TATA MOTORS - Sparks a Revolution
- Thread starter Sikhinvestor
- Start date
The real question is export-how many people ride scooters in europe, or simply cant afford a new car of any sort in the first world? Heaps!
Not that its likely, with safety reg's etc, but the market's there.
For that matter, the growing middle class you speak of may well buy a fleet instead of one, (for their servants?) the taxi industry would be in for a shake-up, for a start.
Provided it doesnt turn out to be the worst, most unreliable box of junk to have existed, the potential is mindboggling.
Thats funny, I yanked all of those things out of my last car (minus the ABS)... the airbags too...
But then again, that was street-driven race-car
The biggest innovation with Nano is that it is delivered as a Kit. I don't think tradional dealership based forecast model is going to work here. Knowing how the folks in the rural india mod their scooters; I suspect this this thing is going to spark a enthusiast cult that mods the nano and resells around the world.
Essentially, Tata has made the auto into a assemblable computer like device. What Tata should do now is to open source the design so this thing turns into the next AK-47 type product.
Essentially, Tata has made the auto into a assemblable computer like device. What Tata should do now is to open source the design so this thing turns into the next AK-47 type product.
... we shall certainly do so in our densely populated EU. Where if one looks really well, similar cars from bygone era can still be found in some rural areas of the new EU member countries. Trabis and Fiats 126 - the remnants of the communist experiments with mass motorization... but vastly inferior in most aspects than this new open source project from India (except perhaps for crash tests - I would rather have engine between me and those enormous mamma mobiles
. But the serious point is this: if the Italian industry lobby does not manage to ban it or price it out of existence, Nano will be the road equivalent of those early naive experiments with free text messaging... it will crash the infrastructure in no time at all. Even though a cost-cutter approach to such a well-established status symbol will quickly run into the demand ceilings typical for inferior goods (those post-communist small cars have disappeared off the roads almost immediately as soon as the new Europeans got richer, years before the normal-sized cars of similar 'vintage') - mind you, its status role may change too. Income elasticity of demand does not apply yet to the road-poor groups like kids and immigrants - they'll love this new way to communicate for free (btw, did you know how many traders share a single cell phone in Africa? 50. Yes, that's commodity traders. Oh, and say good bye to those free roads. Per-mile motor insurance is just around the corner, so what keeps the industry lobby and their government stooges from using fleet tracking technology against the open source competition?0s
Chinese lose enthusiasm for smaller cars
By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0487c65c-c201-11dc-8fba-0000779fd2ac.html
The âpeopleâs carâ might not find a warm reception in the Peopleâs Republic.
While Tata Motors hopes that its new $2,500 Nano model will bring vehicle ownership to the Indian masses, car-buyers in China, the most dynamic market in the world, have lost some of their enthusiasm for small, cheap vehicles.
Industry figures to be released this week will show that the growth of sales of smaller-engined vehicles fell sharply last year in spite of a continuing boom in the overall car market, which grew by about 24 per cent.
The conventional wisdom in the car industry is that large, developing economies with rapidly expanding middle classes buying their first cars should be fertile territory for small and affordable vehicles. That is what Tata is hoping for in India and that is how carmakers have prospered in emerging markets from Brazil to Thailand.
However, industry analysts say China could be following a different path. Car ownership is growing at a rapid rate â turning China into the second largest market in the world.
But, after flirting with smaller vehicles, Chinese consumers are trading up.
In the first 11 months of last year, sales of cars with an engine size of one litre or less fell by 24 per cent, according to the auto industry association â and this in spite of rising petrol prices and a tax policy that encourages smaller engines. Sales of micro and subcompact cars of all engine sizes rose only modestly in the first 11 months of 2007.
It was not immediately clear why smaller cars had fallen out of favour or if the trend would continue, but some observers put the tepid demand down to a mixture of rising wealth disparities and the link between cars and social status in China.
Michael Dunne, managing director of consultants JD Power in Shanghai, says: âIt is partly a reflection of income inequality, which has created an urban elite with a lot of money and that wants to buy the very best quality.
âIf Chinese can afford a higher-level car, they will go for it, even if it means borrowing money from their family. Image is much more important in China, especially compared with India.â
Research by Volkswagen last year found that average Chinese carbuyers spent twice his or her annual salary on the vehicle. Two years ago Su Tianping, a junior manager at Pudong Development Bank in Shanghai, bought a QQ, the microcar made by Chinese company Chery, which was a sales phenomenon in 2005. However, he sold it a few months ago.
