Dec

31

Why Tata’s $2500 car spells trouble for India

December 31, 2007 posted by indiatime |

In less than 2 weeks, at New Delhi’s auto expo, India’s Tata group will be lifting the curtains off of its new venture - India’s cheapest car that will cost only $2.5K - one lakh Indian Rupees. The new car affectionately referred to as Pepole’s car or ‘Lakhpatia’ by many is aimed towards the 2-wheeler owners who’ve always dreamt of owning a family car but haven’t always had the financial resources to make the transition from a 2-wheeler to a 4-wheeler.

Tata Motors has lately been in the news for its ambitious entry into the luxury car market with the Jaguar venture. For last few years, the thinktanks at Tata Motors have been busy coming up with strategies to make the Tata brand more competitive and attractive, having enjoyed a virtually monopolistic throne at the top of India’s car market for decades.

However attractive the cheap car proposition may be for the consumers, it is sure to spell disaster on several other fronts.

1. India’s roads, or highways, if one can give those roads some undeserving discount, are so clogged and choked already that an influx of a few thousand vehicles on some of these routes can bring traffic to a standstill for sure.

2. Many of India’s big cities already do not have any parking space left. Add a few thousand vehicles and the parking scenario wis sure to become a logistical nightmare.

3. The new car, however cheap, is surely cutting corners for safety, no matter what anyone says. The number of highway accident fatalities in India is already disproportionately higher than most western countries. With India’s tricky traffic where one often finds vehicles coming towards you in your own lane, any compromise on safety can spell big trouble in a little car.

4. Here’s where the real magic trick is with these cheap cars. It may be easy to own the car henceforth. But every car owner will thus become a permanent customer consuming ever more oil than before. That can’t be good news except for India’s big oil corporations.

5. There are three types of companies who will benefit from these new cars and all those are already sitting at the top of India’s business world. Companies that make steel, companies that make oil, and companies that make cars. Steel is sustainable so I don’t have a problem with those companies. The other two types are taking more from the planet and giving back smoke and pollution and poisonous gases.

No, I’m not against an Indian company ruling the car market. I only wish Tatas had shown some innovation and creativity to come up with automobiles that could have solved or at least addressed the planet’s problems rather than add to those. With all their billions, Tatas and Ambanis can afford to send their grandsons and great-grandsons to Mars or Jupiter for fresh air. You and I can’t.


Comments

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind

23 Comments so far

  1. bijen on December 31, 2007 11:54 am

    This is the funniest and most hillarious article I have ever read about any corporate.

    1. Road can be clogged. So please stop selling cars. Why only Tatas? Ask the same to Suzukis, Hyundais, GMs and others. This same also goes to parking spaces in the big cities.

    2. “Steel is sustainable so I don’t have a problem with those companies. The other two types are taking more from the planet and giving back smoke and pollution and poisonous gases.” Who told you that Steel manugacturing does not pollute the environment.

    I think you are confused on your own stance. Please write some indepth analysis.

  2. indiatime on December 31, 2007 2:50 pm

    A lot more people will become first-time car buyers on account of affordability, which is precisely what Tata Motors is hoping for. And sure, every new car coming on Indian roads is trouble already. Sounds funny but it is true. Unless you live in some fresh-air pocket of India untouched by automobile pollution. BTW, Sustainability and pollution are not the same. They mean completely different things. :)

  3. rungta on December 31, 2007 3:01 pm

    Hehe, Bijen I don’t think he is wrting so much tata as about a cheap car that everybody will want to buy. IMHO, India should first build better infrastructure and better highways before allowing anyone to sell or make new cars.

  4. basanti on December 31, 2007 4:46 pm

    I happen to agree with the writer, but my big concern would be safety unless it is shown that these cars are just as safe. As for your other point, do these cars add to pollution any more than other cars by compromising on emission control technology or something? They might, but I don’t know if that’s the case.

  5. ashvini kumar on January 1, 2008 3:55 am

    I completely agree with writer (indiatime)

    We should have proper infrastructure, legal checks and balances in place & we all must learn driving manners, learn to respect/follow rules.

    Road/Motor Vehicle rules should be re-vamped to suit new needs - what we have are tweaked British rules from independence.

  6. D on January 1, 2008 3:19 pm

    1. That thing Bijen said.

    2. I think India currently has about ten million cars for a billion people. Let us say you are right that, barring dramatic improvements to infrastructure, this itself is far too many. Only one in a hundred Indians can own cars. Fine. Let’s cap the number of cars there till we have more roads etc. Is there any reason these cars should all belong to the upper middle class? Surely elementary fairness dictates that the poorer folk have the same need for this basic convenience you or I do.

