Updated at 4.45pm on 5 August 2020 to add clarification from Tata Motors.
The 15th of January 1998was a red-letter day in Indias automotive history. On that day, at New Delhis Pragati Maidan expo grounds, several new cars were launched; but the, but the car that really grabbed the headlines was the Tata Indica, Indias first home-grown 'peoples car.' Even if all knew that the new Tata car that would be as big as a Maruti Zen, yet provide the space of an Ambassador, at a price of a Maruti 800, was going to be called the Indica (like in India+Car), they still hadnt seen the car.
Thus, the unveiling of the car was a much-awaited moment. Sure enough, expectations ran high and, at the unveiling, which had thousands of journalists, politicians and spectators crowding the huge Tata stand at Hall 11 of Pragati Maidan, the car did not disappoint. Here was a car that did deliver on the promise of space and size and in a package that was, indeed, good-looking.
The Indica was launched in the Indian marketplace by the end of 1998, as Tata had promised, and initial bookings (about 115,000) and expectations were huge for a car that, though priced more than the Maruti 800, was still markedly cheaper than the smaller Maruti Zen. Sadly, early quality problems blunted that enthusiasm for the Indica; and, over the years, the reputation of the car and the car making abilities of Tata Motors took a downward spiral.
Exactly 10 years later, almost to the day, on the 10 January 2008, Tata Motors regaled a thousand-odd spectators at Hall 11 of Pragati Maidan, once again, with the dramatic unveiling of the Tata Nano. The 'most expected' car in the history of the automobile in India had lakhs thronging to Hall 11 at Pragati Maidan, which remained crowded and jam-packed through the rest of the Expo. Outside, the eager crowds reminded you of a cricket stadium before a one-day match. Hundreds of security men formed uncompromising barricades with thick ropes.
By 16th January, the last day of Delhis ninth motor show, some 1.8 million people had thronged the Expo, comfortably beating the Paris motor shows record draw of a million-and-a-half, just to get a glimpse of the Tata Nano, the car which had grabbed headlines across the globe. They came in their thousands, from Delhi, Haryana and UP, riding cars, buses, even tractors and tongas, setting off traffic snarls that stopped Delhi at several places.
For what everybody had gathered to see at Hall No 11 in Pragati Maidan was not just another small car, but to see hope emerge on wheels. For this 'lakhtakia' car, in Hindi meaning 'the one-lakh rupee' car as the man on the street had already named it had enabled millions to dream of a life beyond the motorbike, of a life that would be safer and more comfortable for themselves and his (or her) dear ones.
Less than two years later, a few months after the Tata Nano went into production, that dream came to a fiery end, as a few of the Nanos self-ignited inexplicably, and as the image of the 'cheapest car in the world' hardly helped find it buyers who could be proud of the car.
In both cases, Ratan Tata had the right vision, the right idea, at the right time. And the Indian consumer and public were more than ready and happy to buy Indian and make the country proud. Yet design, engineering, and quality shortcomings each time had the consumer rethinking. These quality issues were eventually addressed, but years after the cars were launched. By then, the damage had been done.
Both the Indica and the Nano projects were developed at less than $400 million each peanuts in the international automotive development scale of things. But that was one of the main problems in chasing the objective of 'frugal engineering,' as well as making a car 'for Indians, by Indians,' quality was compromised every time. Also, the hubris of the engineers and designers once the Nano had grabbed headlines worldwide, knew no bounds.
The consumer wants the best product that their money can buy, and they do not care whether it was designed by Indians or by people from another part of the world. On the contrary, Indians would be more assured if the cars were, indeed, designed by Europeans.
Finally, it was the attitude of developing in a penny-wise-pound-foolish way, as well as the obsession to do things in India with Indians, that has brought Tata Motors down to its knees, whence it's up for grabs, and will, in all likelihood, be grabbed by the Chinese. Is this the end of Indias car making story?
UPDATE:
"In March 2020, Tata Motors had announced the intent to subsidiarise its PV business as the first step towards securing mutually beneficial strategic alliances that provide access to products, architectures, powertrains, new-age technologies and capital. Securing a mutually beneficial alliance is a priority. However, it is not an imperative for today but an opportunity to be secured for tomorrow," the company statement says.
We request all such people to refrain from posting such comments. After a while we will either block such attacks or file a cyber complaint after studying IPs through our tech team!