âIt was OK to drive around home,â he says, âbut driving a QQ to clients or to a party was a loss of face.â
The slowdown in demand is a setback for some of the new generation of Chinese carmakers that had been relying on heavy sales at the cheapest end of the market.
Chery has maintained its strong position, in part by introducing several more expensive, larger saloons.
However, FAW Xiali and Geely, the second and third largest Chinese brands, which are more dependent on smaller models, have lost market share.
By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0487c65c-c201-11dc-8fba-0000779fd2ac.html
The âpeopleâs carâ might not find a warm reception in the Peopleâs Republic.
While Tata Motors hopes that its new $2,500 Nano model will bring vehicle ownership to the Indian masses, car-buyers in China, the most dynamic market in the world, have lost some of their enthusiasm for small, cheap vehicles.
Industry figures to be released this week will show that the growth of sales of smaller-engined vehicles fell sharply last year in spite of a continuing boom in the overall car market, which grew by about 24 per cent.
The conventional wisdom in the car industry is that large, developing economies with rapidly expanding middle classes buying their first cars should be fertile territory for small and affordable vehicles. That is what Tata is hoping for in India and that is how carmakers have prospered in emerging markets from Brazil to Thailand.
However, industry analysts say China could be following a different path. Car ownership is growing at a rapid rate â turning China into the second largest market in the world.
But, after flirting with smaller vehicles, Chinese consumers are trading up.
In the first 11 months of last year, sales of cars with an engine size of one litre or less fell by 24 per cent, according to the auto industry association â and this in spite of rising petrol prices and a tax policy that encourages smaller engines. Sales of micro and subcompact cars of all engine sizes rose only modestly in the first 11 months of 2007.
It was not immediately clear why smaller cars had fallen out of favour or if the trend would continue, but some observers put the tepid demand down to a mixture of rising wealth disparities and the link between cars and social status in China.
Michael Dunne, managing director of consultants JD Power in Shanghai, says: âIt is partly a reflection of income inequality, which has created an urban elite with a lot of money and that wants to buy the very best quality.
âIf Chinese can afford a higher-level car, they will go for it, even if it means borrowing money from their family. Image is much more important in China, especially compared with India.â
Research by Volkswagen last year found that average Chinese carbuyers spent twice his or her annual salary on the vehicle. Two years ago Su Tianping, a junior manager at Pudong Development Bank in Shanghai, bought a QQ, the microcar made by Chinese company Chery, which was a sales phenomenon in 2005. However, he sold it a few months ago.
âIt was OK to drive around home,â he says, âbut driving a QQ to clients or to a party was a loss of face.â
The slowdown in demand is a setback for some of the new generation of Chinese carmakers that had been relying on heavy sales at the cheapest end of the market.
Chery has maintained its strong position, in part by introducing several more expensive, larger saloons.
However, FAW Xiali and Geely, the second and third largest Chinese brands, which are more dependent on smaller models, have lost market share.
Nano definately has future in third world nations. Regarding EU and NA, it will have to come ahead of the lobby of the auto makers and they will try to stop it from entering the markets.
Does anyone know that price of 20mg Amoxicillian an anti-biotic costs $1 in NA and only 3 cents in India? But due to the pharaceutical industry lobby, their what so called 'safety standards'...........no Asian medication can be sold in NA.
End results are ...........there are dozen billionaires and several million dozens of patients scraping by from pay check to pay check and fearing bankruptcy as a result of medical costs and unexpected expenses.
ps: btw, amoxicillian is way beyond patent protection.
ps2: George Bush with his anti stem cell research, caving into drug industry lobby, iraq war deception of american people.........sometimes makes me wonder if he is some sort of 'spy' of some enemy entity, bent on to bring america to its knees.
Does anyone know that price of 20mg Amoxicillian an anti-biotic costs $1 in NA and only 3 cents in India? But due to the pharaceutical industry lobby, their what so called 'safety standards'...........no Asian medication can be sold in NA.
End results are ...........there are dozen billionaires and several million dozens of patients scraping by from pay check to pay check and fearing bankruptcy as a result of medical costs and unexpected expenses.
ps: btw, amoxicillian is way beyond patent protection.
ps2: George Bush with his anti stem cell research, caving into drug industry lobby, iraq war deception of american people.........sometimes makes me wonder if he is some sort of 'spy' of some enemy entity, bent on to bring america to its knees.