“I haven’t seen this many cameras in my six years in South Asia,” remarked a journalist. “You couldn’t even buy advertising like this.” The occasion was the launch of a piece of “Gandhian Engineering”(a term coined by ‘The New York Times’) and not a pop concert or an Oscar ceremony. Journalists, VIPS and industrialists all were present as Tata Motors Ltd unveiled “Tata Nano ” its long-awaited people’s car. One could feel India’s economic self-confidence as the Tata Nano was driven out. I was a proud Indian even though I watched the spectacle on the TV. All major news channels devoted several minutes of airtime to highlight the empty stage where the car , was to be unveiled. People of our generation who had seen only Fiats and Ambassadors on Indian roads in their childhood can feel the importance of an Indian carmaker creating so much interest all over the world.
RatanTata said “A promise is a promise”. He announced a dealer price of 100,000 rupees ($2,500) that he had pledged five years ago. Mr Tata said: “I observed families riding on two-wheelers – the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby. It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family.”The hologram which showed a husband, his wife and kid balanced unsafely on a scooter fading and an image of the Nano appearing perfectly justifies the purpose behind the car. Anybody who has lived in India is familiar with the sight of people on a battered scooter, along with their entire family. The Nano is aimed at those people.
There were very interesting views from experts world over; I would like to share some of them-
ABC News commented- “(Nano) can seat five people…if no one breathes.”
Popular Mechanics said- “Automotive journalists had travelled from the four corners of the globe too see a golf cart crossed with a jelly bean.”
MotorTrends remarked- the Nano is “the ultimate reverse status symbol.”
“You can now buy a pair of Tata Nanos for about the cost of breast enlargement surgery.”somebody on some blog remarked.
“Think of the advantages. If the car gets a flat tire, the driver can just pick the vehicle up and put it in his pocket” someone joked.
The New York Times says, “Indians could export a kind of ‘Gandhian engineering,’ combining irreverence for conventional ways of thinking with a frugality born of scarcity.” If frugality and scarcity can give rise to cost-effective ideas for all, why not?
“It seems like a real car. The windows actually wind down,” said a smiling Gilles Levassor, who works for French carmaker Renault.
Suvashish Choudhary deputy commissioner of police had different worries-“My concern is not with cars. My concern is with drivers. Every new car will bring new drivers who are not trained for good city driving.” My personal experience is two wheeler drivers are more reckless and a threat to the pedestrians. For the drivers also two wheelers are riskier. There are more cases of drunken driving and rash driving by owners of big cars at least in the metros of India. Why are we worried about Nano alone?
from Vishesh :)
from Reema :)
13 Comments
January 14, 2008 at 5:49 am
I wanna congratulate the Indians on this achievement. But cheap cars will create problem for the traffic police and the city Govt. Are thickly populated cities like Mumbai n Delhi ready for it?
January 14, 2008 at 7:22 am
ratan tata should get bharat ratan for this car…
and i am going to book 2 of these
January 14, 2008 at 4:06 pm
You are right Ankur.Ratan Tata deserves the award.What are going to do with 2 Nanos.Two different colours?
Thanks Ammar. As I wrote in my post Nanos are going to replace two wheelers.People from low income group need conveyance too.We should be objecting to the rich travelling in huge cars and every member of their family moving in a seperate car.The politicians and their security creating mayhem on the roads.Let the government find a way out by controlling the rich and the powerful.
January 14, 2008 at 5:58 pm
currently we do not own even a bicycle… so was thinking that i should gift my parents a nano.
January 14, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Remarks from the foreign media is not a surprise given that the western world is extremely scared about rising India (and China). While they seem to have accepted the Chinese story with a pinch of salt, Indians are feared much more. The comments in the media here (in Canada) clearly show the perceived threat.
January 14, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Thats reallt true. Foerign Media is quite acared about India as a percieved threat.
But its India’s time to teach the west that they dont need cars that give less than 7 Mpl and then fret about Co2 emissions. And that they drive a car that can go till 200mph but the speed limit is just 80-100. And that their car is neitehr a gizmo as it has nitro and that can reach 150 kmph in just 2.5 sec as they dont use it.
And that they really live on too much hyped up perception enshrined by corporate greed and redundant products percieved as necessities . And that Asia is gonna shake it all up. and de-tranquilize.
One more thing… I personally percieve iPod and other Mp3 players are the peak.
I have a phone that plays any music. I can update the firmware or load the newset players. I can buy from any website online. I dont understand why I need to buy an iPod and get enslaved to iTunes…
January 14, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Having a car is always better than a bicyle for any family. Nano will give poorer families the opporutunity to have cars, which sounds very good in itself.
However, I think the development of tubes or other kinds of transportation would be more appropriate in big cities. There isn’t enough space for everyone to have cars (if u look at the 2nd pict). Nano will be very useful to people who live outside the big cities and need to travel.
I think foreigners (apart from thinking Nano is very small, especially the back seats) fear an even greater demand on oil, which has already skyrocketed with China’s booming economy.
January 15, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I totally felt the way you did when Ratan Tata unveiled the car and said the following statements. This guy commands respect. He doesn’t talk much but does great work. And we’re fighting to give Bharat Ratna’s to everybody and considering Laxmi Mittal and Indra Nooyi as great Indians when these guys have shed their Indian-ness long back.
January 16, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Low cost private transportation has many very far reaching implications — as witnessed by how thoroughly it changed US society and culture over the last 100 years. On the whole, I think this is an extraordinarily good thing.
January 20, 2008 at 2:31 am
[...] thinkingcap wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptJournalists, VIPS and industrialists all were present as Tata Motors Ltd unveiled “Tata Nano ” its long-awaited people’s car. One could feel India’s economic self-confidence as the Tata Nano was driven out. … [...]
February 11, 2008 at 11:33 pm
[...] moved from … the kid within – Last Updated – Tuesday February 5 Request a Trackback ‘Gandhian Engineering’ Called Tata Nano “I haven’t seen this many cameras in my six years in South Asia,” remarked a [...]
June 18, 2008 at 12:44 am
the question is how long will ratan tata afford to sell it at 100000, that when there are delays in building the plants , as it is input costs have gone up so has the oil price and inflation
June 20, 2008 at 10:14 am
Quite frankly, I think that people should read about Gandhiji’s ideas on engineering. I urge you to read the book “small is beautiful”.
If all Indians drove the nano or some other car, who would make them? It is far from possible that all people would drive these cars no matter how cheap they may be right now. I think Gandhiji would have stressed upon frugality in its truest sense if he were with us today. If we learn to be content with lesser resources and lesser cars, we would be much happier in general.
And i quote Gandhiji (paraphrased) – “To have more than what you need is equivalent to stealing.”