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.
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.
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