siddhu Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 3sZitve3SUw&fmt=18 wow... the car is really really small. and look at the tires. it seems like they have fit auto-rickshaw tires on it... will it even reach 100 km/hr??
Ram Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 They don't need to spend on advertising.....this little car is on everyones mind' date='on every channel without them even making an effort.Most of the advertising is online.Besides they have let the business chanells test drive and showcase the car.Most reports seem positive.[/quote'] Oh, so they have not even put a single ad on T.V? That is surprising.. wow... the car is really really small. and look at the tires. it seems like they have fit auto-rickshaw tires on it... will it even reach 100 km/hr?? You’d be surprised to know that for a compact car, the Nano is surprisingly large and spacious. I think the top is speed is around 90-100 kmph, which is more than sufficient on Indian roads.
Rajiv Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 BTW there has been suggestions of replacing all auto rickshaws with nanos in Mumbai. It will be cool if that happens. ..and the price will go upto ??
umpire Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 CNG Rickshaw/Auto costs 1.5 lakhs and Nano only 1.2 lakhs.. I see Rickshawalas buying Nano and using it as taxi.
umpire Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 its not a safe car at all. Body is weak. The optimal fuel efficiency only at 20 km/hour.
Desi Cartman Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 now the only way to control the number of cars in India is to have a yearly tax (like we have in Aus) it will provide funding for new roads etc and at the same time stop people from buying another car just cuz munnu is in class X ... In Aus its $600 a year and many people (including myself) do not buy a second car just because of this extra kharcha
punjabi_khota Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 I thought we were talking about H4te's weiner.
Rajiv Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 I thought we were talking about H4te's weiner. No, that would be tata
ludhianvi Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 Designing the Nano [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ0AUawbDGQ]YouTube - Designing the Tata Nano[/ame]
h4te Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 how safe is this car? It doesn't have airbags, and they have made a lot of sacrifices to reduce the cost. Sure, it's cheap, but it looks like it will crumble into pieces if it ever got in an accident....
Ram Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 how safe is this car? It doesn't have airbags' date=' and they have made a lot of sacrifices to reduce the cost. Sure, it's cheap, but it looks like it will crumble into pieces if it ever got in an accident....[/quote'] The car exceeds existing Indian automotive safety regulations for a car of that size. They can just make a plastic box and put it on the roads man... If accidents happen and people die, the company will come under a slew of lawsuits. And this is from wikipedia: 'According to Tata, the Nano complies with Bharat Stage-III and Euro-IV emission standards[53]. Ratan Tata also said, 'The car has passed the full-frontal crash and the side impact crash'.[54]. Tata Nano passed the required 'homologation’ tests with Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).This means that the car has met all the specified criteria for roadworthiness laid out by the government including emissions or noise & vibration and can now ply on Indian roads.' If anything, this car is more environment friendly and safer than most of the other passenger cars plying on Indian roads currently. However, lets remind ourselves of one important fundamental of crash-resistance. If a car looks strong and sturdy (like say the Ambassador) it does not mean its good for passenger safety. If a car looks weak and dainty (like the Nano), it does not mean its harmful for passenger safety. If anything, you WANT the body of the car to crumble on accident impact, so that it absorbs most of the force from the collision. Most F1 cars just disintegrate on even minor collisions with other cars.. Ever wondered why that happens? Because it is MEANT to happen that way, so that driver is insulated from a big portion of the force of the impact.
The Outsider Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 how safe is this car? It doesn't have airbags' date=' and they have made a lot of sacrifices to reduce the cost. Sure, it's cheap, but it looks like it will crumble into pieces if it ever got in an accident....[/quote'] It's not meant to be driven at high speeds on highways. In most cities the speed of traffic is such that almost all accidents are harmless dents. Sriram, this is not a public service venture. Clearly, Tata are aiming at a high volume, low margin business model. I also read somewhere that they have plans to export it to Europe and the Middle East.
Ram Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 It's not meant to be driven at high speeds on highways. In most cities the speed of traffic is such that almost all accidents are harmless dents. Sriram, this is not a public service venture. Clearly, Tata are aiming at a high volume, low margin business model. I also read somewhere that they have plans to export it to Europe and the Middle East. Shwetabh, even significant sales of this car in the initial years will make only marginal impact on the company's books.. See this; 'Even if Tata can sell 250,000 models a year, it will add only 3% to the firm's revenues, says Vaishali Jajoo, auto analyst at Mumbai's Angel Broking. "That doesn't make a significant difference to the top line," he said. "And for the bottom line, it will take five to six years to break even." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7957671.stm And keep in mind that currently, the factory in UP that produces this car has a capacity of only 50,000 vehicles/year. The Gujrat factory will take more than a year to complete and will also have an initial capacity of 2,50,000 vehicles/year. One of the main reasons why so many companies have shied away from producing such a cheap car is not just because its a major engineering challenge to design such a cheap car, but also due to the really low margins due to the low price. Come to think of it, if Tata can produce such a cheap car, so can other manufacturers in India. They have shied away till now, considering the numbers, which is why I think Tata has done not only as a financial venture, but also a gift to the Indian public. Sure, profits are important, no doubting that, but above and beyond that, there seems to be an element of empathy towards that middle class Indian consumer.