Visit link:
The End of an Era as Tata Motors Prepare To Sell Their Passenger Car Business - Moneylife
- Twitter Working on Plan to Charge Users to Watch Videos - November 4th, 2022
- Manslaughter Case Has a Strange Twist: Tesla That Killed Couple Was on Autopilot - November 4th, 2022
- Greta Thunberg Says UN Climate Conference Is a Scam and She's Not Attending - November 4th, 2022
- There's Something Strange About How These Stars Are Moving, Scientists Say - November 4th, 2022
- This Deepfake AI Singing Dolly Parton's "Jolene" Is Worryingly Good - November 4th, 2022
- NASA Sets Launch Date for Mission to $10 Quintillion Asteroid - November 4th, 2022
- Huge Drone Swarm to Form Giant Advertisement Over NYC Skyline - November 4th, 2022
- China Plans to Send Monkeys to Space Station to Have Sex With Each Other - November 4th, 2022
- Jeff Bezos' Housekeeper Says She Had to Climb Out the Window to Use the Bathroom - November 4th, 2022
- AOC Says Her Twitter Account Broke After She Made Fun of Elon Musk - November 4th, 2022
- Scientists Use Actual Lunar Soil Sample to Create Rocket Fuel - November 4th, 2022
- Chinese Spaceplane Releases Mystery Object Into Orbit - November 4th, 2022
- Cats May Be Tampering With Crime Scenes, Scientists Say - November 4th, 2022
- Hackers Just Took Down One of the World's Most Advanced Telescopes - November 4th, 2022
- Elon Musk Meeting With Advertisers, Begging Them Not to Leave Twitter - November 4th, 2022
- That "Research" About How Smartphones Are Causing Deformed Human Bodies Is SEO Spam, You Idiots - November 4th, 2022
- Scientists Found a Way to Control How High Mice Got on Cocaine - November 4th, 2022
- Scientists Spot "Stripped, Pulsating Core" of Star Caused By Horrific Accident - November 4th, 2022
- US Gov to Crack Down on "Bossware" That Spies On Employees' Computers - November 4th, 2022
- Micro and Nano Engineering - Journal - Elsevier - June 29th, 2022
- Arduino Nano Library for Proteus - The Engineering Projects - June 29th, 2022
- People | Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE), IISc - June 29th, 2022
- Forge Nano and Anovion Partner to Help Propel US Battery Tech and Strengthen Domestic Supply Chain - GlobeNewswire - June 29th, 2022
- Stanford engineers' optical concentrator could help solar arrays capture more light even on a cloudy day without tracking the Sun - EurekAlert - June 29th, 2022
- Nanotechnology Market 2022 Detailed Analysis Of Current Industry Demand with Forecasts Growth by 2028 Designer Women - Designer Women - June 29th, 2022
- Why is the Weebit Nano share price charging 5% higher today? - The Motley Fool Australia - June 29th, 2022
- Determining Ways to Combine the Power Conversion and Storage Capacity Needs of Solar Energy Into One Device - AZoCleantech - June 29th, 2022
- New method based on smart materials for experimenting with cells - Nanowerk - June 29th, 2022
- The Ecosystem: leather is so over, but what comes next? - Science Business - June 29th, 2022
- Aalto University scoops 18M in Academy of Finland research funding - Science Business - June 29th, 2022
- 50 Percent of Women in STEM Careers Ready to Join Great Resignation in New Gotara REACH Report - PR Web - June 29th, 2022
- Meet our Sustainability Awards Jury & see what they think about the 2022 program - Architecture and Design - June 29th, 2022
- Announcing Six Winners of the Third Annual Manning/IALS Innovation Awards : Institute for Applied Life Sciences - UMass News and Media Relations - November 13th, 2021
- Lecturer Positions in Intelligent Systems Engineering job with Indiana University Bloomington / Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and... - November 13th, 2021
- Pressure BioSciences Awarded Second U.S. Patent for Its Revolutionary Ultra Shear Technology Platform, for Its Innovative NanoGap Valve - Yahoo... - November 13th, 2021
- Novel Imaging Technique Takes High Resolution 3D Images of Cells - AZoNano - November 13th, 2021
- "Dialogues between world Laureates and Gen-Z" was successfully held: an event focusing on Gen Z and the future of Science - PRNewswire - November 13th, 2021
- NVIDIA Announces Jetson AGX Orin: Modules and Dev Kits Coming In Q1'22 - AnandTech - November 13th, 2021
- Research on Food and Beverage Air Filtration Market Key Data Points Necessary for Effective Strategies | 3M, APC Filtration, Camfil Group, Donaldson... - November 13th, 2021
- Scientists invent 'smart' window material that blocks rays without blocking views - Nanowerk - November 13th, 2021
- How can Australia get cracking on emissions? The know-how we need is in our universities - The Conversation AU - November 13th, 2021
- Machine learning links material composition and performance in catalysts - Nanowerk - August 24th, 2021
- What Is Nanotechnology And How Is It Impacting Neuroscience? - Forbes - August 24th, 2021
