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It was always the big brother show but this year, Delhi upstaged Detroit with the Tata Nano. Despite its 200 cars and 50 concepts, the ongoing North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) did not quite get it right this year. True there were some pretty zany marketing antics - including Chrysler's cattle stampede to launch the Dodge Ram truck.

True there were the usual sprinkling of stars, including Kid Rock for General Motors, Bryan Adams for the Audi R8 V12 concept super car. And sex and the city's Kim Cattrall for the Mercedes Benz GLK Freeside.

But no BIG BANG. In fact a section of the international media actually commented that the car that held centre stage in Detroit this year was one that wasn't even on display. Namely, the Nano.

For Detroit, the cheapest debutante this year was a Chinese SUV. It will be imported by a company called Chamco and is manufactured by ZX Auto of China. It's tag: $14,000. Sorry guys, the Nano is leagues ahead. Although the Chinese companies - BYD, Changfeng, Geely and othershogged quite a few headlines and have announced their intention to roll out Made in China sedans and SUVs in the US, none of them had any breakthrough products on display. Of the 200 cars that jostled for eyeballs, just a hand few were different/ special /truly gorgeous.

Top of that roster will be the Mitsubishi RA clean diesel concept coupe which marries the EVO DNA to a 2 litre turbo diesel engine to crank out some truly decent power and torque. Just as interesting is the Audi R8 V12 super car concept, both in style and performance promise, Bryan Adams notwithstanding.(Audi paraded John Abrahams in Delhi and between the two, Abrahams is certainly the dishier variant.)

The Land Rover LRX concept got a lot of wows which should be good news for the Tata team. And the Ferrari 430 Spider biofuel was the ultimate in toys for boys going green. Hummer displayed an ethanol variant and Toyota a fuel cell-cum electric hybrid SUV though the stunning Jeep Renegade concept (a battery-and-diesel hybrid) topped the list of green droolworthies.

Mercedes Benz showed off the Vision GLK Freeside which should soon get into production while BMW X6 sports activity coupe was the kind of hundreds-of-horses performance packs that the American market has always liked. Also on display was Tranformers car Chevy Camaro which rubbed hub caps with other all-American models Ford F150 and Dodge Ram pick ups.

The Asian brigade also had some good old fashioned SUVs and sedans. Hyundai for instance showed off the Genesis saloon and Kia the Borrego SUV, both of which should earn the Korean company some de-cent marketshare in the US. Volkswagen's sleek four-door coupe, the Passat CC, also drew attention as did the Cadillac CTS coupe concept, a genuinely nice looking two-door.

But of course, despite all the hoopla and green angst, it was the Nano that ruled both conversations as well as media bytes. Top auto bosses either announced their plans to enter that segment (Toyota) or not. When the Nano does debut overseas in Geneva, the Delhi rush will see another encore. Till then, Detroit will simply have to play second fiddle.

One week after its unveiling, the world’s media is still agog with news and views about the Tata Nano. Many termed it a cute, ultra-cheap car that will revolutionise personal transportation in India and Asia and many others are calling it a glorified go-kart that will be unreliable and unsafe.

The debate is still raging in all sorts of media - print, TV and the Internet.

Online polls that ask Americans if they will buy one if and when the Nano is launched in that market, blogs that have postings, which swing from patriotic praise to outright hatred and discussion forums that are still witness to heated arguments about the promise and fallout of the car are keeping the Tata car in the thick of it all. The Nano has probably got more media attention than it bargained for. But, it was only to be expected with the Nano’s much-publicised price tag making it the cheapest car of the world.

Competitors who have in the past sworn that it is an impossibility to develop a $2,500 car have reacted to the Nano as far away as Detroit – the home of the American automobile industry.

At the North American International Auto Show, which is currently on at Detroit, the hot car being discussed was the Nano, where it is not even on display.

Interestingly, the notoriously taciturn, Toyota Motor Corporation and its President, Mr Katsuaki Watanabe, also reacted to the Nano saying that the world’s number two car maker will need a little more time to develop vehicles at this kind of price point. It is reported that he also added that an early prototype of a Toyota small car that will be made specifically for markets such as India is close to getting a “go sign”.

In the midst of all this attention that the Nano is still getting, comes one of the first recognitions of its potential to create history.

In a presentation titled ‘The dozen most important cars of all time starting from 1908 to the present’, Time magazine lists the Tata Nano along with legendary cars like the Ford Model T, the Volkswagen Beetle, Chevy Belair, Toyota Corolla, the Mini and the Honda Civic.

Listing the 12 cars in chronological order, the Time magazine presentation says only these ‘few automobiles have been able to fundamentally change the way we live and dream’. As for the Nano, Time says “India’s ‘people’s car’, as it is already dubbed, is intended to put motoring within reach of Asia’s masses.

At $2,500 it’s hard to see it how it won’t sell, but even if it doesn’t it will become the poster car for a new, stripped-back style of engineering — glue instead of welds! — that could change the world.

The Nano’s development is an epochal event because it can make a car affordable to a very large segment of the population.

History has a funny way of repeating itself. Back in the early 1980s, a small car took the country by storm and changed the face of personal transport. The Maruti 800 was the original “people’s car” selling at the princely sum of about Rs 48,000 when it hit the market. A little more than two decades hence, we have an all new “people’s car”, this time of Indian parentage and even more affordable, relatively speaking. The Tata Nano, unveiled in Delhi on Thursday, is set to revolutionise personal transport all over again.

The Nano is a watershed in independent India’s business history for two important reasons. It showcases the country’s ability to develop a low-cost, mass-market engineering product, using what the Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn calls “frugal engineering”. It is the best example yet of such engineering capabilities and comes at a critical time when automobile, and indeed engineering companies worldwide, are straining every muscle to cut costs in product development. Four years ago, when Mr Ratan Tata first went public with the idea of an affordable, mass-market car, there were few takers, with reactions ranging from amazement to scepticism. Indeed, as late as a month ago, the chief of a rival carmaker which stands to lose most if the Nano succeeds, pooh-poohed the idea, only half in jest. Yet, even before the car hits the market, one can safely say the idea is already a success, going by the alacrity with which other big names are jumping on to the bandwagon. Renault’s Ghosn is working with Bajaj Auto for a similar product while some others are keenly watching the developments.

The second reason why the car’s development is an epochal event is because it has every potential to be an inclusive innovation. For the first time in this country, those on the fringes of the middle-class can hope to fulfil their aspirations of owning a car. The car will cover a very large segment of the population on the affordability parameter. Just as the mobile revolution heralded inclusion in communication, making a telephone affordable to even the street-side hawker, the Nano can make every footloose Indian “transportation inclusive”. For this reason alone, the Nano is the most important innovation of India Inc so far. Yet, the historic development is not without a downside. Environmentalists are up in arms, complaining that these cars will clog roads and highways and increase emissions to unsustainable levels. The answer is not to deride the car but to invest in improving infrastructure. The effort should be to build new roads and bridges, widen existing ones and enforce discipline on the roads, while simultaneously investing in improving public transport. An efficient, affordable and functional public transport is the best guarantee yet of controlling traffic and exhaust emission in our cities.

Despite its low-cost focus, the Nano has character, adorable looks and a finish quality that could see buyers heading to Tata showrooms in droves.

Tata Motors’ ultra low-cost car, or the one-lakh car as it had come to be known, had sparked interest in all of us simply because of the seemingly insurmountable challenge of making a modern automobile at that price.

The people that fed the rumour mills about how it would be an auto-rickshaw with four wheels, the critics that warned about the environmental impact that such a $3,000 car would bring upon us and the politicians who were opposed to the very concept, never really expected the end product to turn out the way it did.

Setting hearts aflutter

In the end, the Nano, after it was unveiled, has set a billion hearts aflutter, not merely because of its unbelievably affordable price but because of the promise it holds for providing safe personal mobility to a huge section of the Indian two-wheeler riding population.

And contrary to the vitriolic criticism that it will be an environmental disaster, the Nano will be more emission-friendly than the average motorcycle and, more surprisingly, it could well turn out to be one of the cutest looking cars in town.

For the section of the population that has been able to afford a car, the Tata one-lakh car would have seemed ‘infra-dig’ to own when it was still under wraps.

After it was unveiled, though, the awe and expressions of surprise even among the well-to-do in the audience clearly indicate that when the Nano is launched, its buyers are not going to only be the ones that are currently accommodating their family of four on two wheels.

Learning experience

Mr Ratan Tata, the Tata Group’s Chairman, has said that the Nano has been a huge learning experience and the challenge, though similar in terms of the fact that intrinsically it was an entirely new product segment as was the case with the Indica when it was under development, took on a whole different dimension because of the need to contain its costs within a preset target.

The Nano’s price was the only certainty at the time the project was conceived. And, then, starting from a clean sheet of paper, the car was designed and developed keeping manufacturing costs, material costs and post-purchase running costs at the lowest possible level.

The result is a car that will be priced at Rs 1 lakh (for the standard version), maintaining the originally mentioned price point; as Mr Ratan Tata said, “A promise is a promise”.

There will be other levies like VAT, transport, road tax, insurance and registration before the car reaches the hands of its owners and as such the on-road price could be Rs 1.3- 1.4 lakh depending on location.

However, after seeing the car, the price actually doesn’t seem to the only reason why there will be droves of buyers heading to Tata showrooms. Despite its low-cost focus, the Nano actually has character, adorable looks and finish quality that will make the current A-segment monopolist, the Maruti 800, seem like an archaic box on wheels.

The finish quality, glowing paint job, consistent and tight gaps between the Nano’s metal body panels, precise integration of the bumper to the car body and the Spartan but neatly finished plastic dashboard are all good indicators that the Tata mini car’s overall quality will not be a compromise that the rumour mills were claiming it would be.

Novel features

Behind the Nano’s smiling countenance are the fruits of lateral thinking and innovative ideas that have made the incredibly low price a reality.