    So: when do you plan to give up your Lancer (or Santro or even 800) for a bus pass so a carpenter somewhere can drive? Remember that the carpenter’s car, being smaller and more fuel efficient than your car, will help with pollution and parking issues.

    3. Ok, enough sarcasm. Let me present an analogy. Bush and company say India should cut down on C02 emissions together with the US even though we make only a tenth as much per capita, with little sense for just how arrogant and elitist that sounds to us.

    Your argument though is rather similar in structure - when only nice, English speaking, jeans-wearing, upper middle class Indians could buy cars you apparently had no trouble with the congestion, pollution and environmental effects of cars. Now that your barber can own a car, suddenly you prophesy planetary catastrophes.

    It will not do. You can no more expect India’s poor to suffer for the sake of India’s rich than you can expect poor India to suffer for the sake of rich US. Decency forbids it.

  7. D on January 1, 2008 3:24 pm

    One more thing…the safety concern is bizarre. This car is going to be bought primarily by people who currently own motorcycles and scooters. I fail to see how even a very unsafe car can be *more* unsafe than a two-wheeler, considering especially how often you see entire families (mom, dad, two kids and a baby!) forced to balance on a scooter.

  8. indiatime on January 2, 2008 3:28 am

    Lol D, nice point.

  9. malcolm mc millan on January 10, 2008 9:42 pm

    hi there i was wondering who i can contact about buying the tata nana car it costs under £2500 how much will it cost more 2 get it delivered 2 uk scotland if u can do so thank u.

  10. kovil on January 11, 2008 2:53 am

    This is exactly what the world needs, a $3000 car that get 100mpg, takes up little room, and is perfect for innercity driving. It is all the developed nations that need it most, as their big gasguzzling cars are so wasteful. The negative inuendo spin the media is giving the Tata is because the big auto makers are scared to death no one will want their huge wasteful overly expensive cars anymore, and they won’t. If the Smart Car wasn’t over $20,000 to purchase and it was $3000 to purchase, they’d sell 10,000,000 the first year in the USA, and Detroit would be out of business. That’s why the media is so negative, the media is controlled by Detroit, on this issue.

  11. Matthew Johnson on January 11, 2008 9:13 am

    I am interested in your car. I would like to buy 2 cars. I live in the united states. I would also like to buy one for my brother-in-law in the Philippines.

    Sincerely Matthew

  12. bingo card easter on February 15, 2008 9:40 pm

    bingo card easter…

    legislatures reinforce strengthening poverty:…

  13. shorty edding on March 27, 2008 7:53 pm

    how to buy one in u.s. and how much

  14. jackie on July 13, 2008 6:16 pm

    I believe this new car is going to be great, we are looking forward to buying one here in the united states.. alas we have no clue where to go to get one though.. can’t find much information on it. Although it’s kind of sad that it will add to more congestion on the roads there

  15. Anwar Mahmoood on August 5, 2008 4:48 am

    READ THIS POEM I WRITE FOR YOU FROM CANADA AS SUCH:(PART ONE)

    SO IMPORTANT PAKS ARE
    SITTING IN THEIR BIG CAR
    FEELING HAPPY n SO GRANDS
    THAT ALL SOUTH ASIA UNDERSTANDS

    CHEEPLY WAYS, POOR INDIA KNOWS
    MORE BACKWARD, SO SHE GOES
    MIDGET CAR IS THEIR PLEASURE
    TWENTY FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS TREASURE

    TINY MIDGET CAR THEY FIND
    SAFETY THEY HAVE LEFT BEHIND
    INDIAN CHEAP WAYS, NONE CAN BEAT
    PAKS SPEND, ARE STAYING SWEET

    INDIANS GOT THIS NEW CRAZE
    DRIVING MIDGET WITH AMAZE
    PAKS IN MIDGET CAR WON’T SIT
    THEY THINK IT IS TINY SHIT

    TOYOTA, HONDA OR THE KIND
    PLEASURE IN THEM PAKS DO FIND
    WORLD IS RUNNING OUT OF OIL
    EVEN AMERICANS SEE THE SPOIL

    ENERGY SUPPLY IS GETTING INTO MESS
    ALL ARE THINKING TO DRIVE LESS
    CAR REVOLUTION PASSED IN WAIT
    INDIA GOT IN CAR TOO LATE

