Worlds cheapest car - Rupees 1 lakh car ($2000)

[Rambo Prasad]

Tata motors finally unvieled the long awaited car...



More details here..
<a href="http://specials.rediff.com/money/2008/jan/10slide1.htm"; target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://specials.rediff.com/money/2008/jan/10slide1.htm</a>;

Will it make the traffic problem in cities like Bangalore much worse..?

[Sandip Sankeshwar]

Yes dude.But thats traffic police headchae.Have radio and air conditioning in the car and its

[Pradeep bhatt]

We would need multi-storyed roads.

[Ashok Mash]

IMHO, while the poor infrastructure is a major problem, it only comes second to general publics lack of awareness of road rules!

About 98% (I just made that up, but I don't want to say ALL) of Indian drivers don't understand even the concept of 'right-of-way'. If you ask average person on the road who has right of way, they probably would say something like "everyone, its a free country and everyone has the right to use the road".

[Ashok Mash]

IMHO, while the poor infrastructure is a major problem, it only comes second to general publics lack of awareness of road rules!

About 98% (I just made that up, but I don't want to say ALL) of Indian drivers don't understand even the concept of 'right-of-way'. If you ask average person on the road who has right of way, they probably would say something like "everyone, its a free country and everyone has the right to use the road".

[Chris Baron]

Looks like a crossover of the current Mitsubishi Colt and a Smart car. I like the rear engine, but the wheels are way to tiny.

[Chris Baron]

Oh, what is 1 lakh? Why is it the equivalent of $2500?
Is it a number-word, or is it something real? Like a gold bullion or a piece of land of a certain size?

[Rambo Prasad]

Oh, what is 1 lakh? Why is it the equivalent of $2500?
Is it a number-word, or is it something real? Like a gold bullion or a piece of land of a certain size?

I should have mentioned it as Rupees 1 lakh car(1,00,000)

1,00,000 Indian Rupee is approximately equivalent to US $2500

[Aj Mathia]

Originally posted by Ashok Mash:
IMHO, while the poor infrastructure is a major problem, it only comes second to general publics lack of awareness of road rules!

About 98% (I just made that up, but I don't want to say ALL) of Indian drivers don't understand even the concept of 'right-of-way'. If you ask average person on the road who has right of way, they probably would say something like "everyone, its a free country and everyone has the right to use the road".

People who get their Driving license by the right process are aware of 'right-of-way'.
The problem lies more in the fact that you can get away with whatever you do.

[Joe San]

Where is the road in Bangalore to drive this car? Imagine if all the two wheeler users (or atleast 1/4th) in Bangalore gets this car

OMG!!!

[Ayub ali khan]

Guys I feel there would be a mad rush for this car. Similar to Riliance Mobile ....Nano looks cool !!!

I bet this car gonna fly ....

Kudos to NANO

[Akhilesh Trivedi]

Bangalore would be clogged-up for sure.

And I would go with Ayub, reliance made it that "everyone have a phone", with Tata it could be car-revolution next. :roll:

[Joe San]

Originally posted by Akhilesh Trivedi:
Bangalore would be clogged-up for sure.

And I would go with Ayub, reliance made it that "everyone have a phone", with Tata it could be car-revolution next. :roll:

Damn sure. Even I'm planning to buy that car as soon as it hits the market.

[Sai Surya]

In fact the tota cost of the car comes around 1,30,000 including taxes etc. I am worried about Bangalore, Hyderabad and other cities in India.
If TATA makes it battery operated, it would be somewhat better.

[Sai Surya]

In fact the tota cost of the car comes around 1,35,000 including taxes etc. I am worried about Bangalore, Hyderabad and other cities in India.
If TATA makes it battery operated, it would be somewhat better.

[Pradeep bhatt]

I think there should be taxes like ERP in Singapore for these kinds of cars. What about parking space ? You will need to rent a house with parking space I think Govt. should take blame for this.

[Sandip Sankeshwar]

Originally posted by Pradip Bhat:
I think there should be taxes like ERP in Singapore for these kinds of cars. What about parking space ? You will need to rent a house with parking space I think Govt. should take blame for this.

Dude, somebody will manufacture,you will drive the car and Govt. should take the blame?

I am going to contact Tata dealers

[Joe San]

Originally posted by Sandip Sankeshwar:

Dude, somebody will manufacture,you will drive the car and Govt. should take the blame?