And instead of coming up with features and solutions that hint at the frugal engineering that was required to keep the stiff price point for the car, there are quite a few novel features that clearly make the Nano a modern day car.

For example, the clear-lens headlamps, the centrally mounted instrument cluster, the stalked outside rear-view mirrors, tubeless tyres, high-mounted stop-lamp and, of course, the finish quality and the obvious hints at sophistication in design.

An international audience could well mistake the Nano to be a Japanese mini car concept for emerging markets.

One aspect of the Nano that is still being unravelled is the methods that were adopted, by the company and its suppliers, to keep its price within the magical Rs 1-lakh mark. That also brings us to the very issue of what are the noteworthy features of the Nano.

Metal bodied with four doors and capable of seating four adults in relative comfort, the Nano is designed to accommodate the average Indian family.

Innovative engine

To eliminate the need for a drive shaft and to help in making a mini car such as this safe, the 623cc petrol engine of the Nano is mounted at the rear. The fallout of this feature is cost savings by eliminating the drive shaft and also a reduction in weight. This also means that the car doesn’t need a bonnet grille for air intake, but vents next to either side of the rear doors will do.

Plastic panels have been innovatively designed to eliminate the need for screws and fit by just snapping on firmly. Instrument cluster displays only basic information, but is attractively designed. The engine has also been innovatively designed and developed for keeping the cost of fuel injection and management systems low.

And as Mr Tata himself said, it might sound simplistic, but the fact that the car has been put together into such a compact package, has also contributed to keeping the costs low, since the amount of material — steel, rubber etc., and energy used was that much lesser. The first engine of the Nano is expected to be the 623cc petrol mill that will put out a modest 33 bhp of peak power and be capable of doing a top-speed of about 70-80 kmph. The engine will initially be paired with a four-speed manual transmission.

Tata Motors is said to be working on a CVT (continuously variable transmission) for introduction at a later date. The company’s engineers are also working on a diesel engine and hybrid version for the Nano.

Fears dispelled

At the unveiling of the Nano, Mr Ratan Tata also put an end to all speculation about the car’s safety and emissions. Criticisers of the Tata mini car and the ‘Greens’ had been claiming that the car would be dangerously unsafe to drive and will be an environmental disaster. But, after hitting back at the critics, Mr Tata has clarified that the Nano will meet all emission and safety norms, both in India and abroad and, in fact, the car can even accommodate airbags and side impact protection that is mandatory for making an European debut.

The Nano has been a dream, not just for Mr Ratan Tata, but would have also been so for millions of Indians waiting for safe and affordable personal mobility for their families.

With the tantalising prospect of not just affording the Nano, but also keeping its running costs low (what with the promise of a fuel efficiency of 20 kmpl) for buyers, the wait till the Nano’s launch will now seem unbearable.

Tata Motors has inducted batch of 80 youth as apprentices at the Singur Peoples Car plant, as per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Tata Motors, West Bengals Department of Technical Education & Training (DTET) and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC). This batch comprises youth from Singur Villages who had earlier registered with the WBIDC

In an exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18, Ravi Kant, Executive Director, Tata Motors said that they have invested Rs 1700 crore to manufacture the Nano. According to Kant, for the next two or three years, the company’s focus will be on India and that they will consider export later. Kant said Tata Motors has an extremely good lineup of new products for launch including a new Sumo, Indica and Ace.

Excerpts from the exclusive interview with Ravi Kant:

Q: You had mentioned more than a year back that you would look at a cumulative capacity of probably 1 million units, given the scope that this kind of a car will have. How long will it be before you actually ramp up to those kinds of levels?

A: We are setting up a factory for 250,000 units that can be expanded to 350,000 units. Let’s see how quickly we can fill up the capacity and it is only later that we will look at expanding the capacity either on our own or through franchise manufacturers that we have talked about.

Q: The franchise manufacturers that you have mentioned, in how many locations do you think you would have to get the kind of volume that you are targeting?

A: We have not decided yet, we will see how the response is. Good entrepreneurs and good market would want to do this. So based on that we will take a view, but we haven’t decided anything as yet.

Q: Apart from that, you had also mentioned about the satellite plants, by when do you think all of them would be ready for operation?

A: First, we have to fill up the capacity and see what we can do with that. We will have to fine-tune everything. Once we are totally confident, then we will think of those and it will depend upon the demand from that particular region and the kind of entrepreneurs we can get to make it happen.

Q: The kind of pricing that we have indicated for this model, right from the base models up to the deluxe model, how would the EBITDA margin of this car be approximately?

A: As Mr. Tata has already mentioned to you and to other people, we are a commercial organisation and we will not do anything that doesn’t give us bottomline. Yes, initially in any new product, there are a couple of years that you will have to make good, and since Indica is a profitable product, we are confident that this also is going to be a profitable product.

We have to understand one thing that the base model is Rs 100,000, but we are going to have deluxe versions on which other fitments and other things can be done. So, it’s a mix of the product that we will be catering to.

Q: Once this vehicle completes one full year of launch, what kind of additional volumes do you expect to begin with for your passenger vehicle business?

A: We don’t indulge in speculation. We are investing Rs 1700 crore for product development or setting up the factory. And we do hope that we can ramp up fast enough dictated by good demand.

Q: At what kind of levels, would you breakeven in this project?

A: It depends on what kind of mix; we finally get in the marketplace.

Q: You have also been studying the Korean and the Chinese markets for your passenger vehicle business. Would you look at this car to be offered in these markets and would you look at say making an assembly base at your Daewoo plant there?

A: Right now, we have made this car for India. We are going to be focusing on India at least for the next 2-3 years. And if we find that there is good enough demand, we would be looking at other markets and geographies where it makes sense to have this car.

Now depending upon economic evaluations whether it going to be an export from here or manufactured out there, it will depend upon many factors.

Q: Along with the much talked about Rs 100,000 car, you are also working on a very innovative technology in association with MDI of France, which is the air technology. How far is Tata Motors from unveiling that product in the market?

A: We are working with them as we have already announced on the air engines, it is a compressed air vehicle. I think it is going to be quite a while before you can fine-tune everything because just assembling everything doesn’t mean it is fine-tuned, because it needs to work out in a very easy way as far as the customer is concerned.

Q: MDI of France have also indicated that probably towards the end they will unveil it in Europe. So, can we expect it in the same timeline here or would it be in 2009 probably?

A: No, we haven’t said anything about that. So, I think as and when we are ready, we will talk about that.

Q: Going back to the technology and the kind of expenses that it incurs, in terms of costs would it be significantly higher than the conventional fuel car of the same category?

A: I think it is very premature to talk about these things. When we are closing to introducing that vehicle, we will then talk about it.

Q: At the Auto Expo, you have also unveiled the Xenon, the maxi cab version of which will be assembled in Thailand. With this what kind of a market are you looking at and what kind of impact will it have on overall CV volumes for Tata Motors?

A: I think we have an extremely good line-up of products. Besides Nano, we have got so many products out there. We have introduced the new Sumo, Sumo Grande, we have got the new Indica, we have got compact Sedan, and we have got the Ace, and the green Ace, and luxury buses. We have got many new trucks and buses. So, the line-up now is really getting into full swing from this year onwards.

Q: With this line-up, both in the passenger vehicle and the commercial vehicle business, do you expect to end the year with positive growth over the previous year; do you expect that to happen?

A: Well new products are an important lever to expand the market. And we do hope that we are creating exciting enough products for customers to come forward in larger numbers and buy them.

India is one of those developing countries whose economies are expected to be among the world leaders by the middle of this century. Its technological skill and financial clout have already made an impact in the IT industry and the international cricketing arena, to take just two examples. But the unveiling of Tata Motors' Nano car in New Delhi yesterday marks a new level of Indian achievement.

The headline news is that the Nano will cost only pounds 1,300, thus opening a potentially huge market in the developing world. But Tata has also stolen a march on giant vehicle manufacturers such as GM, Ford, Toyota, VW, Mitsubishi and Renault-Nissan, all of which are looking to expand sales in Asia, Africa and Latin America at a time when the European and American markets are, respectively, flat and declining.

Tata has produced a car that not only costs pounds 500 less than the cheapest Chinese model, but also breaks technological ground by having a rear-mounted two-cylinder engine, which both saves fuel and creates interior space. It has taken out more than 34 patents on technologies used in its manufacture. The Tata Group, the country's largest conglomerate, epitomises the global outreach of modern India; having acquired the Corus metals company last year, it is now seeking to buy Jaguar Cars and Land Rover.

The world's second most populous nation presents a striking contrast between that kind of industrial clout and the poverty in which most Indians still live. At one end of the scale are billionaires such as Vijay Mallya, who is promoting India as a Formula 1 racing power. At the other are the inhabitants of Mumbai's periphery who lack decent housing, education and healthcare. The Nano lies between those two extremes: a car built to attract members of the urban middle class who at present perch on motorcycles. That it will add to India's already acute traffic problems should remind the government of how far it has fallen behind in infrastructure development, whether roads, electricity or water. The Nano is a remarkable first from a country that still exasperates for its failure to provide basic services.

When he first joined Tata Motors 16 years ago, Girish Wagh had no idea he would one day head the companys now-legendary Rs 1-lakh car project. Although he was part of the Indica vendor development team in 1997, Wagh was actually reluctant to get into full-scale product design with the Ace.

He remembers how Tata Motors MD Ravi Kant hand-picked him for the job and convinced him that it was as important as the work he was doing with the companys excellence group. That was December 2000. The Ace rolled out in May 2005 and almost singlehandedly helped beat a recession in the commercial vehicle space.

Impressed by his ability to deliver under tight deadlines, chairman Ratan Tata and Ravi Kant decided to move Wagh to the small car project in August that year. Almost painfully media shy, the Nanos strobe-steroidal launch this week was one of Waghs few public appearances.

