One Lakh Car - Reations from Industry.

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,
"We cannot make a cheaper car. We don't know how to make a Rs 1 lakh car unless we sacrifice something. We won't go below the 800 in our product line-up, but this car may impact some of our Maruti 800 sales"

Anand Mahindra, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd,
"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 & Sales, Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt Ltd,
"The Rs 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, Delhi Police Constable,
"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."

Karan Agrawal,
" Tata Nano is value for money. At this price you cannot ask anything else. It is going to be a big hit."

Tata Nano - Launched.

Exclusive Report - One Lakh Car is a realty!

Mr. Ratan Tata unveiled Rs 1 lakh car, 'Nano' at the 9th Auto Expo Show in Delhi. With this a new segment is created in the auto industry. Tata Motors now offer from trains to trucks to even the most affordable car of the world!

"That's what drove me -- a man on a two-wheeler with a child standing in front, his wife sitting behind, add to that the wet roads - a family in potential danger," Mr. Tata wrote on the company website.

''Since, promise is a promise the standard dealer version will cost Rs 1 lakh,'' said Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata. He also said that that the car is eight per cent smaller bumper to bumper, than the Maruti 800 but at the same time 21 per cent larger in its interiors and can sit up to four people. Talking about the safety of the car, Tata said, ‘‘the car has passed the full-frontal crash and the side impact crash''.

The car will be available in many variants, which will include one standard version and two deluxe versions with AC.

Small Wonders - features:

* 624 cc engine

* Mileage of 20 kilometers per liter

* Passed full frontal crash test, the offset and side-crash test

* Legroom is expected to be 21 pc more than Maruti 800.

* The car meets the Bharat 3 (Euro 4) emission standards.

* The car that will come in two variants - AC and non-AC

* Will comes a dealer price of Rs one lakh plus VAT and transport charges.

* Commercial launch in mid 2008-09

Suppliers:

BOSCH - Alternator; Brakes; Fuel injection system; Ignition system. LUMAX AUTOMOTIVE - Headlamps. RICO AUTO - Engine blocks. NK MINDA - Switches; horns. SONA GROUP - Steering columns. GABRIEL - Suspensions. KINETIC ENGINEERING - Gears. FEDERAL-MOGUL GOETZEE - Engine pistons. JK TYRES - 12-inch tyres.

What is missing in the car apart from a reasonable luggage space is power steering. The car also said to have one wiper instead of the customary two.

Tata Motors has gone all out to make sure Ratan Tata's plan of a rupees one lakh car is fulfilled.

Surely, owning a four wheeler has now become affordable in India.

The People's Car!!!

The people's car is all set to be displayed on Jan 10th 2008, in The Delhi Auto Expo. This is Mr. Ratan Tata's dream project.

The vision of the car is to fill the gap between two wheelers and lowest priced four wheeler. The possibility of manufacturing a car for one lakh rupees has already been denied by the likes of Mr. Jagdish Khattar, the recently retired MD of Maruti Udyog. Biggies like Honda, Suzuki, Toyota and Hyundai still lives in the denial of possibility of a rupees one lakh car.

But, in a recent interview to the McKinsey Quarterly, Mr. Ratan Tata said: “If you could position an all-weather car that was not a glorified scooter or a stripped down car, then I believe there would be market potential for one million cars a year.”

And Tatas have bigger plans. Even before the launch of the car, Tata motors has submitted an application to Thailand’s Board of Investment (BoI) for an investment of around Rs 800-900 crore in Thailand for the same project. Now, that is what you call an aggressive strategy! The company already has a good presence in Thailand with its Ace, a one ton mini-truck. This would help company to further leverage its presence in the asian market.

Advertising Agency: The Diwan Arun Nanda-promoted Rediffusion has managed to bag the project. The fight was between the three Tata Motor agencies, the Piyush Pandey led O&M, Anil Kapoor's FCB Ulka and Mr Nanda's Rediffusion. Both O&M and Rediff are WPP agencies, while FCB Ulka is 100% Omnicom owned agency.

Distribution and after sales services is already present for Tata Motors. The target customers are also identified. So, if all goes well, including no technical faults, and inflation under control, there is no problem why the project won't be successful.

The car is supposed to be available during Diwali festival time.

My take: The car would do well!!!

The Tatas

The center of attraction for January 2008 in automobile sector, surely, would be Tata Motors. The company is inching closer and closer to bag the two iconic brands, Jaguar and Land Rover.
Secondly, the most eagerly awaited One Lakh car would be displayed in Delhi Auto Expo on 10th January. The car is believed to be Chairman of Tata Group, Mr. Ratan Tata's dream project.

Last year, Tata group was again in news, when Tata Steel announced to acquire Corus Steel. Though it all started with a friendly bid, went on to finish with a hostile takeover.

Surely, Tatas have drawn a road map for each of its companies to go global, and things are unfolding slowly but steadly.