The Small Wonder

After a long hype and much furore, the Tatas have drawn the curtain off the much awaited "Car of the people". The dealer price being Rs 1 Lac, the buyer just has to pay the extra VAT and other taxes. Apart from the standard edition, two more variations will be manufactured, one of them being air-conditioned. Though the critics suspect performance issues and declare it "not-safe", the Tatas have enough facts to dodge the criticisms.
Expected to make the market debu in mid 2008, the "Nano" has already created jitters in the automobile world. It boasts almost all the features of a modern car and is still priced much less than the other "small-car" variants of different companies.

The 'Nano' is expected to intensify the race in the already competitive automobile market of India. Other companies such as Maruti and Hyundai will certainly come up with something matching. After all, if Tatas can do it, so can someone else. In the end, its the consumers who are going to benefit from this bid of the automobile giants to tap the hitherto neglected section of consumers - "the lower middle class". People are having apprehensions regarding the performance and so am I. Remember the time when reliance phones were launched, priced at Rs 500? "Kar lo duniya mutthi mein (Grab the world in ur fist)" . Dhirubhai Ambani's dream to give the cellphone in common man's hand. It started with a band and a much publicized hype, but the bubble burst soon. The boat has steadied a bit now, but soon after it's launch, the issues came to light - bad network, poor connectivity, and a hundred other complaints.

But I prefer be optimistic and hope for the success of this latest "popular" venture of Tata Motors. I hope all goes well and Mr Tata is able to deliver his vision to many of those families, one of which - a family of 4 he saw dangling on a two wheeler and for which he dreamt to provide a much safer a affordable means of personal mobility - gave him the idea for his latest product.