Tata 1 Lac Mercedes out in 2008

abhibh · 24th October 2005, 17:44

Hi,

I was hearing a news on TV and from the Words of "Rattan Tata".

We will be launching Our 1 lac 2 Seater Small car in 2008 definately. Rattan Tata says now it is a matter of his image in thecar industry and no matter what happens they will get this car out in 2008 - 2009. He also added that GM is in this colaboration with him and the design of the car will be like mercedes.

He also added that they are developing special type of plastic for this car in thier labs.

What you guys have to say about this??? Is this possible to rule out a 1 lac car with looks of Merc???

I think the base model will be priced at 1 lac

bigman · 24th October 2005, 18:16

Was it not the intention of Tata to sell the Indica for 1 lakh ?

No doubt they can make a car for 1 lakh but it will be interesting to see what it looks like, the engine and the finish.

merve_extreme · 24th October 2005, 19:44

what are they trying to make a 1 lakh $ mercedes?

a car like a mercedes at 1 lack rupees is like saying man can live on the sun.

bigman · 24th October 2005, 20:04

Mr Tata may have been referring to Smart which is a brand of DaimlerChrysler. You cannot even buy a Smart car for that low price so I look forward to seeing the Tata 1 lakh car.

Abhay · 25th October 2005, 12:17

plastic 1 lakh "thing".....based on new Ace mini-truck ? ;-)

scooby05 · 25th October 2005, 12:37

For 1 lac we can expect an auto rickshaw with 4 wheels,closed body,2 doors,500cc engine etc. etc.. And thats not bad for semi urban and rural people upgrading from a scooty, since thats the target buyer/market. We must remember that Rs. 1 lac ex showroom means only Rs. 70000 to Tata's, rest being the duties,taxes,dealer margins etc.etc.

Boom Shiva · 25th October 2005, 12:44

Tata's 4-5 lakh rupee cars have worse build quality than auto rickshaws. Their 1 lakh car will probably compete with bullock carts.

scooby05 · 25th October 2005, 12:59

But their Indica is second highest seller after the 800. Does it mean all the people buying it are----- and at 5 lacs they ARE VALUE FOR MONEY. You are probably comparing it with the 7 lac cars, and so the expression. Their 1 lac car Will be better than an Auto ricksaw for Sure. and Will Sell.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boom Shiva

Tata's 4-5 lakh rupee cars have worse build quality than auto rickshaws. Their 1 lakh car will probably compete with bullock carts.

rkg · 25th October 2005, 13:41

kindly check the oct 10/11th issue of bussiness today. it is cover story with ratan tata interview. where it stated that it most likely to be ready to assemble kits supplied to dealers who has assemble it to avoid or reduce tax burden

gchandra · 25th October 2005, 13:47

1 lakh car, yes i have heard about it for the past so many years.
I really doubt if it comes to market, and even if it comes to market it will make things worse...

1. 1 Lakh car ? 2 seater ? Bike is better it comes in sub 50k and gives excellent mileage too .. yes we can add 2 more wheels to bike, so that it is also a 4 wheeler. And of course rain coats can be given as standard accessory.

2. With less road width and already chaotic traffic, it will only add to the chaos.

3. A maruti 800 costs 2.15 lakhs and it can take 4 people, so 800 is also a 1.07 lakh car then ...

I sincerely feel that we need to have cars that can operate on solar energy / non fossil fuels and thats not very huge .... (we dont have roads we dont have parking space .... , india doesnt need mass cars please)

Hope things dont get chaotic in the near future.

k_ajay · 25th October 2005, 16:24

Sheesh... Sorry to say, but some p'pl really have a sad way of seeing things here.... Here, we have a manufacturer, determined to put the nation on 4 wheels, and on the forum, p'pl critisizing the effort even before things have started to materialise.....

Would be interesting to know the list of hypocrites who bad mouth the effort and then would be standing on the line to buy one of these vehicles when they are out..... Why don't ya'll just hold your horses and wait till some concrete information is available...? I can only see bigman and Vish Janu who've not made negative comments on the effort... Appreciate that....