Ram Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Meanwhile, this is one of the first reviews of the car; Nano: Triumph of Indian ingenuity India's Tata Motors has launched Nano, the world's cheapest car. Hormazd Sorabjee, one of the first journalists to test drive the car, says it feels more expensive than it is. I have to admit I had a nagging fear that the Tata Nano wouldn't live up to the media frenzy that's been surrounding it. It's been the most awaited car in the world and the delay in putting it on the road - due to the relocation of its production facilities - only increased the sense of anticipation. Now, 14 months after the Nano was unveiled to a reception fit for a rock star, the moment of truth has come for the world's cheapest car. There's been an apprehension that Tata's self-imposed price target of 100,000 rupees ($1,979, £1,366) would make the Nano an apology of a car and sceptics expected a glorified golf cart. However, after driving the Nano in the western Indian city of Pune - home to Tata Motors - on the highway and rural back roads, it's turned out to be quite the opposite. The Nano feels significantly more expensive than it is and a car you certainly won't be ashamed to sit in. Well designed Questions like, "Is it a proper car?" can be dismissed once and for all. Getting in and out of the Nano is easier than in an Mercedes S-class and that's no exaggeration. The doors open wide and high seats allow you to slide onto them with the utmost ease. The well-designed but basic interiors are far from Merc luxury, but you can't miss "luxury" touches like front-power windows and air-conditioning on the deluxe version - which must be another first on such a cheap vehicle. The seats are flat and hard with simple, hard-wearing fabrics designed like a seat in a bus. Don't forget that in India, if a car is officially a five-seater, it's unofficially twice that number - which leads me to another great thing about the Nano - its ability to take heavy loads. For a car that weighs a mere 600kg, the Nano feels incredibly robust. You expect the doors to rattle, the seats to squeak and those dinner-plate sized wheels to buckle driving over rough Indian roads. But instead, the Nano feels rigid, well-screwed together and deftly darts from one pothole to another with ease. The suspension copes with any sort of surface and the Nano's massive ground clearance can shame some off-roaders. Sprightly As expected in a car with such dinky proportions, the ride does get a bit choppy on uneven surfaces and there's a tendency for the nose to bob up and down but those graduating from a scooter won't have cause to complain. Crank the Nano's 623cc engine and it fires with a muffled "pud, pud, pud". The thrum of a two-cylinder motor is obvious but again, it doesn't make the racket I expected. It feels sprightly off the mark and comfortably keeps up with the flow of city traffic. In fact, the more crowded the street, the better the Nano gets. The turning circle is astonishing, possibly the tightest on any car. The ability to hang a U-turn on any street, the high-seating position and great all-round visibility only add to the Nano's user-friendliness. But while the Nano feels completely at home in a congested, low-speed driving environment, it's out of sorts on an open road. The little Tata runs out of puff quite quickly and progress after 70kph (44mph) is painfully slow and top speed is limited to 105kph. This certainly isn't a highway car but that's not going to stop people from using it as one. Pocket science That's the concern Tata engineers had as well and have worked quite hard to ensure that it's fairly stable with a full load at maximum speed. The brakes are reasonably effective as well and do the job. I had to keep reminding myself that I was driving a car that costs just over 100,000 rupees to judge the Nano in the right perspective. It thrilled me with its "proper car" feel and I also learnt to forgive it for its shortcomings. I can live with the ridiculously small 15-litre fuel tank because the car's phenomenal efficiency (18-20 kilometres to a litre) would give it decent range. However, I would have liked a bit more power to make overtaking less of a planned operation and the glass to open at the rear like a conventional hatch. The only way to put the handful of bags in the Nano's "boot" is by flipping the rear seats forward. I found that cumbersome and annoying. Of course, for this incredible price the Nano is bound to have compromises but the brilliance of this car lies in the way Tata has finely judged exactly what Nano buyers expect and what they don't. That's where the foreign car companies would fail. The Nano, made by pocket science and not rocket science, is a triumph of Indian ingenuity. The author is the editor of Autocar India, the country's leading motoring magazine. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7958498.stm ----------------- Overall, a VERY positive review. The most important line for me is this: The Nano feels significantly more expensive than it is and a car you certainly won't be ashamed to sit in. Thats the basic point of owning a car in India, where till now, it is considered as a symbol of luxury. There is no point having one if it has a cheap feel about it. The Nano has scored an important victory on this count.
fineleg Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Safety will be a concern. I dont know if lawsuits are effective in India, but Tata needs to brace for a few.
Dirty_South Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Dont worry about the safety part,the traffic will go up so high that u can hardly cross 20/30 kmph :D......
punjabi_khota Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Safety will be a concern. I dont know if lawsuits are effective in India' date=' but Tata needs to brace for a few.[/quote'] Lol...no other small car has airbags ...and TATA says it has already passed the required safety norms...so one can sue TATA...they can surely sue Indian government for making *****y safety norms.
cochise Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 Talking about one lakh cars, I came across this a few years back...I still think it's a classic! :--D Introducing, the Sitara: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/2665-pakistan-beats-india-one-lac-car.html
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