A mechanical engineer from the Maharashtra Institute of Technology, which was followed by a post-graduate programme in manufacturing from Mumbai B-school SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, the 37-year-old Wagh has had a pretty dramatic career at Tata Motors. But nothing comes near the Nano experience. Heading a 500-strong team, Waghs biggest challenge was to define the products specifications as they went along.

Unlike the Ace where we knew what the necessary specs were, in this project all we had was a cost target, he says. That and the fact that it had to be a real car which met all the regulatory requirements.

The small car team had already put in about 18 months work by the time Wagh came on board. The R&D team was in place and work was on to get a fix on the styling, packaging, engine and transmission. Because there were no guidelines, the team used the M-800 for comparison. The idea was that we had to achieve at least this much and more, says Wagh.

As we went ahead, we redefined performance specs. As recently as nine months ago, we tweaked the engine to increase the power. The team also decided to launch the car with a manual transmission instead of the earlier-announced continuously variable transmission (CVT).

The CVT will come but the first variants will have a four-speed manual. Widely known as one of Tata Motors new bunch of engineering whiz kids, Wagh enjoys a formidable reputation in the company. A stickler for perfection and a hard taskmaster, Wagh is the first to admit that the Nano experiment had its own share of hiccups. Part of the problem was the constantly evolving design. His solution was to leverage the collective knowledge in the company.

In a somewhat hidebound company like Tata Motors thats never be easy. But then folks inside knew that this was no hypothetical project, the chairman had made it amply clear that he wanted it done. Ravi Kant also made sure the team was insulated from all these pressures. So by the time the project hit top-gear, the R&D team, vendor development team and manufacturing team were all working together, says Wagh.

That may sound easy but the ability to take inclusive decisions without losing the way is a tough call. No wonder, Tata himself is more than generous in his praise for Wagh. Girish is a terrific guy and has displayed enormous leadership qualities, he said, just after the Nano launch.

He takes over a responsibility and sees it through. Of course, no one is indispensible and Telco did go through many years of innovation without a Girish Wagh. Theres a terrific spirit in the company and we try to identify, motivate and empower that spirit. Girish is part of that process, he said.

Now that the peoples car has been unveiled, Waghs challenges are hardly over. Tata Motors must prove that the seemingly incredible design specs hold up at the manufacturing stage too. Product quality needs to be consistent too, something the firm isnt well known for. Although Wagh wouldnt say, insiders say enough quality assurance systems have to be put in place at the upcoming Singur plant.

But Thursdays high-voltage launch at the AutoExpo will no doubt ensure that Waghs career gets another turbo-charge. If the Nano manages a similar product record, it could make the self-effacing Wagh one of Indias most sought after auto engineering brains.

Indias growing importance as an ultra low-cost auto engineering hub means people like him will call the shots in the next phase of growth. For Wagh, the future is here and now.

As the world awaits the formal rollout of Tata Nano from the Singur factory in West Bengal, car buying dynamics in India seem to be undergoing a subtle change.

Most believe Nano's price is very attractive and affordable. People who own entry-level cars are now thinking of going in for either one Nano — in view of its fuel efficiency — or maybe two, which will cost the same as their existing car. So, there would be one car for the head of the family and another for the family.

Take the case of Sudarshana Sarkar. The school teacher has already enquired about Nano at a city-based Tata dealer. "I particularly liked the yellow Nano. It has a style of its own. It's affordable and looks quite comfortable. It's good for a small family. I am keen to know when bookings will kick off," she said.

Tata dealers are flooded with queries from prospective buyers. "Nano will be a runaway hit. People, mainly the middle-class, are anxiously waiting for it. After it was unveiled on Thursday, we have started receiving thousands of calls from potential buyers," said Binod Agarwal of Lexus Motors. Not surprising, considering the country's middle-class numbers several million.

Small car owners are upbeat too. "It's not a bad option to have a Nano for the family. After all, Ratan Tata did assert the car meets all safety standards. So my children can go to school and my wife for her shopping in Nano," said small-time businessman Apurv Shah.

Prodyut Mitra, an employee with United Bank of India, seconded the emotion: "I commute by a motorcycle and am keen to buy a Nano. I hope banks will come up with soft financing options for the car."

Sahana Ganguly, a home maker, is, however, more cautious. "It's an affordable car, no doubt. But I would rather wait a year before buying it, just to see what the experience is like," she said. It's a different matter though that after a year, the car's price may be revised, if the company wants to mark it to the market vis-a-vis raw material input prices.

The car's nano space requirement for parking is believed to be yet another purchase point trigger. "Three Nanos can easily fit into the space occupied by two Ambassadors," an auto analyst quipped.

"Two Nanos can be effortlessly parked in a typical Scorpio parking slot. So, in metros, where parking is a huge problem, Nano could be a hit," he added.

Professor Vijay Govindarajan is the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business and director of Tuck's Center for Global Leadership. An expert on strategy and a renowned innovation guru, Govindarajan shares his views on the Tata Nano and explains to Saurabh Turakhia why it stands out in the world of innovation.

To me, Tata's Nano is a landmark event for a variety of reasons. Its innovation points to a whole new set of consumers, who did not have access to the car earlier. In a way, I liken it to a revolution that the PC and Apple's iPod sparked. It is as important an event as India winning its independence or India launching its first satellite.

I also like to think that it is going to fundamentally change the way the automobile sector functions. And here is why.

For the first time, thanks to Tata's Nano, India has been established as an R&D leader, and not just a low-cost hub known for cheap labour. It has shown to the world that India can be a technology leader.

When we talk of Tata's Nano, we are not just talking about low-cost, we are talking about high technology . Even a DVD player in some US cars are priced over $2,000—this just goes to explain the significance of the Tata Nano.

The Tata Nano will certainly find big takers in India. However, it can have a market in the US, as well. If the car is enriched with high technology functions to make it an intelligent car, many in the US will look forward to own it. An intelligent car at $3,000 would be a good bargain after all, for many Americans. Tata's Nano shows that there is a huge opportunity for Indian companies to build profitable low-cost products and then take them to the US.

I also find that the Tata Nano has fundamentally followed the 'Forget,borrow,learn' model of innovation. It forgot the way it made money or operated in its earlier businesses. It realized that to innovate it would have to embark on a completely new theme. Its borrow challenge was to put some of its effective capabilities to use – selectively use its current technology for the breakthrough project. Finally, it also learnt to test and resolve the many assumptions that go with such an ambitious project.

The Tatas realized that for a poor country like India, there was a need of an ultra low-cost product and they offered it by leveraging the power of technology. The volumes are all there in India, one only needed someone like Ratan Tata to overlook the thin margins but invest in world class technologies to offer an affordable good product to the market.

Most of all, Tata's Nano is a great innovation, because innovation is all about thinking of the next decade and not the next quarter.

Think of the ongoing auto expo as a big, fat Indian wedding and the crowd there as those attending it. As is the case at most weddings, the new bride remains the centre of attraction and the rest are below her in the priority list when it comes to taking a look at or clicking a photograph with.

Tata's Nano appears to have occupied the new bride's place in this year's auto expo. The people's car has stolen the show from the day it was unveiled. This is despite the fact that Nano is the cheapest car on show and plenty of expensive and attractive ones, belonging to world-renowned companies like BMW or Volvo, are on display.

But it's Nano's show all the way. Thousands click the four models of the car on display every day with their cell phones, still and video cameras.

As per rough estimates, close to two lakh people visited the Nano stall on Sunday and the number was close to 1.3 lakh on Saturday.

And as is the case with the brides, the visitors find it difficult to take their eyes off the 'small wonder'. "Visitors hardly move even after they have spent 15 or 20 minutes watching the Nano alone," said a senior Tata Motors official. Even at the counters where the entry tickets are sold the common question is whether the ticket they are buying is valid for the Tata stall where Nano is displayed.

Once at the stall, Nano is subjected to scrutiny just as perhaps every Indian bride is subjected to. Comments are made on Nano's shape, colour, small tyres, seating capacity, boot and headlight.

Most companies have hired foreign and Indian models to enhance their products. But the people's car does not need any of them, as its admirers don't need to be lured into the stall.

"Nano has brought new hope for me due to its price. If I get a Nano, I can have good business with minimum investment," said a taxi driver, Mr Ravinder Singh. The finance minister Mr P Chidambaram visited the stall this morning.

Nothing succeeds likes success. The entire world kowtowed before Ratan N Tata, Chairman of Tata Group and Tata Motors, after he unveiled the cheapest Rs 1 lakh small car, Nano, before the world at the 9th Auto Expo at Pragati Maidan on January 10. In a flash of seconds he proved that he was not a mere dreamer, but a winner too who can help tens of millions of growing middle class Indians to realize their dreams of owning a car. He also changed the dynamics of auto industry and silenced scores of his detractors.

But Ratan Tata has also faced brickbats from satraps in the Tata Empire after he took over as Chairman of Tata Sons in 1991 and from rivals in the India Inc who had dismissed him as a man of no consequence with little business sense. Tata took over from his uncle and legendary JRD Tata when India opened its gates of liberalization and it fell on the shoulders of a Cornell-trained architect to re-engineer the family's big business to explore and exploit the emerging new economic opportunities at home and abroad.

Thanks to his vision and guidance, the group commands a leading position in information technology (TCS, CMC), steel (Tata Steel), chemicals (Tata Chemicals), tea (Tata Tea) and hospitality (Indian Hotels). Tata's name is reaching new geographies through an aggressive 'merger and acquisition' around the globe. The group has a presence in 40 countries and exports to 140. In 2007 Ratan Tata successfully engineered the group's acquisition of Europe's largest steelmaker, Corus, in a US $ 12-billion deal that has been hailed as a turning point for the Indian business.

In his recent book, India's Global Wealth Club, Geoff Hiscock, a leading expert on Asian business observes: "The Corus takeover, the biggest yet by an Indian company, was one more step in a 15- year process that has seen Ratan Tata reorganize and rejuvenate a group widely seen as too unwieldy, lethargic and under-performing." Tatas continue their acquisition spree around the globe and is likely to pursue more in the coming months.