- Could Nanotechnology Help to End the Fight Against COVID-19? | IJN - Dove Medical Press - August 24th, 2021
- Are Radioactive Diamond Batteries the Solution to Nuclear Waste? - Interesting Engineering - August 24th, 2021
- Updating the PLOS ONE Nanomaterials Collection Author Perspectives, Part 2 - EveryONE - PLoS Blogs - August 24th, 2021
- Scientists Develop Woven Nanotube Fibers Capable of Converting Heat into Energy - AZoNano - August 24th, 2021
- This engineer is searching for signs of life in the clouds of Venus - Create - create digital - August 24th, 2021
- Ultra-Low IQ PMIC from ROHM Selected to Power NXP iMX8M Nano for High Performance Embedded Artists Industrial Control Board - EE Journal - February 20th, 2021
- Perseverance touches down on Mars and Jaguar going electric: 10 top stories of the week - Professional Engineering - February 20th, 2021
- mHealth Wearable Boosts Remote Patient Monitoring, Connected Health - mHealthIntelligence.com - February 20th, 2021
- New Skin Patch Brings Us Closer to Wearable, All-In-One Health Monitor - I-Connect007 - February 20th, 2021
- Next: Superconducting nanowires could be used in circuits - Electronics Weekly - February 20th, 2021
- 4 UCSD Researchers Win Sloan Research Fellowships for Early Career Scientists - Times of San Diego - February 20th, 2021
- Pendse named 2021 Distinguished Maine Professor - UMaine News - University of Maine - University of Maine - February 20th, 2021
- New Polymer Cores Added to Windows Could Solve Energy Issues for Buildings - AZoBuild - February 20th, 2021
- Caltech Professor Inducted into the National Academy of Engineering Pasadena Now - Pasadena Now - February 15th, 2021
- How Nanotechnology Has Improved the Auto Industry - Salon Priv Magazine - February 15th, 2021
- Caltech: Tai Inducted into the National Academy of Engineering - India Education Diary - February 15th, 2021
- Plastic-nanotube composite 'tougher and lighter than similar forms of aluminium' - Professional Engineering - February 15th, 2021
- New coalmine questioned and high-density hydro planned: 10 top stories of the week - Professional Engineering - February 15th, 2021
- Scientists study moving worm "blobs" to create robot swarms - Big Think - February 15th, 2021
- Riding the Funding Wave: These DFW Startups Got the Money in 2020 Dallas Innovates - dallasinnovates.com - February 15th, 2021
- UVA Honors Distinguished Researchers at Virtual Awards Event - University of Virginia - February 4th, 2021
- Nanostructure of the Anodic and Nanomaterials Sol-Gel Based Materials Application: Advances in Surface Engineering - Products Finishing Magazine - December 19th, 2020
- Evelyn Hu delivers 2020 Dresselhaus Lecture on leveraging defects at the nanoscale - MIT News - December 19th, 2020
- COVID-19 airborne transmission research suggests potential therapies | University of Hawaii System News - UH System Current News - December 19th, 2020
- Engineers awarded for ongoing research excellence - News - The University of Sydney - December 19th, 2020
- New Horizons for research through new adventurous research projects - The University of Manchester - December 19th, 2020
- New collaboration provides opportunity for future water scientists and engineers - Cranfield University - December 19th, 2020
- First of its kind at U of T: MIE launches specialized course in 3D printing - U of T Engineering News - December 19th, 2020
- How Integrated Operations is Using a Breakthrough Misting Technology to Stop the Spread of Deadly Viruses and Bacteria - Iosco County News Herald - October 30th, 2020
- Senior Research Assistant in Experimental Condensed Matter Physics job with THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG | 230871 - Times Higher Education (THE) - October 30th, 2020
- Small Satellite Market Size to Hit USD 9.75 Billion by 2027; Presence of Several Large Scale Companies will have a Positive Impact on Market Growth,... - October 30th, 2020
- Impact Of Covid 19 On 3D Print Materials Industry 2020 Market Challenges, Business Overview And Forecast Research Study 2026 - The Think Curiouser - October 30th, 2020
- The U.S. Finally Has a Sputnik Moment With China - Foreign Policy - October 30th, 2020
- Medtronic Announces Adaptix Interbody System, the First Navigated Titanium Cage with Titan nanoLOCK Surface Technology - BioSpace - October 10th, 2020
- Nanocoolant Alternative for Cooling Elements by UMP Researchers - QS WOW News - October 10th, 2020
- Post Pandemic Nano Gas Sensor Market Size to Reach USD XX Million Billion by 2027 Analysis by Top Manufacturers Raytheon Company, Ball Aerospace and... - October 10th, 2020
- IISc Bengaluru researchers discover nanomotors can lead to early detection of cancer cells - The Indian Express - October 10th, 2020