the ambassador turns fifty in style

It's been the iconic workhorse of the Indian roads for decades, the favourite of cabbies and government babus alike (it's the only Indian-made vehicle that can be upgraded to a bullet-proof version). And this year, the Ambassador car celebrates its golden jubilee with new models to reinforce its cult following, both in India and abroad.
Originally based on the 1948 Morris Oxford and, subsequently, the Land Master, the Ambassador was born in 1957 and lorded over India's modest car market for decades. In its heyday, the 1970s, the CK Birla-owned Hindustan Motors sold 15,000 of these clunky machines every month.
Of course, the advent of a whole new generation of vehicles has seen Ambassador sales dwindle to less than a tenth of that number, with central and state governments, as well as the tourism sector, still its most loyal customers. Says Hindustan Motors managing director Ravi Santhanam: "In its golden jubilee year, we plan to leverage both the great legacy and robust brand recall and will be introducing a new model every year."
The new models will be run on all four fuel types-LPG, CNG, petrol and diesel-will come with a sunroof and better styling.
The car's iconic stature was underlined by the Smithsonian museum, which held an exhibition of the Ambassador a few years ago. And if further proof were needed of the Ambassador's brand power, Richard Branson provided it in plenty when he rode atop one when he launched Virgin Airlines in India. Recently, a British firm even started a luxury taxi service in London with a fleet of exclusively Ambassador cars, charging £40 an hour.
Clearly, in its 50th year, the Ambassador is all set to spread its irresistible charms worldwide!
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free the business of inteernet commerce inindia

Scrap B2C curbs
The proposed curbs on business to consumer firms that sell goods through the Internet are a retrograde idea. Anything that the Internet firms sell from abroad has to go through the tariff and duty regimes of the Indian government. That ensures the government revenue. Currently it is a 2500 crore market and growing at robust clip.

Unwarranted curbs on this growing business could lead to constriction of revenues and loss of jobs. At the heart of the issue is the fact that selling though Internet is not a vending matter but that of commerce. Put differently, it is in the realm of tariff and not retail policy.


What is more, the move could lead to retaliation from foreign countries and impact sourcing of goods from India thought the internet - which is a far larger business.
In fact the government would do well to encourage this business by simplifying norms for warehousing, logistics and the cold chain since. It should be borne in mind that the “at the door step” industry globally generates a substantial number of jobs and in time could compare with the growth of pure play retail. The potential for business to customer industry is enormous given the increase in broadband connections and greater online security in commercial transactions.

There is need for the government to allow greater equity in e commerce ventures that are pegged at 51 per cent and to libralise the current regime that does not allow any equity in foreign firms wanting to business to customer e commerce in India.

This is not to say that the Internet based businesses do not need regulation. There are cases of fraudulent and late delivery and also of banned goods making there way into India through the Internet based e commerce model. These should be regulated and not the system of supply and selling.

Internet based business to customer model is good for another reason. It is at the cutting edge of information driven business and add to the competitive capabilities of an economy. An Internet based model cuts waste and inventories and invests in technology for speedy delivery. This is turn ensures that even off line firms become leaner and more competitive. It is an industry that needs to be encouraged and not – as the proposed measures could – nipped in the bud.

the nano!

Small wheels they keep on turning
The successful launch of Nano, the much-awaited 1-lakh cars by Tata Motors, at the Delhi auto expo changes the rule of the games for the automobile industry.

The success of the car will depend on three aspects. First in its ability to seat four people in comfort, second in is fuel efficiency, and third its maintenance costs. The most interesting part of this design is that while it is a smaller car then the maruti 800, it has 21 per cent more interior space. With a four shift manual gear and comfortable but non-recline seats is offers value for money. The key to the car is its all-aluminum, two-cylinder, 624 cc, 33 bhp, multi-point fuel injection petrol engine. It is claimed to offer 23 kilometers to a liter. The Tata vendor network has so far a record of reasonable service costs when compared to the competition.

The Nano will have different implications for the customer, the company and the competition.

For the costumer for the first time there is a genuine choice between buying two wheeled vehicles and a motorcar. A whole lot of new costumers will now enter the car market.

For Tata Motors the small car comes with big management challenges. These include ensuring quality manufacturing of the car. Managing the scale of operations on a level that the industry has not seen before is the second imperative. A third imperative is to set up a reliable vendor network.

For the competition the car is a huge challenge. None of them seen to be in the same league, when it comes to producing a car at this price. While a two wheeler firm has shown prototypes these are very far away from production stage. The real challenge will be for motorcycle firms like Hero Honda and carmakers like Suzuki and Hyundai motors. They can either cut the price of their existing products or introduce new lower cost vehicles. Neither are easy options. Lastly the second hand car market is likely to be hit the hardest. Buying a second hand car at twice the price of a first hand one is not likely to be an option any more. In the end that exciting smile you see on the first time car owners face may stay for a long while to come.