    INDIA DIG YOUR POCKETS DEEP
    PICK THE MIDGET, BUY IT CHEAP
    IN AMERICA’S SHOPPING MALL
    THESE ARE KIDS CARS, THAT IS ALL

    INDIA’S FARMERS YOU CAN FOOL
    CAUSE THEY HAV’NT GONE TO SCHOOL
    NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY
    THE MIDGET CAR, EVEN GIRLS WON’T BUY

    PRETTY GIRLS LIKE THEIR CARS BIG
    FOR THE KISSES AND THEIR WIG
    IN MIDGET CAR, A SWEET GIRL SAT
    COULDN’T GIVE HER HUGS OR PAT

    CAUSE SHE SAT SO TIGHT WITH SQUEEZE
    FOR HER WAS NO ROOM FOR TEASE
    SHE COULD’NT LOOSEN ANY WORSE
    SHE TOLD THE CAR OFF WITH HER CURSE

    WITH MIDGET CAR, YOU’LL NEVER GAIN
    CHEAP THEM INDIANS, CHEAP REMAIN
    FORGET HER LOVE, HER AFFECTION
    MIDGET TAKES AWAY ATTRACTION

    NONE CAN MOVE, IT IS A PRISON
    LOVE IS LOST , AGAIN IN RISEN
    PAKS ALL KNOW, THEY ARE NO DUM
    LIKE THE INDIANS WHO ARE BUM

    LET THE INDIANS HAVE THE CAR
    WITH MIDGET CAR, MIDGETS THEY ARE
    PAK DRIVE THEIR CAR THAT’S BIG
    IN THEIR CAR, THEY LAUGH AND GIG

    IN BIG CAR, SWEET LOVE THEY FIND
    THE BIG CAR LOVE IS ALLWAYS KIND
    PAKS DRIVE BIG CARS, FEEL THE JOY
    INDIAN MIDGET IS SADLY TOY

    IN MIDGET PRAISE, THE INDIANS SING
    BUT THAT AINT REALLY GREAT THING
    PAKS SPEND, ARE STAYING SWEET
    INDIAN’S CHEAP WAYS NONE CAN BEAT

    INDIA GOT SMALL CAR TO BLINK
    AND THEIR ECONOMY, NOW WILL SHRINK
    SMALL CAR EUROPE CAN’T CATCH NEVER
    BIG CAR AMERICA IS BIGGER EVER

    PAKS YOU ALSO DON’T GO SMALL
    DRIVE THE BIG CAR, YOU WON’T FALL
    BIG SIZE CAR, PAKS YOU MUST GET
    ON PROGRESS YOU BE SET

    WATCH MY WORDS IN INDIA’S CASE
    MIDGET CARS BE OUT OF RACE
    MANY A COUNTRIES TRIED BEFORE
    MIDGET CARS AND FAILED FOR SURE

    NOW YOU LET THEM INDIANS TRY
    IN THE END, YES, THEY WILL CRY
    WITH THEIR MIDGETS, THEY WILL SLIP
    INDIAN ECONOMY WILL HAVE DIP

    PAKS WILL HAVE THEIR BIG CAR SMILE
    MIDGETED INDIA WILL DRAG FOR WHILE
    ANDIA WILL HAVE MIDGET HIT
    THEN THEIR MIDGETS, THEY WILL QUIT

    BUT IT WILL BE AFTER LOSS
    ANWAR TELLS THEM AS THEIR BOSS
    PAKS IN MIDGETS DON’T BELIEVE
    MIDGETS THEY WON’T TOUCH, WILL LEAVE

    MIDGETS ARE NOT SAFE TO DRIVE
    DRIVE THEM NOT AND STAY ALIVE
    MIDGET CAR IS NOT A CAR
    MIDGET WON’T TAKE YOU FAR.

  16. G on March 25, 2009 9:15 pm

    This car actually will help solve a lot of problems..it will help reducing the human population in the world’s second most populus country. Less humans = less pollution.

  17. chinna .s.p. on April 11, 2009 1:02 pm

    hi i need one tata nana car i am working in hibrod

  18. Ammar on April 16, 2009 8:26 pm

    Dear
    Our company expresses it’s interest to open a door of bilateral cooperation with your esteemed company .
    We have particular interest in your product (All your products)which is in increasing dowered in Yemen.

    We will appreciate your favorable cuspidation in nominating my company as the sole agent of this product .
    Our company is big and will-established, having strong link’s with local markets here.
    We look forwarded to building strong mutual relationships in the best intent and both of as.
    Thanks.

    Regards.