I am going to contact Tata dealers

Don't you think it's the Government's responsibility to provide proper infrastructure?

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

The discussion of this car on Slashdot was pretty entertaining. It's really not much more than a high-end lawnmower with doors. Wouldn't make sense in many countries, but it's well-suited for urban driving in Indian cities. It's a clever rethinking of the concept of an automobile, much more so than the SMART car (I saw a lot of those in Italy last year; they're very cool, but this is something altogether different.)

[Pradeep bhatt]

I will buy some shares of Tata Motors to cash in the car sales which would be bought by likes of sandip.

[Rambo Prasad]

I think Tata Motors will see a big jump in its market share because of this...The target segment is the 100 -125 cc two wheller guys..Even if 20% of these guys move to Tata nano then tata motors will be the undisputed champ..I think this could in turn trigger a price war in the small car segment..

[Ashok Mash]

Originally posted by Ajay Mathew:

People who get their Driving license by the right process are aware of 'right-of-way'.
The problem lies more in the fact that you can get away with whatever you do.

The system might have improved since I did my test in 1998. I did it the right way (no agents or driving schools etc) and didn�t pay a paisa above the government fees. The only training material I ever saw was two dilapidated black boards at the RTOs office, I could barely make out that it once had a set of signals and hand gestures etc.

[Ashok Mash]

Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:
It's a clever rethinking of the concept of an automobile, much more so than the SMART car (I saw a lot of those in Italy last year; they're very cool, but this is something altogether different.)

Smart is in fact a pretty good car, and much safer than what one would think looking at it! However, Smart is in fact quite expensive by Indian standards.

[Devesh H Rao]

Originally posted by Pradip Bhat:
I think there should be taxes like ERP in Singapore for these kinds of cars. What about parking space ? You will need to rent a house with parking space I think Govt. should take blame for this.

:roll:

So you mean to say gas guzzler's, costing ton's, confirming to no pollution control standards is ok, but the nano is not.

Have you been listening to too much of sunita narain lately..?

[marc weber]

Originally posted by Chris Baron:
...the wheels are way to tiny.

They only look small because the photo has no reference for scale. In fact, this is an enormous vehicle, well over 11 feet in height. Each tire is almost 3 feet in diameter.

( :roll: )

[John Smith]

Originally posted by marc weber:

They only look small because the photo has no reference for scale. In fact, this is an enormous vehicle, well over 11 feet in height.
( :roll: )

The manufacturer's press release says that the height is 1.6 meters, which is about 5.25 feet.

http://www.tatamotors.com/our_world/press_releases.php?ID=340&action=Pull

[Pradeep bhatt]

Originally posted by Chris Baron:
Oh, what is 1 lakh? Why is it the equivalent of $2500?
Is it a number-word, or is it something real? Like a gold bullion or a piece of land of a certain size?

1 lac = 1,00,00
1 crore = 1,00,00,000

Read about Indian numbering system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_numbering_system


Invest in Tata motors
http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/views/investtata-motors-g-shah/03/20/320722

[Tim Holloway]

Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:
The discussion of this car on Slashdot was pretty entertaining. It's really not much more than a high-end lawnmower with doors.

Actually, that sounds more like the first Honda we owned. I swear the engine said "Briggs & Stratton" on it. Drove it up a high-rise bridge and was tempted to simply jump out and push to make it go faster. Parked it sloppy once - went partway into a ditch and it was less work to just grab the bumpers and heave it out than to get back in, restart the engine and back it out. And that was back when I was a skinny underfed kid, not the sleek, muscular creature I am today. Er.

Actually, I'm sort of depressed. What would be much more exciting than an affordable Indian edition of the same-old, same-old would be if they'd come up with something not merely more affordable, but technologically better than Yet Another Internal Combustion vehicle. Something that could get people places without using up resources faster than they can be replaced. Something, in fact, to make Detroit squeal with envy.

I really do hope these things burn cleaner than a lawnmower engine, though. Los Angeles gets a heavier pollution hit from lawnmowers than it does from its cars.

[Devesh H Rao]

Originally posted by Tim Holloway:

Actually, I'm sort of depressed. What would be much more exciting than an affordable Indian edition of the same-old, same-old would be if they'd come up with something not merely more affordable, but technologically better than Yet Another Internal Combustion vehicle.

