Srinivas Bharadwaj
January 14, 2008
Tata Nano is the Model-T of India. It represents 'Rang De Basanti,' a freedom no different from what Ford brought to the American consumer about a 100 years ago. And yet, it is already being challenged, not so much on price or on technology. It is considered a polluter, a source of global warming, in short, a threat to humanity.
Among its notable critics are columnists from the New York Times, Newsweek, and several media outlets. Only a few years ago, author and NYT columnist Thomas Friedman wrote that the world was divided into those who want a Toyota Lexus and those who are searching for an olive tree (in his book The Lexus and the Olive Tree).
Today, the answer has arrived for the former audience in the form of the Tata Nano. Yet the former author of articles like, 'Two for the price of one' was quick to call the Nano, a 'cheap copy of our worst habits.'
Newsweek, in an article headlined 'A Billion New Tailpipes' was far more critical. 'It turned out to be a four-seater, a bit more than three meters long, with a 642cc engine and made of plastic and glue instead of welded steel,' is how the article put it.
The article quotes a Yale environmentalist, Daniel Esty, as saying: "This car promises to be an environmental disaster of substantial proportions."
The reasons why American journalism is against the Tata Nano are obvious. The Nano was 'not invented here (in the United States).'
Dan Esty has a typical American mindset. Esty, who was quick to praise the Prius (in Green to Gold) to the skies and promote aircraft manufacturer GE, oil-giant BP, does not use the same yardstick that the second law of thermodynamics does.
The Prius gives about the same mileage as the Nano and seats just as many. Yet, at over $25,000, the Prius is the rich man's answer to the environment. I believe that for the rest, there is the Nano.
In the years to come, the Nano might come in a flex-fuel version, or might use ethanol or electric cells. . . but you have to give Tata time to gain marketshare AND innovate at the low price point. Which is why I must ask: "Why the double fuel-efficiency standards, Mr Esty?"
As relations between India and the US started to blossom recently, a 'fair trade' agreement was aimed at heralding a new era of cooperation, namely mangoes and motorcycles. The mango was previously seen as endangering the environment. In a compromise aimed at going easy on the mango, Harley Davidson was to enter the Indian market with a motorcycle that gives less mileage than the Nano and costs Rs 4 to 14 lakh (Rs 400,000 to Rs 1.4 millon). There was little comment from Tom Friedman then, saying, 'No, no, no, don't follow us. Drive your own scooters.'
And finally I must end with the Golden Arches. In a recent report, published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, the livestock sector was reported as generating more 18 percent greenhouse gas emissions -- as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent -- than the transport sector.
Tom Friedman, who once seemed to believe that McDonald's was the answer to world peace, might next call for a moratorium on the burger -- when there is an Indian fast food company that sells burgers and chicken nuggets a little cheaper.
Srinivas Bharadwaj is an engineer and author of a novel, Kurukshetra.
http://202.54.124.133/money/2008/jan/14tatacar.htm
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Tata Nano soon in Europe
Nano to arrive in Europe in four years
Head of Tata’s compact car business Girish Wagh told German weekly Focus that a safer and more economical version of the Nano will reach Europe.
Tata has said it will initially produce around 250,000 Nanos and forecasts eventual annual demand of 1 millions units.
The £1,300 car has been criticised by green campaigners who argue it will put thousands more car on India’s already crowded streets.
‘We will develop a successor model in four years time, which will meet the Euro 5 emission regulations and the crash standards in Europe,’ Mr Wagh was quoted as saying by Focus in an advance abstract yesterday.
Tata hopes to reduce the car's fuel consumption to three from currently five litres per 100 kilometres (62.5 miles), Wagh added.
Tata Nano is world's cheapest car
NEW DELHI -- India's Tata Group unveiled Thursday a $2,500-car billed as the world's cheapest amid predictions the no-frills compact could revolutionize how the nation of 1.1 billion people travels.
The launch of the Tata Nano was a landmark in the history of transportation, like the first powered flight by the Wright brothers or the first lunar landing, said 70-year-old tycoon Ratan Tata, head of the giant conglomerate.
Tata, likened by India's media to US automobile pioneer Henry Ford, also dismissed fears the Nano -- so-called to appear both high-tech and small -- would herald more congestion and pollution.
He said he wanted to make "a safe, affordable and all-weather transport -- a people's car, designed to meet all safety standards and emissions laws and accessible to all."
The four-door, five-seater car is due to hit the roads later this year costing just 100,000 rupees ($2,500), excluding tax, after Tata Group cut costs back to the bone.
The sparsely appointed Nano targets increasingly affluent Indians trading up from a motorcycle to a car amid an economic boom.
The theme from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey," played as Tata unveiled the Nano to loud applause at the annual Delhi car show.
He said it was "a car that most people said could not be manufactured at that price" but that his firm had stuck to its 100,000-rupee target price, adding VAT would be extra.
The Nano has a small, rear-mounted 33bhp, 624cc engine but no air conditioning, electric windows or power steering in the basic model, although two deluxe versions will be available.
Tata argued the new car would be better and safer than most motorcycles on India's roads.
"Let me assure you and also assure our critics the car we have designed will meet all the current safety requirements ... and will have a lower pollution level than even a two-wheeler being manufactured in India today," Tata said.
Courier driver Daniel Abraham said the car appealed to him as a transport option for his family.
"If I can get a loan from my boss, I might buy the car so my family and I could travel. I can't take my mother on my motorcycle any more -- she's too old," he said.
Environmentalists fear the Nano will jam up India's already clogged roads even more and add to choking pollution if it proves a winner.
"With more cars, you have more emissions and that adds to global warming. What we need is public transport," said Souparno Banerjee, an official of Delhi's Centre for Science and Environment.
Auto analysts say the Nano could also have a major impact on the way global car firms think about costs.
The Nano may "revolutionize car costs downward," said Indian auto analyst Murad Ali Baig, adding it was bound to be followed by other low-cost cars.
The car has sparked a race among global automakers to come up with vehicles at rock-bottom prices to appeal to the new lucrative segment of consumers in India and other emerging markets.
Already Germany's Volkswagen, leading Indian motorbike maker Bajaj Auto and France's Renault and Ford, among others, have said they are planning or mulling new cheap cars for India.
Small cars comprise two-thirds of annual passenger vehicle sales in India.
The nation's biggest carmaker, Japanese-owned Maruti Suzuki, has said it may cut the price of the Maruti 800, its most popular budget model which sells for $4,800 and is the cheapest car currently on India's roads.
Tata, which has been on an aggressive overseas expansion drive, is also expected to win its reported two-billion-dollar bid for the British Land Rover and Jaguar brands.
That would put it in the unusual position of making two prestige marques as well as the world's lowest-cost car
Copyright 2008 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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