    Ammar AL_Omithily
    General Manager(D.O.S)

  19. Anwar Mahmood on June 21, 2009 8:55 pm

    READ THIS POEM I WRITE FOR YOU FROM CANADA AS

    SO IMPORTANT PAKS ARE
    SITTING IN THEITR BIG CAR
    CHEEPLY WAYS, POOR INDIA KNOWS
    MORE BACKWARD, SO SHE GOES

    MIDGET CAR IS THEIR PLEASURE
    TWENTY FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS TREASURE
    TINY MIDGET CAR THEY FIND
    SAFETY THEY HAVE LEFT BEHIND

    INDIAN CHEAP WAYS, NONE CAN BEAT
    PAKS SPEND, ARE STAYING SWEET
    INDIANS GOT THIS NEW CRAZE
    DRIVING MIDGET WITH AMAZE

    PAKS IN MIDGET CAR WON’T SIT
    THEY THINK IT IS TINY SHIT
    TOYOTA, HONDA OR THE KIND
    PLEASURE IN THEM PAKS DO FIND

    WORLD IS RUNNING OUT OF OIL
    EVEN AMERICANS SEE THE SPOIL
    ENERGY SUPPLY IS GETTING INTO MESS
    ALL ARE THINKING TO DRIVE LESS

    CAR REVOLUTION PASSED IN WAIT
    INDIA GOT IN CAR TOO LATE
    INDIA DIG YOUR POCKETS DEEP
    PICK THE MIDGET, BUY IT CHEAP

    IN AMERICA’S SHOPPING MALL
    THESE ARE KIDS CARS, THAT IS ALL
    INDIA’S FARMERS YOU CAN FOOL
    CAUSE THEY HAV’NT GONE TO SCHOOL

    NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY
    THE MIDGET CAR, EVEN GIRLS WON’T BUY
    PRETTY GIRLS LIKE THEIR CARS BIG
    FOR THE KISSES AND THEIR WIG

    IN MIDGET CAR, A SWEET GIRL SAT
    COULDN’T GIVE HER HUGS OR PAT
    CAUSE SHE SAT SO TIGHT WITH SQUEEZE
    FOR HER WAS NO ROOM FOR TEASE

    SHE COULD’NT LOOSEN ANY WORSE
    SHE TOLD THE CAR OFF WITH HER CURSE
    WITH MIDGET CAR, YOU’LL NEVER GAIN
    CHEAP THEM INDIANS, CHEAP REMAIN

    FORGET HER LOVE, HER AFFECTION
    MIDGET TAKES AWAY ATTRACTION
    NONE CAN MOVE, IT IS A PRISON
    LOVE IS LOST , AGAIN IN RISEN

    PAKS ALL KNOW, THEY ARE NO DUM
    LIKE THE INDIANS WHO ARE BUM
    LET THE INDIANS HAVE THE CAR
    WITH MIDGET CAR, MIDGETS THEY ARE

    PAK DRIVE THEIR CAR THAT’S BIG
    IN THEIR CAR, THEY LAUGH AND GIG
    IN BIG CAR, SWEET LOVE THEY FIND
    THE BIG CAR LOVE IS ALLWAYS KIND

    PAKS DRIVE BIG CARS, FEEL THE JOY
    INDIAN MIDGET IS SADLY TOY
    IN MIDGET PRAISE, THE INDIANS SING
    BUT THAT AINT REALLY GREAT THING

    PAKS SPEND, ARE STAYING SWEET
    INDIAN’S CHEAP WAYS NONE CAN BEAT
    INDIA GOT SMALL CAR TO BLINK
    AND THEIR ECONOMY, NOW WILL SHRINK

    SMALL CAR EUROPE CAN’T CATCH NEVER
    BIG CAR AMERICA IS BIGGER EVER
    PAKS YOU ALSO DON’T GO SMALL
    DRIVE THE BIG CAR, YOU WON’T FALL

    BIG SIZE CAR, PAKS YOU MUST GET
    ON PROGRESS YOU BE SET
    WATCH MY WORDS IN INDIA’S CASE
    MIDGET CARS BE OUT OF RACE

    MANY A COUNTRIES TRIED BEFORE
    MIDGET CARS AND FAILED FOR SURE
    NOW YOU LET THEM INDIANS TRY
    IN THE END, YES, THEY WILL CRY

    WITH THEIR MIDGETS, THEY WILL SLIP
    INDIAN ECONOMY WILL HAVE DIP
    PAKS WILL HAVE THEIR BIG CAR SMILE
    MIDGETED INDIA WILL DRAG FOR WHILE

