Wednesday 12 March 2008

nano-nono

With Nano “The People’s car’ creating waves a few days back..am sure Mr Ratan Tata has thought of his profits only and has tried to over look the dire consequences its Nano will cause to the nation at large.. (other auto manufacturers not to be spared )
Nano’s launch some two months back bought it national and international attention.. but what brought me to write about this after a gap of the launch (not that it was not thought of when I read the news of launch of nano) is when I read in the today’s news which says India pays $100 per barrel for the first time “Crude oil price crosses $100 mark
NEW DELHI: The price of imported crude oil has crossed a record $100 a barrel mark. — PTI
Indian basket touches $100”

They (Nano website) say that the people’s car will bring comfort and safety within the reach of thousands of middle class families ..but what about the fuel prices which are rising like hell.

“The high fuel efficiency also ensures that the car has low carbon dioxide emissions, thereby providing the twin benefits of an affordable transportation solution with a low carbon footprint.” But what about the footprint it would bring in the terms of dumping vehicles. Where is the space to ride and park the vehicles in the overly populated country with humans and vehicles population alike…

While the whole world is trying to move to alternative fuel and hybrid and eco-friendly models of car, Tata should be making efforts to engineer a model that not only serves its people comfort and safety but also makes news internationally by building model that’s eco-friendly not just for names sake like the present lame statements but other wise also ..
It time they should think beyond profits.

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Other interesting read I stumbled upon , if u care or are interested to read :
A likely stop before the end of Oil

10 comments:

Jigar said...

Perfact point... just last week one of my friends came here and we were having discussion regarding Nano.. and then we landed to the same issue about fuel prices in India.. Now in the world of hybrid they should start looking in other direction...

Any way if tata comes with smallest and reliable car... it may come with some hybrid engine solution with Nano ... :)

And about space, I can say... "Technology adapts environment..." There will be multi-storyed parking lots to park this many of cars... :)

Mitesh said...

>> what about the fuel prices which are rising like hell.

When you buy a house, you should be ready to pay for maintenance...likewise, when you buy a car, you should be ready to pay for fuel!. Ratan Tata has nothing to do with fuel prices, which are determined by market dynamics. The prices can (and have) come down as well in the past.

>> Where is the space to ride and park the vehicles in the overly populated country

Again, I dont think Ratan Tata has anything to do with this. He is a businessman and he wants to sell cars. It is the govt's job to build road infrastructure. Should a business-person stop churning out his/her ideas, just because govt. ignores its job? Bangalore didn't have an international airport all these years (and again its govt.'s job to build them), but did that stop MNC's from establishing base there?

I think what Ratan Tata did is capture the market "first" before anyone else does so. Now he will come up with Nano v2.0 and v3.0, which can have all those hybrid features etc.

chinmai said...

@jigar: multi storeyed parking is a long way to go .. and wat do u do of infrastructure in terms of broad roads..??
@mitesh : "Ratan Tata has nothing to do with fuel prices, which are determined by market dynamics." agreed , but wat can and wat Mr tata shud do precisely is bringing about a model working on alternate fuel..this is more of a perspective which people shud think( of ever increasing fuel prices and their budget) before shelling out and buying..since this car is gonna be for middle class segment..
and of the lack of infrastructure..surely its governments job to implement better infrastructure.. but is there space easily available in india..go and check out how many infrastructure projects are pending because of small stretches of land which people wud not vacate..and hence the pending infrastructure projects

Dhimant Parekh said...

Mitesh is bang on target with his points. I don't see a reason why the Tatas have to be receiving flak for coming up with the Nano.
The fuel prices going up and increased pollution is not a creation of the Tatas, but it is the lack of a focused government policy in these regards.
And besides, why should the Tatas only be forced to come with a hybrid model? Why not Maruti or Hyundai or Ford for that matter? Why blame Ratan Tata for helping out the middle class? Until now, when the rich could afford to drive around in their luxury cars, it was okay. They have the license to burn carbon. But when the same luxury is brought to the middle-class and lower-middle-class, there is hue and cry about petrol and pollution and traffic. Why? Why didn't this hue and cry get raised when the wealthy were driving their Skodas and Accents?

chinmai said...

@dhionlyone: how many cud afford skoda and how many can afford nano..its not jus to target Mr. Tata .. but for that matter any manufacturers.. y not launch new products wid better features rite away , then to jus look at profit margins and capturing markets 1st.. they are groups who can afford to bring in change..y not do something for all segments which is beneficial in real terms of comfort and health ..

cm chap said...

Hey... True. I wud hv been glad if Nano version of gas was uneviled. But not to blame Tata, they not only made money..they gave a good choice for Indian middle class. From that perspective we got to appreciate... Bcoz $100 for oil is not bcoz of Nano... isn't it?

Anonymous said...

So did you stop traveling by any gas-fueled vehicles yourself first? or only others should stop thinking of running a business or even having a car for basic needs/emergencies?

cm chap said...

Busy?

chinmai said...

not really.. wat i had to quote is all there.. hence no comment.. rest hows sydney treating u ...

cm chap said...

Sydney is awesome.. I guess that sums it up all :-)