Slashdot Mirror
World's Cheapest Car Goes On Sale In India
Frankie70 writes "The Tata Nano — the car that caught the world's imagination as the cheapest ever — will finally be rolled out commercially on Monday in Mumbai in a mega event organised by Tata Motors. Ben Oliver, contributing editor, Car Magazine, London test drove the car in December, 08. These were his first impressions. This was his verdict: 'CAR's first ride in the Tata Nano felt far more significant and exciting than a first drive in a Ferrari or Lamborghini, because this car's importance is immeasurably greater. It won't compete on dynamics or quality with European or Japanese city cars, but it doesn't have to. What Tata has achieved at an unprecedented price is astonishing, although we'd guess it will cost Indian consumers closer to £1700 when it finally goes on sale, six months late, in March 2009.'"
The UK and Europe as well as the USA will never EVER see this car.
And honestly, is it really a good idea to enable more people to buy cars?
I could see it if a very low emissions small car was available to the poor to help get the nasty junk off the road...
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
The developed world has had DECADES to build up moral authority on this issue, and utterly blew it. Now, efforts on our part to shame the developing world for pollution or inefficient energy use sound spiteful and hypocritical.
You may be right... but you're also wrong.
OTOH, it's good if this drives up oil prices, then other people will drive fewer gas guzzlers. It will also increase the demand for renewable energy and possibly force the US's uberconsumers to reduce their lavish lifestyles.
It's also good for Indian people who want cheap taxis and are sick of riding on top of buses to get around.
I don't understad why do drivers in the US who majorly drive big Ford trucks talk down to the developing world for driving small cars. Remember India with almost 4 times the population has a smaller carbon footprint than the US. Stop driving your gas guzzlers for the next 20 years before you get a right to talk about carbon footprints. After enjoying the economic benefits of gasoline you want the developing world to give it all up and stay poor is it ?
It won't compete on dynamics or quality with European or Japanese city cars, but it doesn't have to.
That is precisely how the Japanese "came from behind" in the late seventies and ended up capturing the American mindset when it comes to quality.
I know what I am talking about because I was around at that time. No body would even think of touching a Japanese front wheel drive car! Guess what! It is second nature to most auto manufacturers now.
I guess it's the time for the Indians this time round. Let's just watch out after all, Tata's direction on quality can only be up.
India's carbon footprint will be going up no matter what we do. The Nano has a good MPG rating. Better than many hybrids. It's a good thing, not a pollution machine.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Remember though that the Yugo was essentially Warsaw Pact manufacturing quality with Fiat parts. The Tata was engineered from the ground up.
Remember also that the Yugo was designed for Western markets, the Tata is not.
I'm not sure about all the concern around this thing selling in the US or EU. It's a car designed for Asian cities, and that in itself means a much larger potential market than the US.
Failed?
The Yugo sold quite a lot of cars, and according to the wikipedia article you link to, they're still being sold. Not in the US, but the Tata Nano isn't aimed at the US either. Lots of stuff isn't. Just because something won't succeed in the US, that doesn't automatically make it a failure.
Parent is deliberately confusing greenhouse emissions with pollution. The US is an awful lot cleaner than India, be it air, water or land.
The US is the most polluting country in the world, both in absolute terms and per capita.
Environmental damage that happens in other countries counts as US caused if it's done by US corporations. E.g., the Union Carbide disaster may have happened in India, but it was a US corporation that caused it.
Come now, take responsibility for your (collective) actions.
I hate printers.
"The US is the most polluting country in the world, both in absolute terms and per capita."
{citation needed}
Incorrect.
http://carma.org/dig/show/world+country
Actually, the US is second to China.... India is ranked third.
As far as your moralizing goes as well, how can you discount the responsibility of the Indian Government in the Union Carbide disaster? They allowed the plant. They allowed the regulations and standards that the plant was built and maintained by. I am not saying that Union Carbide (which is NOT the US, it is a corporation.) was not responsible. But I am saying that the US was NOT responsible for the pollution caused by that disaster.
However, the Union Carbide disaster does not contribute to why India is CURRENTLY the third highest polluting nation on the planet. It is not "polluted" it is "Polluting"... meaning generating pollution. One of the things that the Tato Nano is supposed to do, is make a car affordable to most Indians. In a country where streets are already densely packed with walking people, people packed on two wheeled traffic, and older vehicles... do we really need to add a few million MORE internal combustion engines virtually overnight? I would not be surprised to see little India surpass the US in pollution production once this car settles in.
"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -D. Adams
Oh, and a further note...
"According to CARMA's massive database, which contains information on the carbon emissions of over 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies worldwide, Australia is the world's worst polluter per capita, producing five times as much carbon from generating power as China."
http://www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/20071203/carbon-emission-global-warming-power-plant-pollution-greenhouse-gas-climate-change-kyoto-protocol-ca.htm
There you go. Nothing like being informed, eh? What a wonderful friend we have in Google.
"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -D. Adams