When Tata revealed his dream of making a 'people's car', analysts predicted his ruin. His rival car maker Maruti Suzuki Corporation that holds fifty percent of the passenger car market,ex-chief Osamu Suzuki dismissed the feasibility of such a low-priced car and that it cannot be produced without compromising on safety and environmental standards. Now that Tata has done it, his detractors are eating their words fearing about their bottom lines that may go southward in years to come. Time and again Ratan Tata has proved that he is not the business dum dum or untalented he was made out to be by his detractors and that he had not got the job just because of his surname. No doubt, by dreaming of 'Nano' and delivering it, Rata Tata has shown the world that he not only inherited the mantle of the vast Tata empire but also the legacy of JRD of being the most respected and admired businessman in India.

One could be pardoned for thinking that the hype surrounding the world's most cost-focussed mass produced car was all a media creation. Given not the column inches but literally double and triple page spreads in most national publications of relevance the Tata Nano was burdened with a great deal of expectation, both from within the company and outside.

The objective of delivering a four-wheeled all-metal car with performance, safety and comfort also had to keep an eye not just on the customer price point framed in 1000-point letters on the engineers walls in the ERC but also the fact that the project has to make money as well. Clearly philanthrophy was not even considered by the team led by Girish Wagh to translate his chairman's vision of providing automobility hitherto unavailable to a great strata of Indians.

Many completely rebuked the concept as not just audacious but totally harebrained when it was first espoused. This is an even more incredulous lot today, changing its line of detraction and seeking to know how and where the cost savings were made to arrive at the price Ratan Tata promised years ago. And it looks all set to deliver from the third quarter of this year.

Clever design, intelligent solutions with simplicity thrown in to achieve the functional aspects, weight reduction by way of ample digital analysis and a strict adherence to cost were some of the means employed to get the project so clearly defined through each and every stage of the design and development process.

Wagh's team underpinned its efforts by zeroing in on three vital parameters: it had to be a low cost focused automobile. Secondly it had to be designed and developed to meet all statutory safety and emission legislation while also being package protected to meet additional safety and other legislation issues which changing homologation requirements could throw at it. And finally the car had to have acceptable performance.

Clearly the project was much too daunting to have even precluded the normally focused Japanese small car giants to cry off. It also eliminated the Chinese for this was an all-new out-of-the-box concept which hadn't been made before and therefore couldn't be copied. The Europeans were scared after the painful exercise with the Smart which lost out on the grounds of complexity and price all that it tried to gain by having a very small footprint on the road. This fact was not lost on the Tata design and engineering teams and so began the arduous process of not just lateral thinking but also involving almost everyone within the company to think collectively.

Yes collective thinking came to the fore given the project's attraction. The challenge was also the attraction, engulfing everyone from the man at the helm of affairs to the shop floor operator who could - and were empowered to - bring in their own knowledge and experience to bear on various aspects of the design and engineering, the latter focusing on both the product as well as the manufacturing processes. This collective thought process was perhaps the biggest money saver and the largest repository of common sense brought to bear on a car everyone wanted to play a role in creating.

Good design was the critical element behind making effective savings in material usage, reducing mass and weight, getting the weight distribution spot-on for both ride and handling plus also stability and safety. Good design also made the engineers opt for the rear engine placement, in the process gaining both large occupant space and also major cost savings. First off lets factor in the design vis--vis the monocoque chassis. Absolute structural stiffness analysis was done concurrently with the stylists at the I.De.A. Institute in Italy who penned the look of the car.

NVH characteristics were as important to tackle at this stage as was the torsionsal strength of the structure. Using very lean but intelligent design, the team did enough to achieve its objective of a robust build for the application intended while yet not falling prey to the downward spiral of either over-designing or over-engineering. I think this is an abject lesson of great value engineering over both under - as well as over-engineering a concept.

Given the rear engineered layout, the engineers were able to move the firewall well forward and this proved advantageous in terms of not just reduced weight but also enhancing the cabin footwell area. A great deal of digital validation occurred at every stage of the design and build process, ensuring that corrective measures if needed, could be taken quickly in the normal process. Two clear instances of low weight and low material requirements come to mind straightaway: the ribbed (or swaged) roof structure is not just a style element but also a strength structure by design using sheet metal of a thinner gauge. A second design detail which delivered cost and weight reduction along with the adoption of a cheaper manufacturing process was in the use of the rear glass windscreen bonded to the tailgate. This helped in maintaining the structural rigidity while cutting down on the weight and also in the stamping and blanking processes.

The adoption of good design and packaging of the mechanical aggregates brought in great savings. The compact manner in which the engine is configured with a transverse twin-cylinder layout placed ahead of the rear axle line with the four-speed transaxle immediately behind it aided mightily in weight distribution plus also deriving a low centre of gravity. The battery being placed under the driver's seat helped spread the weight optimally while the radiator placed at the rear on the right hand side, ensured good placement of the ancillaries from an ease of operation point of view.

The rear-engined layout also helped save costs and complexity given that the driveshafts didn't need complex joints as in a front engined, front-wheel drive car wherein these shafts also needed to swivel with the steering. GKN came up with a great set of driveshafts which are robust yet light and pretty efficient to handle the power and torque. Speaking of engine performance, the 623.6cc engine makes 33bhp at 5000rpm coupled to a lusty 48 Nm of torque at 2500rpm. In fact the commuter nature of the car is best shown on the torque front with the low engine speed peak torque is produced, staying in a linear line all the way to the upper ends of the rev range.

Driveability isn't compromised while effecting major gains in fuel efficiency. Bosch played a major role in the development of the multi-point fuelling system and also the electronic management system enabling consistent and precise fuel delivery with optimized spark control, resulting in the frugal consumption of the 623.6cc engine.

Another element of good design and engineering concerned the 623.6cc engine displacement. Earlier a 580cc engine was designed but Ratan Tata himself found this inadequate in driveability and fuel efficiency. Bumping up the displacement helped the volumetric efficiency and with good thermodynamics, achieved the engine performance characteristics to haul four adults easily in the cut and thrust of our daily commute.

Another area where critical weight was saved, both physically and also dynamically concerned the adoption of the tubeless tyres made by MRF who are the single source tyre supplier's for the Nano. Given the lack of a tube in each wheel, a total of two kilogrammes were saved from the tyres alone, the lack of mass manifesting itself in low unsprung weight and resultant benefits in dynamic ability.

The use of just the right amount of plastics for the given surface area they covered in the cabin plus the architecture of the seats with optimised cushioning are details which might not seem very glamourous but they did aid the packaging engineers in their battle to balance costs, comfort and complexity. Bare basic instrumentation for this class of car comes across as more than adequate.

Finally, the complete project cost for the Nano, from design, development and production engineering a facility to make 250,000 units per annum are pegged at Rs 1700 crores - exactly the same amount the company spent a decade ago to kick start the Indica project. If that isn't good value engineering, pray tell us what is, for a car that you can buy for the price of top notch TAG Heuer sports watch? Need of the hour or a sign of the times? Or maybe both - the clock is now ticking for all the others to try and get their Nano clones ready.

Tata Motors unveiled the Rs 1 lakh Nano at the Auto Expo today. Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Motors, said the car would be launched commercially in the second half of 2008.

Stunningly good looking and modern car Name Nano to reflect size and modernity Two A-pillars so that it can meet better crashworthiness norms Front-on tests already done Smaller footprint than the Maruti 800 20% more interior volume than Maruti 800 Base model to cost only Rs 1 lakh plus VAT and transport Centrally mounted instrument console (left and right hand compatibility possible without additional cost) Independent front and rear suspension The two-cylinder 624 cc four stroke petrol engine to develop 33 bhp and deliver 20 kpl The engine mounted at the rear to generate more interior space. Battery also placed in the rear Small 'boot' at the front of the car Tata Motors adds 40 patents in the process of developing Nano "Promise is a promise," Rata Tata, chairman, Tata Motors said after unveiling the car at the Auto Expo today.

Excerpt from breakfast with Ratan Tata:

"Cars shown at the expo are production ready. Off-set crash tests and side-on tests yet to be done - but will be done. Warns that rising inflation may result in the price going up in the near future. Car will come out of Singur facility."

Those who criticise the Tata small car are barking up the wrong tree and some of their arguments are elitist and discriminatory.

"India is in serious danger", warned the hugely popular New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman last November in one of his columns. The danger, he said, is from the $2,500-Tata small car which he believes is a highly retrograde initiative from a country capable of incredible innovation.

Why is Friedman so worried about a car that may never be seen on American roads? Because, he is very concerned about the well-being of us Indians! He is worried that we will make an even bigger mess of our road traffic and pollute our way to motoring bliss. He even asked Americans to urge Indians not to imitate the indulgent American way of life, but leapfrog and invent 'cheap-scale', sustainable solutions to big problems like public transport.

On the face of it, the column reads like yet another patronising sermon from a westerner baulking at the thought of third world masses enjoying cheap personal transport the way Americans do. But Friedman, a three times Pulitzer prize winner, is unlikely to harbour any prejudice against India and Indians.

After all, one of his biggest claims to fame is a true 'eureka moment' when it dawned on him that 'the world is flat' - while playing golf in Bangalore! The picture of Bangalore he paints in that book, with gleaming skyscrapers housing development centres for Microsoft, Sun and Oracle adorning his view from the golf course, would easily beat BJP's old 'India Shining' campaign.

Tom Friedman is not alone in deriding the Tata small car.

Ever since Ratan Tata announced his intention to build the cheapest car ever, there has been no let up from a variety of Tata baiters. Some competitors ridiculed the idea and questioned the company's ability to launch a car at such a low price. Green activists and 'concerned' souls, much before it caught Friedman's attention, have been warning us of the terrible fate that awaits us if the small car becomes a reality. Their objections range from vehicle safety to pollution and some of them sound plain elitist in their arguments.

