More TATA news. Yesterday, it was about TATA Motors plan to create viable eco-friendly cars. Now, it is about the small car. The TATA’s have plans to launch a small car in the Indian market valued at Rs. 100,000 (USD 2,600).
Economic times has more:
Mr Mashelkar also revealed how the small car concept first struck Ratan Tata, who’s now in the race to acquire two iconic British brands — Jaguar and Land Rover. “You know how ‘Ratan’ (Ratan Tata) thought about this small car. He talked to me on several things. One day, he was going on the road and saw a family of four getting soaked in the rain. That was when he decided to create a small car for all,” he said. “Just a month ago, I was at the Tata Motors’ factory in Pune, talking to their engineers and their fantastic team there. It was there that I had the privilege of sitting in that small car — the Rs 1-lakh car that they plan to roll out at Singur. It is incredible,” said Mr Mashelkar. “I sat in that car by the way, and it was amazing,” he said.
“I am a six footer and it’s spacious both in the front and in the rear. In terms of acceleration, it is equivalent to a Maruti 800 and has an incredible design finished by indigenous Tata Motors’ engineers,” Mr Mashelkar added.
Talking on the potential of economics of this car, the top-notch scientist said: “It will create a paradigm shift in low-cost transport and the whole world is looking forward to a car that efficiently runs 25 km on a litre of petrol and offers international specifications. These kind of fuel-efficient cars will be in demand as pollution is on the rise, climates are changing and fossil fuels are running out. People are looking at a new global eco-car and I have a feeling that this can be the new eco-car not only in the country but elsewhere — in other countries. I feel a sense of pride that it will be manufactured in India.”
At 25 km a litre it will be a great car for city driving if it matches the international standards. I have deep respect for the TATA group and especially Ratan Tata. If anybody can do it, it is his team. 2008 will be a year to look for.
Update:
NyTimes has more on the Tata’s bid to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.
The combination of luxurious, specialized products and cheap, commodified ones may seem like an unlikely business model, but the Tata Group, the sprawling family-run conglomerate that owns a third of Tata Motors, is full of similar contradictions.
The group’s Taj Hotels command some of the highest rates in the world — one night in a luxury suite in the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai costs 110,000 rupees ($2,795) in high season. But the group is building no-frills hotels around India, with rates as low as 1,499 rupees ($37.95) a night for a double room in some cities.
Tata owns a chain of high-end jewelry stores, Tanishq, and makes fertilizer though its Tata Chemicals unit. The company has an exclusive charter airplane business, serving clientele like chief executives and Bollywood stars, and owns Tata Sky, which beams business news and hit movies into a million Indian households.
[...]
As in many family-run conglomerates, there is a “strong emphasis on the long-term perspective,” said Subir Gokarn, Standard & Poor’s chief economist in Asia. Tata focuses on building institutions, on social responsibility and ethics, and on fair dealing with government, he said.But it is also highly profitable. After-tax profits at Tata Motors, which is publicly traded, increased 21 percent in the first half of this fiscal year, to 9.94 billion rupees ($253 million).