On a seperate note, like gchandra pointed out, we don't have enough roads to take the onslaught of these new vehicles.... Would be very interesting to note the build and safety of the car among other things and looking forward to more news on this.....

rkg · 26th October 2005, 11:25

here is the news report in Hindu today edition. the same was reported yesterday night CNBC india also
Tata Motors is planning to invest up to Rs. 6,000 crore over the next four years to significantly expand the capacity of its recently launched mini-truck, Ace, and in the proposed small car project.

It plans to double Ace's capacity to 60,000 units annually. "Even after this we will not be able to cover the entire country. We will build capacity outside the Pune plant and are looking at other locations. We could consider the capacity expandable to one lakh units in 2-3 years,'' said Ravi Kant, Managing Director, Tata Motors, while briefing the media here on Tuesday on the company's quarterly performance.

The company is on the lookout for capacity for the proposed small car. The plan is to have one plant for Ace and a couple of smaller plants for the proposed car. "The location of these plants will depend on the encouragement from different States. We are talking of large capacities and are looking at one million vehicles,'' said Mr. Kant. The plan is to have certain centralised capacities for key elements and several other assembly units, which would be staggered in several places. Kits could be sent and the vehicles assembled at different locations.

The planned investment would be financed largely through internal accruals as the company has more than Rs. 2,000 crore surplus cash and generates around Rs. 2,000 crore cash annually through operations.

The Spanish bus maker Hispano Carrocera where Tata Motors had a significant stake would break even in the current quarter and the company was in the process of expanding the capacity to 2,000 units, expandable to 5,000 units annually.

The South African experience would be a template of Tata Motors international operations, Mr. Kant said.

Net profit up 9 p.c. in Q2

Boom Shiva · 26th October 2005, 12:09

Scooby, I drove an Indigo for a year and a half before we got rid of it. People buy the car because it's much cheaper than the competition, but what they don't realise is that Tata cars have inferior build quality, they fall apart at any excuse, the service centre takes months to find, let alone replace the part, and to top it all off, no one in Tata even seems to care, as long as they can keep the scam going. We finally sold off our car because something seemed to go wrong and it was costing thousands every month, and the car still felt like s**t.

Tata cars are also badly engineered. For eg, the tank holding the power steering fluid is located under the car, right behind the front. So if you hit a bad patch of road, it gets punctured and you're wrestling the car all the way to the garage. The brake and accelerator cables are made out of rubber band. And the gears grind even if you've got the clutch jammed all the way into the floor.

The car also gave a crappy average. The max I ever got was 8- 8.5 in the city. I don't rev the car in daily driving, and my lancer gives 10.5 in the same conditions, so I know it wasn't because of my driving hard.

So, in conclusion, I can pretty confidently tell you from personal experience that Tata cars are NOT value for money, because:

1. Bad build quality and engineering = frequent garage trips and high maintenance costs

2. Bad FE = More money per km.

3. Bad service - Frequent, pointless trips to service centres. Having to use cabs to get to get through and fro, and wasting valuable time just hanging around and waiting for the fools to show up, and then having to talk through their bull****. The car just sits in the garage sometimes for days because there are no parts.

4. Low customer satisfaction/morale: The car f**ks the mind so badly that you find it hard to be productive sometimes.

Whew!

RX135 · 26th October 2005, 13:48

Boom Shiva, although you have every reason to be pissed off at Tata, we also have few Indica/go owners here, who are quite happy about their cars (Tsk/Abhay/Ajay). However, it appears that Tata can do well to improve quality of their cars.

abhibh · 26th October 2005, 16:37

No doubt the Tata cars are well build but they do not have finish.. The plastic looks good but the quality is not as good. But Tata has really made their mark in the auto industry and they are improving day by day. New Indigo is rocking but as for Indica it ias all around the same..