    ANDIA WILL HAVE MIDGET HIT
    THEN THEIR MIDGETS, THEY WILL QUIT
    BUT IT WILL BE AFTER LOSS
    ANWAR TELLS THEM AS THEIR BOSS

    PAKS IN MIDGETS DON’T BELIEVE
    MIDGETS THEY WON’T TOUCH, WILL LEAVE
    MIDGETS ARE NOT SAFE TO DRIVE
    DRIVE THEM NOT AND STAY ALIVE

    part 2 of my poem on INDIA’S MIDGET CAR)

    AND YOU ASK A MOVIE STAR
    HE TOO LOVES A BIGGER CAR
    THE BIG CAR SPENDER NEVER CRIES
    DAILY, THE MIDGET OWNER SIGHS

    OIL RUNNING OUT AND DEMAND STRONG
    THEY’LL FIGHT FOR OIL BEFORE LONG
    MIDGETS CARS EVEN WON’T HAVE GAS
    THERE OWNERS WILL FART FROM ASS

    THE MIDGETS NEED SO MUCH REPAIR
    YOU’LL SPEND ON MORE THAN SHARE
    BLAME THE MIDGETS IF YOU CRY
    WON’T HELP, EVEN IF YOU TRY

    CHEAPLY YOU ARE BORN TO LOOSE
    INDIANS SO THEY LOVE TO CHOOSE
    BUYING MIDGETS GOING CHEAP
    MIDGET CARS WILL BITE THEM DEEP

    SQUASHED BY LITTLE TOUCH OF TRAIN
    MIDGETS CAN’T STAND STORM OR RAIN
    MIDGET’S OWNERSHIP INDIANS BRAG
    MIDGET SUCKS, IT IS A DRAG

    BELIEVE THIS ANWAR, THIS AIN’T FUNNY
    TATA WANTS THE PEOPLE MONEY
    BUY YOUR MIDGET, MAKE HIM RICH
    INDIANS CANNOT EVEN BITCH

    THESE ARE SILLY INDIAN WAYS
    CHEAPLY THEY ARE ALL THE DAYS
    THIS PAK ANWAR TELLS YOU SUCH
    INDIANS LOOSE ON MIDGET MUCH

  20. check low deductibles health accident policy online cynergy insurance in fairfield calif on November 5, 2009 4:03 pm

    check low deductibles health accident policy online cynergy insurance in fairfield calif…

    Delhi defenders filthiness mashing haphazardly …

  21. video keno laws on November 11, 2009 8:56 pm

    video keno laws…

    pointers Sonora Novosibirsk:baccarà prop [url=http://www.universallyslots.com/baccara-prop.html]baccarà prop[/url] http://www.universallyslots.com/baccara-prop.html …

  22. www russianvegascasino com on November 22, 2009 3:51 pm

    www russianvegascasino com…

    gulped:prefaced precomputing social,dusky parametric …

  23. Uday on January 18, 2010 3:03 pm

    If you are looking for new car or old car in india. Just go through http://www.carazoo.com
    I hope you will get some useful info.

Search

 




Most commented

Mumbai's communal overtones signal upcoming elections (475)
Why did Kolkata police murder Rizwanur Rahman? (329)
Ten reasons why India is doing better than Pakistan 60 years after independence (318)
Bun roller millionnaire saves Indicted Swami's buns by posting $10 bond (94)
Top 10 reasons India sucks at the Olympics (64)
Auntie, Corruption bureau and Crime branch (48)
Shah Rukh Khan detained at immigration checkpoint in US (44)
Ishmeet Singh (1989-2008) (39)
And my vote for a modern day wonder goes to.....India! (37)
Convicted Czech scientist flees India (36)


Most visited

Hollywood’s first Indian star
Meeting Raj Kapoor at the barbershop
Madhubala on a postal stamp
Why I’m happier than Mukesh Ambani
An inconvenient truth about India’s intellectual property
UFOs may be ‘idlis’ but time travels only in ‘medu-wadas’
Dr Singh is no Dr King
Lesser Known Indians
The Most ‘Nobel’ Teacher of Them All
The third Indian revered in China
A little Poland in India
The vanishing of Indian languages
The looting of Chandigarh’s treasures
Bharat, Pakistan and Hindustan, Indiana
Welcome to India, Steve!
Top 5 explanations for the president’s gesture
An IIT on every street, an IIM on every block
Pakistan, Jinnah, Wadias and the American anthem
An IAS officer’s nightmare of lustful, lascivious stares comes true