The elite who pretend to be liberals

Last year, a columnist in a major Indian financial newspaper wondered how this country could allow a product like the Tata small car that would make our urban lives messier and all the more tedious. This is one of the biggest complaints against the Tata small car. But the question is, messier and tedious for whom? Obviously the urban rich, for the lives of the urban lower middle class and the poor cannot be made any messier! So, those who cannot afford more expensive cars must stick to their motorbikes so that the rich can continue to enjoy comfortable rides in thin traffic!

Another curious argument is that most of the potential buyers of the Tata car would have no parking space at their homes. So, it is said, they will all start parking their puny little cars by the roadside and clog traffic. A car manufacturer cannot be asked to sell to only those who have their own parking space. It is the potential buyers' problem to find a safe parking space. If they cannot find adequate parking space, or find parking to be very expensive, they will not take out their cars very often or will abstain from buying them in the worst case.

Given our 'highly developed civic sense' and 'ready willingness to obey the rules', it is likely that many of the new small car owners would conveniently park their vehicles where they should not. But, doesn't that happen even now with those who can afford expensive cars? It is the rich who flout traffic rules more blatantly and it is very likely that cars left at 'no parking' areas will be the most expensive ones because they know the traffic policeman will usually not dare to touch the 'sahib's gaadi'.

When that is the case, this argument smacks of blatant elitism. The less affluent cannot be denied the safety and comfort of a cheap four-wheeled vehicle, only because the existing infrastructure will come under further strain. Any move to restrict the number of cars should apply to all vehicles, irrespective of their cost. Even then, it should be ensured that the costs of such measures - like increased road taxes and parking charges - should be proportionate to the owners' ability to pay. Anything else will be discriminatory and simply unfair.

The safety bogey

Another potential fault critics have come up with is safety. "When you lower prices that drastically, how will you be able to meet safety standards?" - Anumita Roychoudhury of the Centre for Science and Environment (CES), one of the most-quoted critics of the Tata car, is reported to have asked. Does she really believe that there are no safety standards for vehicles in India? Even if they are inadequate, are we supposed to believe that a manufacturer from the House of Tatas, would risk its reputation and compromise on safety just to cut costs?

Even if the Tata small car is deemed less safe in terms of passenger injuries in the event of a collision, we need to remember that nobody in their right senses would enter such a car in a drag race! Neither will any sensible driver try to test the car's speed limit on our dangerous highways. Most potential buyers, ordinary middle class buyers, will drive the car to work or take their families for an outing on weekends.

Is the probability of high speed collisions on our city roads, where the average speed is in the range of 20 to 30 kmph, so high? In high-speed highway collisions, will the passengers in other small cars like the Maruti 800, Alto or even a Santro fare any better?

Furthermore, won't the Tata small car be far safer for lower middle class families who now use motorcycles and scooters with only the rider wearing a safety helmet in equally "dangerous" traffic conditions?

Roychoudhury has also argued that the Tata car has "not much chance" of retaining its price tag when safety features like airbags and anti-lock brakes are made standard in all vehicles. It is Ratan Tata who should worry about that, not his detractors. Oh! Shouldn't his critics be happier if the car becomes costlier and beyond the reach of its target customers!

The pollution bogey

R K Pachauri, with all the added gravitas from the Nobel Peace Prize, said the Tata small car is giving him "nightmares" - presumably implying the environmental impact of emissions from more cars on our streets. He is one of the biggest stars of the global warming campaigners, second only to Al Gore, and it is understandable that he gets nightmares. Just when he and his scientists and experts had convinced the sceptics that global warming was for real, here is a company from his own country, which he believes, is hell bent on worsening the problem!

Roychoudhury of CES is worried that "we have a time bomb ticking away" in terms of the environmental impact of hundreds of thousands of Tata small cars that will flood the streets in the coming years. Others are no less appalled or frightened. But, how real is the potential pollution problem posed by the Tata small car?

Ratan Tata has said that the car's emissions will be comparable to two-wheelers on a per passenger basis. That is assuming that the car will always have four passengers, which is unlikely. So, if the car replaces as many two-wheelers on our roads, total emissions will undoubtedly be higher.

But there is a potential upside, too. The Tata small car is said to be twice as fuel-efficient as other small cars. So, if some of the existing and potential owners of other small cars switch to the new car, the increase in overall fuel demand and emissions will be lower.

Again, it is not that millions of Tata small cars will be rolled out every year. Tata Motors' current capacity is 250,000 units per year, which is less than a quarter of the total cars produced in the country. In the long run, yes, the number of Tata small cars on our roads could be in millions. But, the number of other small car models sold over a period of as many years will also run into millions. Then, why single out the Tata car for criticism?

The Tata small car will definitely increase the pace of passenger car sales. But, the incremental addition to total car sales may not be as high as it is being made out to be. On balance, potential emissions are not the "nightmare" critics want us to believe.

The traffic chaos bogey

More cars on roads definitely mean more congestion. But, will the Tata small car make it that worse as some fear? It is estimated that there are over 12 million vehicles in India - four wheelers and above. Around a million are being added every year, and the additions will only increase. If Tata Motors sells as much as it can produce, we will see 250,000 cars being added every year. By the time the company reaches full capacity, at the earliest in 2009-10, total number of vehicles will be around 15 million. In percentage terms, the Tata small cars will constitute less than 2 per cent of total vehicles on our roads. Even if the company doubles its capacity, it will still be less than 4 per cent. Is that a big problem?

Our roads are congested in urban areas, not so much in semi-urban and rural areas. It is likely that a substantial number of Tata small cars will be sold in areas where the road traffic is not that bad. So, should the village aam aadmi also be denied a cheap personal vehicle?

Even if the Tata small cars create utter traffic chaos in our cities, it may be a blessing in disguise. The transport infrastructure in our cities is pathetic probably because our netas never have to suffer traffic blocks. The big shots, who take all the decisions, have police vehicles clearing the way for them.

The lesser minions, who lobby to influence the decisions, are usually chauffeured around and hence commuting is less tedious for them. So, to take a highly charitable view on our netas, it is possible that they are really not aware of the problems. When we protest loudly, they will agree to 'look into the matter', without really grasping the enormity of the problem and hence cannot be blamed for forgetting the promise.

But, they will grasp the problem better and will be forced to 'look into it' if their cars cannot move. For them to roll down their windows and see reality, the traffic should become so bad that even police vehicles cannot clear the way. Then they will do something about our roads or let the private sector do it.

I am all for mass transport systems - metro rail systems, high capacity buses on dedicated lanes and so on - for our cities. Many commuters would prefer public transport to driving their own cars, provided they are safe, comfortable and reliable. There is no doubt that, in the not too distant future, a majority of city dwellers will switch to public transport from cars. Because it will be impossible to take out the cars daily and our public transport systems would have improved beyond recognition by then.

But, that will be a gradual transition. All we can do is to exert pressure to speed up the process, and that is what all the activists railing against the Tata small car should be doing. Until we have better public transport, commuters would prefer personal transport - if they can afford it - and there will be huge demand for personal vehicles. You cannot fault a business for trying to meet market demand, in a supposedly liberalised economy. If the Tatas had not done it, somebody else would have. Bajaj already has a prototype ready!

All those who are arguing against the Tata small car are barking up the wrong tree!

Tata Motors Ltd, India's top vehicle maker, on Thursday unveiled the world's cheapest car, the Nano, which will be priced at Rs 100,000 ($2,500). Following are comments on the car from industry executives and people at the Auto Expo in New Delhi, where it was unveiled.

JAGDISH KHATTAR, FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR, MARUTI SUZUKI: "The car is good to look at. There is a space in the market between two-wheelers and the 800 (Maruti's small car). It will be a success if they deliver what they promised. And I see no reason why they can't."

RAMESH SURI, CHAIRMAN, SUBROS: "The best thing is that they have kept the price at levels promised at concept stage. It is good to look at. I can't say about the driving experience as I have not taken a trial."

SHINZO NAKANISHI, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD (speaking before the unveiling): "We cannot make a cheaper car. We don't know how to make a 1-lakh car unless we sacrifice something. We won't go below the 800 in our product line-up." Maruti Suzuki's mini 800, priced at nearly double the Tata car, was the cheapest in the market. Asked about the impact of the Tata car on Maruti's sales, Nakanishi said: "There may be some impact."

ANAND MAHINDRA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA LTD (speaking before the unveiling): "I think it's a moment of history and I'm delighted an Indian company is leading the way."

VENU SRINIVASAN, CHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR, TVS MOTOR CO: "It is fantastic, outstanding engineering. It helps redefine the sector in the country. It has established new grounds."

P SAM, GROUP HEAD, MARKETING AND SALES, YAMAHA MOTOR INDIA SALES PVT LTD: "The 1-lakh-rupee car is not going to impact our potential customers. Our customers would buy our products for the sheer joy of riding."

ONKAR KANWAR, APOLLO TYRES LTD: "I congratulate Tata. He has delivered what he promised."

ASHOK SINGH, CONSTABLE, DELHI POLICE: "It is a dream come true. I look forward to buying that car. My wife will be really happy."

G COLQUHOUN, READER IN MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, LIVERPOOL: "This is an important step for Asian markets. I look forward to this car being introduced in European markets."

Ratan Tata today delivered on the promise he made four years ago with the launch of the "people's car", even if buyers will have to fork out a little more than the much-talked about Rs 1 lakh price tag for the basic model.

They will have to pay an additional 12.5 per cent value added tax, transportation cost and an insurance charge. But that will still be about half the cheapest car in today's market, the 25-year old model from rival Maruti Suzuki.

Christened Tata Nano, the four-seater will be available in the market by the second half of this financial year in three variants, including one with an air-conditioner.

Tata Nano will have a 623 cc/33 bhp rear-mounted petrol engine and the "boot" (storage space) in the front. The car will be sold with a four-speed manual transmission, but work is on for an automatic transmission as also for a diesel engine.

Tata said, after he unveiled the car at the Auto Expo in New Delhi.

