A Million Cars for A Billion People - new book by Gautam Sen

Renowned Indian automotive journalist, Gautam Sen has come out with a new book called A Million Cars for A Billion People. Here's a quick summary of its contents.

The book takes us through the history and evolution of the people's car in the Indian automobile scene. Sen starts off with a chapter on popular cars from across the world such as the Ford Model T, Volkswagen Beetle, Citroen 2CV and Fiat 500. He then shifts his focus to India, with a history of India's automotive beginning, the first cars to roll onto its roads and early efforts at establishing an indigenous industry. Going further he talks about the desire for a people's car in the country and the introduction of the Maruti 800 and the effect it had on the industry. After this, Sen moves ahead to the Tata Indica, which had the space of an Ambassador, was the size of a Zen and had the price tag of a Maruti 800. Next he talks about the rise, fall and rise again of the Korean automobile industry and its answer to Maruti and Tata in India - the Hyundai Santro.

The author then shifts his focus on one of India's most important people's cars - the Tata Nano. Sen talks about the unveiling of the "one lakh rupee car" and the efforts gone into its development. He also talks about the fairly poor response the car received in the country, the reasons for its failure and whether it will be possible for Tata Motors to save it.

Sen concludes his book by talking about the lessons learnt from India's driving history, the Nano and the future of the people's car in the country.

This book is a must read for the Indian automobile enthusiast. A Kindle Edition is available on Amazon.