24th October 2005, 17:44	#1
abhibh Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Back in the HOOD near you! Posts: 2,768 Thanked: 39 Times	Tata 1 Lac Mercedes out in 2008 Hi, I was hearing a news on TV and from the Words of "Rattan Tata". We will be launching Our 1 lac 2 Seater Small car in 2008 definately. Rattan Tata says now it is a matter of his image in thecar industry and no matter what happens they will get this car out in 2008 - 2009. He also added that GM is in this colaboration with him and the design of the car will be like mercedes. He also added that they are developing special type of plastic for this car in thier labs. What you guys have to say about this??? Is this possible to rule out a 1 lac car with looks of Merc??? I think the base model will be priced at 1 lac
	() Thanks

24th October 2005, 18:16	#2
bigman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NA Posts: 1,224 Thanked: 93 Times	Was it not the intention of Tata to sell the Indica for 1 lakh ? No doubt they can make a car for 1 lakh but it will be interesting to see what it looks like, the engine and the finish.
	() Thanks

24th October 2005, 19:44	#3
merve_extreme Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 1,359 Thanked: 18 Times View My Garage	what are they trying to make a 1 lakh $ mercedes? a car like a mercedes at 1 lack rupees is like saying man can live on the sun.
	() Thanks

24th October 2005, 20:04	#4
bigman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NA Posts: 1,224 Thanked: 93 Times	Mr Tata may have been referring to Smart which is a brand of DaimlerChrysler. You cannot even buy a Smart car for that low price so I look forward to seeing the Tata 1 lakh car.
	() Thanks

25th October 2005, 12:17	#5
Abhay BHPian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Pune Posts: 727 Thanked: 11 Times	plastic 1 lakh "thing".....based on new Ace mini-truck ? ;-)
	() Thanks

25th October 2005, 12:37	#6
scooby05 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mumbai Posts: 1,145 Thanked: 192 Times	For 1 lac we can expect an auto rickshaw with 4 wheels,closed body,2 doors,500cc engine etc. etc.. And thats not bad for semi urban and rural people upgrading from a scooty, since thats the target buyer/market. We must remember that Rs. 1 lac ex showroom means only Rs. 70000 to Tata's, rest being the duties,taxes,dealer margins etc.etc.
	() Thanks

25th October 2005, 12:44	#7
Boom Shiva BANNED Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Mumbai Posts: 1,055 Thanked: 18 Times	Tata's 4-5 lakh rupee cars have worse build quality than auto rickshaws. Their 1 lakh car will probably compete with bullock carts.
	() Thanks

25th October 2005, 13:41	#9
rkg Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: bangalore Posts: 1,044 Thanked: 594 Times	latest on tata's 1 lakh car kindly check the oct 10/11th issue of bussiness today. it is cover story with ratan tata interview. where it stated that it most likely to be ready to assemble kits supplied to dealers who has assemble it to avoid or reduce tax burden
	() Thanks

25th October 2005, 13:47	#10
gchandra BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Hyderabad AP Posts: 54 Thanked: Once	1 lakh car, yes i have heard about it for the past so many years. I really doubt if it comes to market, and even if it comes to market it will make things worse... 1. 1 Lakh car ? 2 seater ? Bike is better it comes in sub 50k and gives excellent mileage too .. yes we can add 2 more wheels to bike, so that it is also a 4 wheeler. And of course rain coats can be given as standard accessory. 2. With less road width and already chaotic traffic, it will only add to the chaos. 3. A maruti 800 costs 2.15 lakhs and it can take 4 people, so 800 is also a 1.07 lakh car then ... I sincerely feel that we need to have cars that can operate on solar energy / non fossil fuels and thats not very huge .... (we dont have roads we dont have parking space .... , india doesnt need mass cars please) Hope things dont get chaotic in the near future.
	() Thanks

25th October 2005, 16:24	#11
k_ajay Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,379 Thanked: 1,138 Times View My Garage	Sheesh... Sorry to say, but some p'pl really have a sad way of seeing things here.... Here, we have a manufacturer, determined to put the nation on 4 wheels, and on the forum, p'pl critisizing the effort even before things have started to materialise..... Would be interesting to know the list of hypocrites who bad mouth the effort and then would be standing on the line to buy one of these vehicles when they are out..... Why don't ya'll just hold your horses and wait till some concrete information is available...? I can only see bigman and Vish Janu who've not made negative comments on the effort... Appreciate that.... On a seperate note, like gchandra pointed out, we don't have enough roads to take the onslaught of these new vehicles.... Would be very interesting to note the build and safety of the car among other things and looking forward to more news on this.....
	() Thanks