Tough price

Tata Motors has spent Rs 1,500-1,700 crore for this car project, including the proposed plant in Singur in West Bengal.

Tata pointed out that while the Rs 1 lakh price tag was given by the media, he decided to take on the challenge.

He hinted that inflation could make it difficult to maintain the price tag. "My greatest fear is inflation. With steel and tyre prices going up we can't hold the price which we have held emotionally," he explained.

350,000 cars per year

Tata said that the initial target production volume would be 250,000 cars per annum on two shifts, expandable to 350,000 per annum on three shifts.

In earlier media interviews, Ratan Tata talked about a one million production target by 2010. A similar indication has been given to component suppliers during price negotiations.

Over 500 engineers worked on the car for four years. The company has already applied for 34 patents so far.

'Beating Maruti 800'

Benchmarking the compact but curvy Nano against Maruti 800, Tata said his new car was 8 per cent smaller than the Maruti 800 on the outside, but 18 per cent more spacious inside.

The Nano is expected to give a fuel economy of 20 km per litre or 50 miles a gallon.

Allaying fears that the car would not meet emission and safety standards, Tata said the Nano met Bharat Stage III emission requirements and was set to pass the Euro IV norms as well.

He said the car had cleared the frontal crash test and would undergo the side and offset crash tests required by European standards.

Tata explained that construction of the production facility in Singur was delayed due to flooding in the area and that Tata Motors was trying to "crash the time" to the extent possible.

Only 10 years ago, India's Tata Motors Ltd unveiled its first car, a hatchback that established the truck maker's credentials as a carmaker.

On Thursday, the $7.8 billion company unveils its boldest initiative yet, a car that will sell for just $2,500, less than half the cheapest car on the market.

Dubbed the 'People's Car', it will determine Tata's place in the global automotive arena, where the battle is increasingly being fought in emerging economies such as India, China and Russia.

The new model, using re-engineered plastics and modern adhesives, is a far cry from the premium Jaguar and Land Rover brands Tata is negotiating to acquire from Ford Motor Co.

Tata Motors' drive to produce a cheap, no-nonsense, small car was born from close observation of a local market where millions often ferry families of four, plus baggage, on motorbikes and scooters.

Critics initially derided Tata's 100,000 rupee, or 1 lakh, price target, more so as oil and steel prices rocketed. But global carmakers have taken note and are scurrying for their own versions to meet growing environmental and cost concerns.

"The product has rightfully gained a lot of international attention," said Mohit Arora, managing director for India at research firm J.D. Power Asia-Pacific, who will fly in from Singapore to see the car being unveiled by Chairman Ratan Tata.

"It's a big, big deal for Tata Motors, and will be recorded in history books, whether or not it does well."

Volkswagen, Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co and Fiat have since said they are looking to build low-cost cars. And the Nissan Motor Co and Renault alliance, which has done well with its no-frills Logan sedan, is developing a $3,000 car with Bajaj Auto Ltd, a local Tata rival.

"Scepticism has given way to imitation," said Ashutosh Goel, auto analyst at Edelweiss Securities.

"Every global car maker has realised the need to be in the emerging markets with a model like this for mass volumes, if not at 100,000 rupees, then perhaps at 150,000 rupees," he said.

Nostalgia Wave The 'People's Car' hits the market at a time when oil prices are near $100 a barrel, a move to fuel-efficient "green" cars is gaining momentum, and drivers wallow in nostalgia with the revival of the Fiat 500 'Cinquecento' and BMW's Mini.

In Italy, the cheap and efficient Fiat 500 replaced the scooter for millions, and its 2007 relaunch won a warm response.

In India, the mini Maruti 800, made by a venture of the government and Japan's Suzuki Motor, played a similar role in the 1980s, offering a modern alternative to the limited options available.

Today, helped by rising middle-class incomes, small cars, led by models such as Maruti's Alto and the Hyundai Santro, make up more than two-thirds of a domestic car market that should nearly double to 2 million units a year by 2010.

"Small cars have always been popular in India, even when oil prices were low," said Ashvin Chotai, Asian auto analyst based in London, who will be at Thursday's unveiling in New Delhi.

"Globally, higher oil prices are accelerating a shift towards compact and small cars, and regulatory developments such as C02 standards in Europe, and congestion and parking constraints are reinforcing it," he said, adding this was not a short-lived fad.

But environmentalists' worry that a car so cheap could be more damaging, adding more pollution and increasing India's dependence on oil imports.

Anumita Roychoudhury, at the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi, has said the shift to greater car ownership could be a "timebomb ticking away".

"When you lower the price that drastically, how will you be able to meet safety and emissions standards?" she told The Observer newspaper, adding, to Reuters: "It's just not sustainable, whether from an environmental point of view or in terms of congestion."

Tata, which has said the 4-seater 'People's Car' will have a 600cc engine, will have an initial production run of 250,000 units. It expects eventual annual demand of 1 million cars, which may be assembled by dealers or satellite units.

Tata Motors may also export the car, which would probably sell well in Africa and South and Central America, Chotai said.

India Advantage

With car ownership in India at just 8 per 1,000, there is huge potential to upgrade two-wheeler owners, who bought about 7 million bikes and scooters in 2006/07. An entry-level motorbike costs 35,000-40,000 rupees.

Already, South Korea's Hyundai, which will have the capacity to make 600,000 cars annually, has made India a small car production hub, and Suzuki is increasing its capacity to 1 million units a year.

They will be closely watching reactions to the Tata car.

"The quality of the initial launch must meet minimum expectations of the global industry, otherwise the whole project could be discredited," Chotai said.

But even a thumping success will not have all carmakers rushing to build low-cost models.

"The need for an affordable product exists across markets, but we seldom see a mass shift downward," Arora said, pointing to healthy sales of premium brands in India's booming economy.

Still, Tata is best placed to deliver a small, practical and affordable car.

"If Tata can't develop and produce a car at a price of less than $3,000, it's very unlikely any global company will be able to do it," Chotai said, pointing to India's low production costs, cheaper wages and competitive components sourcing.

"And if the vehicle concept can't work in India, it's extremely unlikely to work in any other part of the world."

The international media toasted the unveiling of the Nano with a mixture of adulation for Tata's achievement in producing the world's cheapest car and nagging concern over what it could mean for the environment and India's road congestion.

''Many were surprised by the Nano 's natty styling, confounding pre-launch predictions that a car at that price would be little more than 'a super-charged autorickshaw' or 'two motorcycles joined at the hip'," Peter Foster and Pallavi Malhotra wrote on London's Daily Telegraph website. The writers also highlighted protests from environmentalists on the car's likely impact on India's carbon footprint.

But most writers saw the revolutionary potential of the ultra-cheap car. Writing on the website of the Times , London, Ashling O'Connor said it was set to transform the concept of travel for the masses in India and in poorer parts of the world. "This is the People's Car, the world's cheapest car at a starting price of Rs 100,000 ($2,500) or the equivalent of a DVD player in a Lexus,'' he wrote.

Many writers saw the launch of Nano as part of India's growth story. In the Forbes website, Ruth David wrote, ''As Indians become wealthier, with the economy registering growth rates of around 9% for the third consecutive year now, Tata Motors is hoping its ambitious new launch will tap into the rising ranks of consumers.''

The Economist called the car ''a product of impatience and chutzpah''. An unsigned piece on its website said, ''Instead of waiting for the great swell of prosperity in India and elsewhere to create millions of customers for his company's products, Mr Tata has decided to wade out further than any one has gone before to bring a car to them.''

The whole buzz that the Tata one-lakh car Nano may face problems in attracting buyers in the Western world may not be correct. The people's car, Nano, has far exceeded the expectations of the foreign media and mediapersons ET spoke to.

They believe it would make automobile history. Though many of them failed to get a closer look at the car that was launched by Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata at the Auto Expo on Thursday, they feel that it would attract a lot of foreign buyers as it's cheap, happening and smart.

"It's a winner. It's a significant step by the Tata Group in technology advancement and performance. It would do well in the European and North American markets because of its cute looks and low price. The car stands out due to its classic clean lines," says Jesse Snyder, executive editor, Automotive News Europe, a Germany-based journal.

Overseas mediapersons feel it's a revolution in the motoring world. "It's astonishing what the Tatas have achieved for one lakh. Nano looks fantastic and sounds promising. Small family people would go for this as it's compact and safe," says UK-based Car Magazine international editor John Sootheran.

"It's far better than what I expected," says US-based NewsWeek Magazine reporter Jason Overdorf. "It's a world-class innovation that has come from India. People residing in large cities of Europe and also in the developing countries would buy this car as it's affordable," he added.

Foreign mediapersons believe that Nano has the ability to compete with motorcycles as it has a distinctive look and is instantly recognisable.

Since Nano is expected to replace many two-wheelers once it's in the market, some observers feared that this would enhance emissions and traffic congestions on the Indian roads. Countering this, Mr Tata repeatedly emphasised that Nano would be a proper car with world-class safety standards. "I assure that people can have a sound sleep now barring the misconception that Nano would lead to extra emissions," said Mr Tata.

It was when Mr Tata announced the price that foreign journalists cheered, with whoops and calls of 'who whoo whoo'. Explained one: "This will put the Japanese who have cocked a snook at all of us, US and European car makers in their place!"

Added a Delhi-based international news agency reporter: "My budget in Canada for a car was usually C$600, for which I could always only get a second hand car! This is certainly within my budget."

"It's a cute, nice looking car and I would like to drive it," she said, adding: "This is an indication of an Indian CEO taking his leadership seriously and acting on it." This was in reference to the car being more environment-friendly. Said another: "This will create a whole new segment for cars and engineering."

The German journalist-photographer duo, whose publication is running a comparison between the Detroit Auto Show with the desi event, were overwhelmed by the numbers, crowds and the whole emotional atmosphere. "No, we have never seen anything like this," the photographer said, before clambering onto a chair to shoot her pictures.