I guess a bit of cognizance will help alleviate your depression.

Tata Motors has applied for 34 different patents just for the small car Nano, and in excess of 200 patents for various other innovations to create a cost-efficient new technology for its future cars

And it is not a simple case of stripping away to make it cheap. Services can work on a cost cutting model, manufacturing does not. To pare costs either a new paradigm needs to be introduced to make it affordable. it does not work like, do away with a axle or a crankshaft to cut costs.

To keep all the basic requirements intact, monoque body, no plastics, emission and fuel efficiency standards, decent speed, impact protection more than the two wheelers which it targets to replace and in the price at which all this is put together, if it was as straightforward as just same old would be why was it not done till now? Does not tell the story in itself. Imagine a Suzuki and Honda to have eat the words on it cannot be done comment. This is not anything to do with a superiority complex more like

�Yes it is true it cannot be done, by you folks. But we will do it anyways kinds�

Originally posted by Tim Holloway:


Something that could get people places without using up resources faster than they can be replaced. Something, in fact, to make Detroit squeal with envy.

On road stated mileage is 23 KMPL(Kilometer per litre) which is around 54 MPG (miles per gallon), and it does that at a pretty decent 105 KMPH or 65 MPH good enough for city driving.

Fuel efficiency

Originally posted by Tim Holloway:

I really do hope these things burn cleaner than a lawnmower engine, though. Los Angeles gets a heavier pollution hit from lawnmowers than it does from its cars.

Carbon footprint

From the above URL

The People�s Car�s tailpipe emission performance exceeds regulatory requirements. ..... 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.

Do you even want me to give a carbon footprint comparison to, say maybe a humvee?

For all nonsense about increased pollution, give me a break, at a 1-1 comparison with any car(or in some cases even some two wheelers) on the Indian street as of today a nano will have a smaller carbon footprint. So if say a half a million nano�s get sold it means lesser environmental impact than half a million any other car that would have got sold over a period of time. It also puts out of business second hand car markets which sold junks and refurbished crash test models.

Why is this so difficult for some to understand escapes me?

Anyways to expect something on this lines from the tata group is expected, they are one of the most environmentally and social conscious groups in the world. The group is held by the tata trust which plough back profits into environmental and social issues, one of the projects to look out for in the near future is



Tata Projects

Water purification

"Anything that we can do to reduce disparity," was Tata's reply to editors when asked about his next big dream.
In this case, his dream is to come up with a "low cost (water) purification system"

And they are into bio-engineering so expect affordable medicines as well in the near future.
[ January 12, 2008: Message edited by: Devesh H Rao ]

[Chris Baron]

Here's more: according to this BBC video Tata also supported the revolutionary air car that runs on compressed air. Pretty cool concept.

[Chris Baron]

Originally posted by marc weber:

They only look small because the photo has no reference for scale. In fact, this is an enormous vehicle, well over 11 feet in height. Each tire is almost 3 feet in diameter.

( :roll: )

Just to clarify. My comment wasn't about the looks, but the roadholding. Even the smaller smart has larger tires but it's still a little bumpy.
[ January 12, 2008: Message edited by: Chris Baron ]

[Pat Farrell]

Originally posted by Sai Surya:

If TATA makes it battery operated, it would be somewhat better.

Problem with battery powered cars (other then where you plug it in, etc.) is that batteries are expensive and heavy. They require the whole car to be heavier, with bigger tires, brakes, etc. It starts a death spiral.

But for pure city use, you could use small batteries, say to have a 50 km range, and it wouldn't be too bad.

Oh yeah, also batteries are really evil to dispose of. Made of bad chemicals, etc.

[Arvind Mahendra]

Id get one if nothing else then just to replace my dingy old scooter which I have to kick Sh** out of every time to get to nearby places. Its great though cause of the exercise I get from doing this, but I guess if the nano breaks down with no spare tyre in the back one would have to push this around too. I think TATA's next futuristic car should be one thats even smaller, can be folded and packed into a suitcase to carry around. The nano comes close though!

[Aj Mathia]

Originally posted by Prad Dip:


1 lac = 1,00,00

You missed a 0
1 lakh = 1,00,000

[Jim Yingst]

So, are the commas random, or is there some hidden scheme that's being followed?

And why is it that terms like "lakh" and "crore" regularly occur in conversations which are otherwise in English? Is it too hard to translate these concepts?

