airbender There are so many vehicles in india which can only sell in India(or may be pakistan). But some people hold the torch for these vehicles as if they are world beaters. |
Just because some vehicles sell only in India, does this make them bad ? Strange logic. In the US, an M800 or Alto or Nano or Spark or Santro or Indica or hell even a Safari would be out of place due to the roads, speeds, safety considerations etc. But does that mean we should also chuck these vehicles out ? Hey, they do perfectly fine for us and we really dont need to look at the US as a guideline for what vehicle to keep or chuck.
Please look at a vehicle on its individual merits and whether it meets the requirements of the market it targets, not on where it sells or in comparison to the vehicles available at your location.
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Originally Posted by airbender M800 Vs Nano is like comparing between chetak and a modern day Honda scooter. It's just a apples to oranges. |
I don't know if you had a Chetak and a Honda and did a comparo. I did - we had a 1972 Bajaj-150 with us till 1995 when I bought my HH CD100. There was just no comparison - more like apples and jackfruit.
But to say that M800 and Nano are like a Chetak and Honda is either ignorance or brand-worship. A couple of pages ago, I compared both these cars - I did not really see the kind of difference you project. Inspite of being ahead (in years, nothing else) of the M800 by 25 years, there is nothing even remotely cutting-edge in the Nano over the M800, other than space. Forget other params, if only the Nano had atleast 50% more FE than the M800, you could say that Nano was state-of-the-art and worthy of being the M800 replacement.
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Originally Posted by airbender The indian government gave the market to only one player that is Maruti. None of the other players can get access to our market at that time. Forget the global players even the indian companies(any industry) were not allowed to start in those days. |
Boss, either you are in the past (Govt subsidy for MUL) or in the future (Nano's future version will do this or that). Can we for a moment talk in the present? No one denies that Govt policy was skewed towards MUL initially, but it has been a fair market for a decade and more now. Hyundai has thrived, Honda is doing good, GM is catching up, Tata themselves are not doing bad - so what relevance is this subsidy thing today ?
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Originally Posted by Amartya - It has a special frame, a mix of a monocoque and a ladder chassis in the conventional sense.. |
I dont know much about body-frame design. But to say that this would help develop a convertible many years from now - is it really a point in favour ?
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Originally Posted by Amartya - It uses certain adhesives for bonding rather than welding. This is a fairly unconventional process.. |
Unconvetional, yes. But is using adhesives better than welding? Again no expert here, but to me it looks like welding is a better, safer and more lasting option.
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Originally Posted by Amartya - Crash worthiness is better than the 800. This borders on speculation, but based on crash norms that are currently in vogue, and the autocar UK crash test, I think the Nano does well.. |
You agree it is speculation and we already discussed this - we dont get a Nano here that is similar to the one that was tested. Then what is the whole point about crash worthiness ?
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Originally Posted by Amartya - Fuel efficiency and pollution levels are better than the 800. |
Assumptions again. Have quoted data from actual Nano user and there is nothing in it to suggest improvement over M800.
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Originally Posted by sanagg1 For starters, Nano is launched about 25 years later. Nearly one generation gap in terms of human and possibly three generation gap in case of cars. |
Yeah, that is a big point in Nano's favour. That it happened to be launched 25 years later. Great. So how does this help the consumer in any way ?
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Originally Posted by ramzsys Once the DICOR(or whatever it is) Nano is in the market, then there will be no competition. Peak mileage of 30 kmpl or so will turn the heads of those who discredited this potential Indian folks wagon. |
I dont doubt that a diesel Nano will get lots of buyers. But is that something in favour of the car ? Its more about our obsession with cheap fuel. On the same lines, imagine what would happen if an MJD-engine is cut into 2 and plonked into the M800 ? Not just the Nano, even Alto would be history.
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Originally Posted by vc.vinay NANO an illusion on papers backed by baseless claims from TATA, Maruti 800 a reality that changed the indian automotive seen |
I won't say it is an illusion. It is very much a reality, just that the final product does not come with the main thing that was touted as its USP - low cost. And that is not only a disappointment, but if done by any other manufacturer, would have been called as cheating / going-back-on-one's-word.