In spite of what Ratan Tata might say, Sunita Narain and RK Pachauri would have spent an uneasy night. The prospect of hundreds and thousands of Nanos trundling down the roads of various Indian cities spewing carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide would have been nightmarish for them.

Are their worries justified? Not really, if the evidence and maths are taken into consideration. But that is getting ahead of the story.

For some experts, Tata Nano is actually a good thing. After all, had the Tata Nano not come along, there would have been another car to take its place.

"India is a growing economy and so people will buy cars. It is a good thing that they will perhaps be buying a smaller car which is complying with more stringent norms rather than a much larger car or a two-wheeler that follows less stringent norms," says Krish Krishnan, managing director, Green Ventures, a venture fund that invests in green initiatives. Mr Krishnan has been an entrepreneur in sustainable environment development.

But let us get to the heart of the argument and look at it clinically. After all, how much pollution will the Nano cause? Automobiles produce many pollutants: carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons and nitrous oxides. To make things simple, all of these have to be converted into equivalent amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) — the Mr Evil of environment today.

Now Euro IV compliant cars, which the Tata Nano is, produce one (1) gramme of carbon monoxide and 0.08 gramme of nitrous oxide. To convert them into CO2 equivalent, a conversion factor recommended by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) of which Mr Pachauri is chairman, is applied. It is 3 for carbon monoxide and 310 for nitrous oxide. Once all the maths is done, we get 30 grammes per kilometre.

So each time the Tata Nano moves a kilometre, it will release 30 grammes of CO2 equivalent material into the atmosphere. This is 40% less than what all others cars produce (50 grammes/kilometre or more) — and there are more than 5 million cars in India today. But let us take the argument into a zone where the naysayers would be comfortable: on the total amount of CO2 equivalent that Tata Nanos will produce over the next five years. This involves a bit of some assumptions.

So assume that Tata will from the next year sell 1,00,000 cars a year for five years and reach a total of 5,00,000 - half the size Mr Tata thinks a car at one-lakh price point may sell. Now let us take a range that the Tata Nano runs between 1,000 kilometres and 8,000 kilometres a year. If all those half-a-million cars run 1,000 kilometres then the total CO2 produced will be 15,000 tonnes annually.

If they all run 8,000 kilometres then the total CO2 equivalent will be 1,20,000 tonnes. In reality, the figure should be closer to 25-30,000 tonnes because our assumptions of car sales and annual mileage are on the higher side.

So are these numbers large? Taking the worst case - 5,00,000 on roads and each running 8,000 kilometres annually - the total CO2 equivalent will be less than 8% of India's total CO2 emission. And if we take a more realistic assumption then it will be less than 1% of India's total CO2 emission. Environment guys would do well to go after the other 99%.

It was an unlikely venue for the launch of a revolution. The gleaming lights, the massive stage, the smell of freshly minted cars, leggy lasses, popping flashbulbs, video cameras, cables feeding television channels across the world… the stage seemed set for a rock concert.

As Ratan Tata stepped onscreen via a 3-D hologram in a virtual cameo to narrate the journey of man’s romance with mobility, he looked every bit the rock star, even if in formals. A minute later, when Tata, in real flesh and blood, drove on to the stage to a standing ovation, it was clear that Indian innovation had shifted to a higher orbit on January 10. The 624cc four-seater Tata Nano promises to herald a revolution that will change the way India moves.

Priced at $2,500 or Rs 1 lakh at the dealer end, the car is the cheapest fourwheeler in the world. The next cheapest car would be the Chinese QQ3, which costs $5,000 (Rs 2 lakh). Indexed for consumer price inflation, the Nano is less than half the price of the 1983 Maruti 800, which was Rs 48,000.

A quick, back-of-the-envelope indexation for inflation shows that if the Maruti 800 had been launched today, it would have been priced at Rs 2,67,000. Consider the arithmetic of the proposition. At a rate of interest of around 12 per cent, the EMI or equated monthly instalment for the Nano could range between Rs 2,200 per month for a five-year loan and a little over Rs 3,200 for a three-year loan.

At over 20 km per litre of petrol, the car would have an operating cost of Rs 2.5 per km, which is well worth the safety of travelling on four wheels and the pride of personal mobility.

And you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the potential. Growing at 9 per cent, India’s GDP is over a trillion dollars (Rs 40 lakh crore), delivering an average per capita income of $1,000 (Rs 40,000). The launch of the Nano is timed to perfection. Consider the synchronisation with the emergence of India as a manufacturing centre that helped them cut costs, along with a highgrowth market with a scaleable potential.

One doesn’t have to rely solely on the market share occupied by Maruti. Currently, 80 lakh two-wheelers, 13 lakh cars and 6 lakh three-wheelers are sold in India every year. Add 5 lakh used car sales. Hypothetically, each of these buyers is a potential customer. At the price the Nano is being offered, there could be a new set of users—for instance, fuel-guzzling old taxis or unstable three-wheel rickshaws.

This proposition that prompted Tata to think about a people’s car: Typically, the trigger was a social concern. On a wet August night in 2003 Mumbai, when Tata was driving back home from his office Bombay House in Flora Fountain, he saw a young couple travelling with their two children on a two-wheeler and was struck by the enormous risks of riding on a wet road.

The thought of a small car germinated in his mind and a week later, on a visit to the Tata Motors plant in Pune, he shared his thoughts with MD Ravi Kant. Instinctively, his first query was whether the two-wheeled scooter could be made safe. “The first doodles,” in Tata’s words, “were sketches of a two-wheeler with a bar around it and some weather-proofing.”

Thereafter, a core team of 500 (including those in charge of setting up the plant) worked on the concept for four years. Indeed the first thoughts centered on a door-less four-seater that was more a quadricycle than a car.

The design envisaged the use of plastic weather-proofing of the kind seen in rickshaws and contemplated using new materials. But somewhere down the line, the ideas ran into a conflict with Tata’s brief. It was simple: it would seat four, have a low operating cost and meet all safety and emission standards. The team dumped the nascent design and focused on the process of building what would be a car differently.

As they worked on Project X, affectionately referred to as “chhota baba”, the market environment changed considerably. Product design and innovation cannot happen in a vacuum. It is not just the risk of competitors breaking the queue, there is also the changing cost structure.

For instance, in the last five years, crude prices have shot up—from $20 (Rs 800) per barrel to $100 (Rs 4,000)—and so has the cost of steel. With rising fuel and material costs, the need for a light, fuel-efficient car couldn’t be over emphasised. Being green was no longer just fashionable cultural liberalism, but made sound economic sense too.

All along, the competition, including Japanese and Korean giants, ostensibly masters of efficient design and innovative pricing, scoffed at the very proposition of a car that cost a lakh of rupees. Can’t be done, they said. Osama Suzuki, president, Suzuki Motors, jokingly speculated that “it would be a three-wheeler or a stepney”.

Tata, who wears his Indian identity as proudly and prominently as the Titan watch on his wrist, was confident that his team could make it possible. “Barriers to innovation,” he said, “were usually in the mind.”

He believed that there was room at the base price and with the skills of Indians, known for engineering cost-effective solutions, it could be done.

Maruti, which has 210 vendors and over 1,000 sub-vendors, is said to build the 800 at around Rs 1,10,000. So on the face of it, a smaller engine, a lighter build and reengineering could deliver a cheaper car for the Tatas.

When Tata invited his core team led by Kant and Girish Wagh on stage at the launch, it was as much a salute to Indian skills as it was a riposte to those who had said it couldn’t be done.

The Nano could not just change the way India will move, but also move the world to change the way it views Indian capabilities.

The car is not revolutionary in its looks or in the materials used. As far as the looks are concerned, it leans towards the Benz’s Smart, but the similarity ends there. The Nano is very, very Indian. What is revolutionary is the thinking, the philosophy behind the design. It has all been done before, but the elegance of the packaging makes it such a big draw.

The architecture—for instance, the placement of the engine below the rear seat—delivers cost and operational efficiency. As Tata points out, “The rear passenger seat is on the engine, so you save space; the engine is driving the wheels directly so you save engineering for the drive; you save the space in the bonnet and construction helps keep the costs down but yet meets safety standards.”

The result is dramatic in terms of utility and costs. The location of the engine also enabled the designers to give the car a rakish face that is bound to attract the youth as much as the running cost will.

Along the way, the vendors, which include Bosch for powering the car, Lumax for lights, Sona for steering, Shriram and Ricoh, were coaxed, corralled and challenged by Kant to cut costs.

As he told a vendor at a meeting at the company’s technical centre, “If this car clicks, it will be as much your success as ours.”

The vendors took up the challenge and reengineered their own products and thereby brought down costs by 15 per cent—and in some cases, even more. Indeed, Tata quipped that now when he asks his team if a certain element could be altered, “they say that would be so many rupees more and silence me”.

Indeed the Nano—which means small in Parsi-Gujarati—turns out to be a font of innovation, generating as many as 40 new patents for Tata Motors.

It wasn’t all smooth-sailing; there were hiccups. For instance, they had originally planned to launch a continuously variable transmission system on the lines of gearless scooters, but Tata was not satisfied and they opted for a conventional gear kit drawn from the home grown Ace.

Auto component makers have played a major role in the creation of Nano, which has dominated the Auto Expo 2008. Vendor companies, that are supplying parts to the car, consider it a matter of pride to be associated with the world’s cheapest car.

“Have you seen the response at Auto Expo? It’s phenomenal! Roads are clogged in the neighbouring towns of Delhi because people are arriving in droves to see Tata Nano. When Tata Motors launched Indica, they were entering a segment that already existed. But with Nano, they are meeting the needs of the masses and creating a new benchmark in the industry,” said Sona Koyo Steering Systems’ CMD Surinder Kapur.

He added that since the car has a rear engine, it resulted in his company inventing a steering column which is low-cost and light, and has successfully passed all frontal collision tests.