26th October 2005, 11:25	#12
rkg Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: bangalore Posts: 1,044 Thanked: 594 Times	Hindu report here is the news report in Hindu today edition. the same was reported yesterday night CNBC india also Tata Motors is planning to invest up to Rs. 6,000 crore over the next four years to significantly expand the capacity of its recently launched mini-truck, Ace, and in the proposed small car project. It plans to double Ace's capacity to 60,000 units annually. "Even after this we will not be able to cover the entire country. We will build capacity outside the Pune plant and are looking at other locations. We could consider the capacity expandable to one lakh units in 2-3 years,'' said Ravi Kant, Managing Director, Tata Motors, while briefing the media here on Tuesday on the company's quarterly performance. The company is on the lookout for capacity for the proposed small car. The plan is to have one plant for Ace and a couple of smaller plants for the proposed car. "The location of these plants will depend on the encouragement from different States. We are talking of large capacities and are looking at one million vehicles,'' said Mr. Kant. The plan is to have certain centralised capacities for key elements and several other assembly units, which would be staggered in several places. Kits could be sent and the vehicles assembled at different locations. The planned investment would be financed largely through internal accruals as the company has more than Rs. 2,000 crore surplus cash and generates around Rs. 2,000 crore cash annually through operations. The Spanish bus maker Hispano Carrocera where Tata Motors had a significant stake would break even in the current quarter and the company was in the process of expanding the capacity to 2,000 units, expandable to 5,000 units annually. The South African experience would be a template of Tata Motors international operations, Mr. Kant said. Net profit up 9 p.c. in Q2
	() Thanks

26th October 2005, 12:09	#13
Boom Shiva BANNED Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Mumbai Posts: 1,055 Thanked: 18 Times	Scooby, I drove an Indigo for a year and a half before we got rid of it. People buy the car because it's much cheaper than the competition, but what they don't realise is that Tata cars have inferior build quality, they fall apart at any excuse, the service centre takes months to find, let alone replace the part, and to top it all off, no one in Tata even seems to care, as long as they can keep the scam going. We finally sold off our car because something seemed to go wrong and it was costing thousands every month, and the car still felt like st. Tata cars are also badly engineered. For eg, the tank holding the power steering fluid is located under the car, right behind the front. So if you hit a bad patch of road, it gets punctured and you're wrestling the car all the way to the garage. The brake and accelerator cables are made out of rubber band. And the gears grind even if you've got the clutch jammed all the way into the floor. The car also gave a crappy average. The max I ever got was 8- 8.5 in the city. I don't rev the car in daily driving, and my lancer gives 10.5 in the same conditions, so I know it wasn't because of my driving hard. So, in conclusion, I can pretty confidently tell you from personal experience that Tata cars are NOT value for money, because: 1. Bad build quality and engineering = frequent garage trips and high maintenance costs 2. Bad FE = More money per km. 3. Bad service - Frequent, pointless trips to service centres. Having to use cabs to get to get through and fro, and wasting valuable time just hanging around and waiting for the fools to show up, and then having to talk through their bull. The car just sits in the garage sometimes for days because there are no parts. 4. Low customer satisfaction/morale: The car fks the mind so badly that you find it hard to be productive sometimes. Whew!
	() Thanks

26th October 2005, 13:48	#14
RX135 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: pune Posts: 2,106 Thanked: 75 Times	Boom Shiva, although you have every reason to be pissed off at Tata, we also have few Indica/go owners here, who are quite happy about their cars (Tsk/Abhay/Ajay). However, it appears that Tata can do well to improve quality of their cars.
	() Thanks

26th October 2005, 16:37	#15
abhibh Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Back in the HOOD near you! Posts: 2,768 Thanked: 39 Times	No doubt the Tata cars are well build but they do not have finish.. The plastic looks good but the quality is not as good. But Tata has really made their mark in the auto industry and they are improving day by day. New Indigo is rocking but as for Indica it ias all around the same..
	() Thanks