[Manish Hatwalne]

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:

And why is it that terms like "lakh" and "crore" regularly occur in conversations which are otherwise in English? Is it too hard to translate these concepts?

Languages & cultures other than English/American had different means of expressing numbers in formats/denominations other than those followed by Americans. There are other words than Thousand, Million etc. Fortunately, English language gas been accommodating enough to include these words as part of English dictionary.

Lakh - http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/lakh
Crore - http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/crore

Why insist some concepts, parameters, measurements to be "translated" or converted to native language/format, instead of understanding them as another way of defining something? Guess that's what cultural sensitivity is all about!

So Lakh is another way of saying "hundred thousand" in English, which finds its etymological roots in Hindi/Urdu (two languages spoken in India)!

- Manish

[Akhilesh Trivedi]

I believe its because "lakh" and "crore" have mixed too well with English here.

http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=%22forty+lakhs%22+%22five+crores%22&spell=1

Origin of 'lakh' is from 'laakh' in hindi. Some even prefer writing it as 'lac'.

And commas are not random. If put, then traversing from right to left the first comma appears after three digit and then on, its always two digits skip. Though "hundred thousand" and "one lakh" mean the same, one prefers calling it "one lakh" over "hundred thousand". Same is the case with 'one crore' and 'hundred lakhs'.

[Arjunkumar Shastry]

 
Number Sanskrit English equivalent 
1 ekam one 
10 dasham ten 
100 shatam hundred 
1 000 sahasra thousand 
10 000 dasha-sahasra ten thousand 
100 000 laksha hundred thousand 
1 000 000 dasha-laksha million 
10 000 000 koti ten million 
100 000 000 dasha-koti hundred million 
1 000 000 000 abja billion 
10 000 000 000 kharva ten billion 
100 000 000 000 nikharva hundred billion 
1 000 000 000 000 padma trillion 
10 000 000 000 000 mahapadma ten trillion 
100 000 000 000 000 shankhu hundred trillion 
1 000 000 000 000 000 jaladhi quadrillion 
10 000 000 000 000 000 antya ten quadrillion 
100 000 000 000 000 000 madhya hundred quadrillion 
1 000 000 000 000 000 000 parardha quintillion 
   

ref

[Arjunkumar Shastry]

 
Number Sanskrit English equivalent 
1 ekam one 
10 dasham ten 
100 shatam hundred 
1 000 sahasra thousand 
10 000 dasha-sahasra ten thousand 
100 000 laksha hundred thousand 
1 000 000 dasha-laksha million 
10 000 000 koti ten million 
100 000 000 dasha-koti hundred million 
1 000 000 000 abja billion 
10 000 000 000 kharva ten billion 
100 000 000 000 nikharva hundred billion 
1 000 000 000 000 padma trillion 
10 000 000 000 000 mahapadma ten trillion 
100 000 000 000 000 shankhu hundred trillion 
1 000 000 000 000 000 jaladhi quadrillion 
10 000 000 000 000 000 antya ten quadrillion 
100 000 000 000 000 000 madhya hundred quadrillion 
1 000 000 000 000 000 000 parardha quintillion 
   

ref

[Jim Yingst]

Manish - yes, English is a Proto-Indo-European language, along with many others. This is not news. Most linguists would not say that its roots in in Hindi or Urdu; rather, they share common roots from another language, long dead. But so what? Should we than drop random bits of French, Farsi, Polish or Gaelic into our posts, and expect others to look them up as necessary? Yes, we could say it's in the name of "cultural sensitivity" :roll: , but there are distinct benefits to using a shared language.

Your attempt to characterize this difference as one between Indian and American doesn't really wash, either. The UK abandoned the long scale decades ago. Other than that, English-speaking countries are quite uniform in their terminology for numbers. Aside from lakh and crore, of course. I'm glad that Merriam-Webster includes those terms, since other English speakers may need to look them up while communicating with Indians. But that doesn't mean the terms are generally understood by non-Indians.

I'm all for encouraging people to learn about other cultures. But at the same time, I think it's useful to note when something is obscuring understanding. And in the case of lakh and crore, I think they generally hinder communication, when used in conversations with anyone not from India.

To be fair, in his original post, Rambo did provide a translation of not only the number but also the currency. Which was much appreciated.

In other news, the compressed-air car sounds very promising, and I think it's great that Tata is supporting such a product.