While for some it meant lower prices, for others it simply meant smaller components and meeting an engineering challenge. Said Rico Auto’s MD Arvind Kapur, whose company has supplied engine head block to the People’s Car: “It was the ultimate challenge for the entire manufacturing and engineering industry. It wasn’t about making a low-cost component. It was about being able to design the products. It was about reducing the size of the engine and yet meeting safety norms. We have also shown a lot of faith besides sinking in money by setting up a plant in Singur despite various hurdles.”

For the Rane Group, setting up a dedicated facility to supply steering gears, columns and seat belts at Singur was a smaller challenge than meeting the project specifications. “Despite the problems of cost and innovating smaller castings and dyes to produce components for Nano, we took up the challenge and created many path-breaking practices to suit Tata Motors’ requirements. It was difficult initially, but the setting up of the Singur facility helped us develop such products,” said Rane Group chairman L Ganesh.

There were reservations and scepticism initially over the possibility of making such a product, admitted Lumax Group’s CMD DK Jain. “But the sheer determination of Ratan Tata increased our confidence. In two years, the prototype was out, and it made us realise that there is a strong vision behind the product, prompting us to follow the path and design products matching requirements both in terms of pricing and quality,” he added.

Agreed Nirmal Minda of NK Minda Group, which supplied electric switches for the car: “I never had any reservations about the car. It was all about streamlining the components manufacturing process and bringing in standardisation.”

President of Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association and Asahi Glass CMD Sanjay Labroo said: “I had full confidence in the project as the decades-long relationship with the Tata Group and its strong ethos had moulded us to bring out the product at their cost and quality.”

For Tata Motors, convincing vendors was a challenge. According to Girish Wagh, who led the team that designed Nano, Tata Motors started convincing vendors two years ago to include them in the development of the car. To overcome their resistance, the company decided to put its money where its mouth was.

“To get people on board, we had to do something first so they would believe we were serious,” he said. “For instance, we made engines with internally developed engine management system, which sent out a signal to both Bosch and Siemens that we were serious about the project. They were both in the race, but in the end Bosch won.”

Landmark on wheels

Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 - The Washington Post

For millions of people in the developing world, Tata Motors' new $2,500 four-door subcompact - the world's cheapest car may yield a transportation revolution as big as Henry Ford's Model T. The company will, however, not say how the price was kept so low on the basic version and won't say how much the luxury Nano will cost until it hits showrooms toward the end of this year. The company also refused to let reporters sit in the car, let alone drive it.

A snub-nosed wonder

Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 - The Sydney Morning Herald

INDIA'S TATA Group unveiled on Thursday the world's cheapest car costing $2,predictions the no-frills vehicle could revolutionise how millions in India and elsewhere travel. The four-door: five-seat sportylooking can which defied prelaunch predictions that it would be little more than a "motorised bullock cart on wheels", is due to hit the roads later this year at just Rs 100,000, excluding tax, after the Tata Group cut costs to the bone. The Nano has a two-cylinder 623 cc, rear-mounted engine with a top speed of 105 kms an hour The theme from Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey played as Tata unveiled the snub-nosed Nano -- so called to appear both high-tech and small - to cheers and applause at the annual Delhi car show.

Another Indian icon

Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 -The New York Times

For MILLIONS of people in the developing world, Tata Motors' new $2,500 four-door subcompact may yield a transportation revolution as big as Henry Ford's Model T. The potential impact of Tata's Nano has given environmentalists nightmares, with visions of the tiny cars clogging India's already-choked roads and collectively spewing millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air Industry analysts, however, say the car may soon deliver to India and the rest of the developing world unprecedented mobility "It is a potentially gigantic development if it delivers what has been promised," said John Casesa, managing partner for the Casesa Shapiro Group, a New York-based auto industry financial advisory firm.

Another The no-frill smart car

Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 - The Guardian

It HAS no radio, no boot, no airbag, no passenger-side mirror and just one long windscreen wiper. And if you want air-conditioning to deal with India's summer heat you'll have to buy the deluxe version. India's Tata Group on Thursday pulled the covers off the world's cheapest car, the Nano, which goes on sale later this year with a price tag of Rs 100,000 £1,260 - to bring motoring to the country's billion-strong masses.

For 70-year-old Ratan Tata, the group's chairman, the launch of the Nano is a landmark in transport comparable to the first powered flight by the Wright brothers, or the first moonshot. Like a modern-day version of Henry Ford, Tata's idea of an affordable car that is light and simple, yet made from high-quality materials. The result is a jelly bean shaped vehicle into which five adults can squeeze. The basic model makes no concession to luxury: its price has been kept low by using more plastic than steel, and swapping hi-tech glue for traditional welding. Rival manufacturers had questioned whether the car would meet safety standards, especially if the company plans to export such models to Europe.

Tata have been very smart and have studied the market very carefully, said Abdul Majeed, of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Like Ford's Model T, which drove the American motor boom in the early 20th century, Tata will give the Indian consumer a tough, easy to drive, cheap to maintain and, most of all, affordable car.

Tata's Nano defies expectations

Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 - The Times

It IS 3 metres long, seats four comfortably or five at a squeeze, does 65mph and aims to revolutionise travel for millions. The "People's Car" is also the cheapest in the world at Rs 100,000 rupees (£1,300) - the same price as the DVD player in a Lexus. The car is the culmination of five years' research and input from across the world, including Italy and Germany. But it was designed and made in India, defying expectations that a company best known for its elephantine lorries could manufacture a cutting-edge passenger product.

Environment worry of evolution?

Extracts from international publications published in Hindustan Times on 12th January, 2008 - The Independent

IT'S EITHER the start of a people’s evolution of the trigger for social and environmental headaches across the globe. The Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, was unveiled with great fan fare in the Indian capital on Thursday amid bright lights and blaring music. Designed to put a stop to a family of four travelling on a scooter, the new model from Tata Motors – and more importantly its price tag of ?1,277 – should make motoring affordable for a new class of consumer in the developing world. But green activists predict trouble ahead for countries that already have inadequate infrastructures and CO2 emissions. Tony Bosworth, from Friends of the Earth UK, said “The Tata Nano makes motoring cheaper and growing car sales in India will lead to big rises in carbon dioxide emissions. This is another blow to efforts to tackle global climate change. But per-person emissions will still be much higher in the West. Our priority must be to increase efforts to cut our own emissions and to show the rest of the world how to develop a low-carbon economy Though Tata talked of helping solve the transportation needs of rural Indians with his now car, it seems his vehicle is targeted at the country's newly aspirational middle class.

Others Said No, He Says Nano: Ratan Tata Drives The One-Lakh Talk, Pulls Off A One In A Billion Coup

New Delhi: Outside, the eager crowd reminds you of a cricket stadium before an ODI game. Big securitymen form an uncompromising barricade with a thick rope. Finally, they see reason and relent.

Once inside, the conduct of the guards is easier to understand. There are already enough people inside to make a politician happy, if he was delivering an election speech. Standing out in the crowd is a bored leggy blonde in a shimmering silver dress leaning by a bright red car. At the moment, few, if any, are looking at her.

For what everybody has gathered to see at Hall No 11 in Pragati Maidan is not just another small car. They come to see hope emerge on wheels. For this ‘lakhtakia' car, as the man on the street has already named it, has enabled millions to dream of a life beyond the motorbike. And, to the discerning observer, has the potential of changing the demography of car ownership in India.

As Ratan Tata himself would say later in the day, it was the image of a lower-middle-class man on a scooter — the elder kid standing in front of the driver-father and the wife riding pillion with a baby on her lap — that kept playing on his mind. "Why can't this family own a car?" Tata's Rs 1 lakh car project was the outcome of that nagging image that kept tugging at his soul. Yet sceptics had wondered disbelievingly, even laughed, at his daring and passion. The Thursday launch was the moment of truth.

In the hall, plenty of firangs float around in dark suits lugging laptops. The seats are all taken. The stage is huge. The lights are low. And the floor has a blue-green tinge. You almost expect a Bollywood troupe to jump out and boogie to foot-stomping tracks.

None of that. First, a short, crisp recorded speech of Tata is played on a screen. He praises his colleagues, takes a crack at detractors such as the Suzuki boss who had predicted in 2006 that the car wasn't possible. Thundering applause comes when Tata says the car has ample safety features. And that it will be environment-friendly.

Then the curtain rises. As he drives on to the stage in a cream Nano, the audience gasps. First impression: small is beautiful. "Some people said that we should call it a ‘Buddha car', while others said that we should call it ‘Mamata' or ‘Despite Mamata'. We decided we will call it ‘Nano'," says Tata, drawing laughter from the crowd. "But then, since it is high-tech and small, we called it Nano." Then he adds: "The car will be priced at Rs 1 lakh. A promise is a promise."

Big wow for small car

New Delhi: After talking to those who turned up on the first day for a dekko, one feels that the car is like a multi-layered movie that means different things to different people. Young Mohit Saluja's businessman father has three cars, including a Honda Civic.

But he has already fallen for the cool and cute toy. "It could be an alternative bike for guys like me. These days college-going kids pester parents for a car. This is a car they can afford to gift to their kids," he says.

Neel Kamal takes a bus to her office in Supreme Court. "I never thought we could afford a second car. But this is affordable and it gives good mileage. So one can think about it," she says.

There are others—some with three, even four cars, who now want a Nano. Simply because they have the money to indulge. Faridabad car dealer Gulshan Kharbanda feels the car will fetch a decent premium of at least Rs 20,000 in its initial phase. Mohan Singh, a staffer at the Crafts Museum, is convinced the car is made for him. "I have a Pulsar bike which cost Rs 62,500. I'll sell it and buy this car because the family will be able to travel together in it. It's mileage is also good, so running costs wouldn't be high."

But for Manu Lal, a migrant from Bihar's Motihari district, the ‘lakhtakiya' car is still a bridge too far. "I am an electrician. I earn Rs 6,000 a month. I am barely able to send anything back home. A cycle is OK. But to spend Rs 1 lakh is like Mungeri Lal ke haseen sapne."

Nano: Dictionary meaning, one billionth of a unit