The Country has been waiting for the TATA’s Rs 1 Lakh car, for years now. There had been talks on the looks, the performance and everything. And yesterday, at the 9th Annual Auto Expo, held in New Delhi, it was unveiled for the world to see. The car is christened as Nano.
With the first look at the pics of Nano, I was impressed. And as the day passed on, and various tit-bits trickled in, my appreciation for Nano has been increasing. The fact that Nano meets the Euro IV emission norms or that it has passed the safety norms (atleast of India), has further increased my respect for this effort done by the TATA’s. It further embraces us with the fact that, they have not simply made Nano with a goal to deliver a cheap car to the general public that has been clubbed together to reduce the cost, but a well thought car with stylic design, and value for money without compromising on Safety or the Environment.
Various sentiments, of the negative tone have been expressed about the project on the whole. Things like the effect on environment or the over-crowding of the infrastructure which is almost on it last breadth. But are these reasons enough to deprive the layman of the comfort which he has so cherished in his heart. The original dream of the late Sanjay Gandhi, the dream of giving a safe and reliable car to the very common man !! And for all those Pachauris and Narains, the car has claimed to be less polluting then the normal two-wheeler on the road. The fact that it meets the emission norms of both the present and the future. I don’t understand that why the environmentalist don’t see the black cloud that comes out of every monster(in the form of trucks, lorries and buses) on the Indian roads or those luxury sedans that guzzle up enough fuel with which 2 normal Indian cars would have run the same distance?? And don’t they see that irritating auto-rickshaw, with its white smoke, and testing noise on the roads. Don’t they feel the need to remove that from our roads. Then why should the complain on the launch of this car, simply for the fact that the common man will be able to afford it ?? Had it been launched at the price tag of Rs 2 Lakh or above, nobody would be complaining, for they don’t on the launch of any other car, which are launched every 3 months or so.I guess this echoes the idea to deprive the common man of owning a good car at a cheap price and that the luxury of having a car would be of a select few elite.
I do agree, our infrastructure seem like to be walking its last walk, but instead of finding a solution, stopping innovation and that too meaningful innovation, is not the solution. Given that the size of the car is pretty small, the menace of parking and traffic would reduce if replace all the cars on the road with the 800s or the Nanos. So instead of condemning the TATAs for coming out with a strategy and idea to give cars to the general public, I think our traffic sensitive community should be urging all those luxury car and SUV owners to shift to the smaller vehicles. Will that not decrease their pain of traffic?? Everyone looks at their own comfort first. And no doubt TATAs would have looked at that too, to increase their market share, to increase their profit margin. But at the same time, they have looked at what the general public is lacking. For surely I have seen those families, with what effort and courage do they ride two-wheelers and for surely, they will welcome NANO at its mileage and price. And definitely with a product like this and more, this will mean boon to all those families !!
I don’t know whether NANO will be a hit or not, but I do hope it is. !! And even though I stand no where, I still commend this effort, this product from the TATAs. I commend the zeal with which they have taken up the challenge. I commend their will to defy the norms, their will to Ideate and Innovate. And I hope this trend will continue !!
(PS : Did you notice, TATA has always been in the CAPS !!)
Tags: jlt !!! by Kid
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