Westerners may have never thought of anything except millions and billions and may have found any other term (like lakhs crores) a source of unwanted confusion. But on 11 th Jan 2008 this other part of the world was seeing the videos of an Indian car launch across all major US/UK news channels, After all the world’s cheapest car was launched, priced at 1 lakh Indian Rupees. Many minds were stressed to figure out what exactly that means, probably near about 5000$( Current cheapest car model the Chinese Chery QQ3),
Calculations started trickling in, and astonished many,1 lakh Indian Rupees equals only $2500. WOW!
All Auto journals around the world were awe struck by this car, for $2500 an Indian company is offering a real car. A French reporter exclaimed “It seems like a real car. The windows actually wind down”
The nation watched the event closely; our news hungry news channels had a hot property at hand, something in which everyone was interested (unlike Jurm/Sansanee – wo maut ki saudagar, Vish-kanya etc). The common man wanted to see if the promise made 
by TATA was actually fulfilled, can he afford the “four wheeler” so that he need not do daily acrobatics to load 2 adults and three kids on his poor scooter, is he really getting a car within his limited budget and if it is anything more than a glorified AutoRickshaw?
The other opposite segment was curious to see if it is actually possible to have a car at 1 lakh Rupees.. and then in the modern world you always have a third category..some people who drive in their own patrol guzzlers to these sites to lead a protest on the name of Green-peace and environment protection.
The event got an unprecedented coverage, news channels were gearing up for the event for the last 3-4 days, and the live streaming started on some channels as much as 1 hour before the actual magic started to roll.
Hundreds of photographers were elbowing each other to get the best shot of the People’s car, while hundreds of teenagers also flocked to the Pragati maidaan to witness the history in making.
I am not interested in covering the event, that has already been covered all over media and anyway I am writing what I saw or read in the media so no point in doing that..
What I want to portray is the tremendous interest the event generated,
How years of hard work from a team of 500 engineers and anticipation from millions condensed into one moment of sensation.
Curiously I looked at interesting discussions going on various forums of some US and
One thing that was evident was that its something that catches everyone’s imagination, its not an incremental product, actually it’s a potential revolution, something that can create a storm at the world level. The
I am not pegging all my hopes on this tiny car, probably that will be a bit too much for a 624 cc car, but if you see the larger picture its a lot more than a car. Its a strong statement about the
Before the Software/Services saga, we were known as a nation of snake charmers, then it was changed but it was really not enough, all of our success was attributed to our cheap labour force. A colonial view will say that the Indian software industry had to succeed despite their questionable quality .. after all Indian engineers come at one fifth the price.
..who cares and who will believe that you are as capable as we are!
Probably for the first time we are getting out of that cheap labour mould, the nano is not only about cheap labour, its about a vision, a promise, about aspirations of millions, top design work and courage. Had the cheap labour been the driving force, the Suzuki’s and Hyndai’s of the world who operate and manufacture in India would not have termed the project as impossibility and insanity.[ Statements made by Osamu Suzuki — “Tata will not be able to make a one lakh car” — flashed on large screens during Ratan TATA’s presentation. Cudos!!]
It’s the first time when the world is looking at
We as a nation lack such real Heroes, Probably the last time we saw them were in the form of Dheeru Bhai Ambani and JRD. But now we have another in the form of Ratanji TATA who believes in his, his team’s and his nation’s capability. A person who took over the major responsibility in 1993 after the demise of JRD, has made many bold statements. Probably the most significant of them were entering into car market (Indiaca’s success story), Tetley and then Corus(mother of all Indian acqs) acquisition.
Even five years back a 1 lakh Rupees Car was not a joke(or should i say that it sounded like one?), Car prices were still very much the same as they are now…Steel and Oil prices have soared considerably from then but still TATAs have managed to fulfill what they promised. “A promise is a promise,” Ratan Tata said during the presentation.
The kind of coverage that TATA got could make some so called richest persons of the world/India feel a bit uneasy. But it shows a big reality ..”You think about the common man and the world will think about you if you are honest about it”. The common man is once again in focus..at least for some days..Bajaj is planning something similar in collaboration with Renault. Probably this common man will come into focus in other industries as well.
The true success of TATA nano will be decided in another one year or so, but the kind of inquiries that TATA showrooms are catering to in the smallest and farthest towns/small cities in India, the kind of Thumbs-up it got from international/national auto media and Indian Auto industry is enough to conclude that if the whole journey matches the debut than this car will redefine the Auto industry of this country and who knows, it may redefine the whole country as well. As it inspires millions of youngsters like me to be proud of what we are..INDIANS!!
I Salute you Mr. TATA, Jai Hind!!
Although I feel terrible to miss the buzz about it, but as I sit here, I feel absolutely proud of what TATA has achieved.
This will have far reaching positive consequences for India as a nation. 🙂
Your blog title is extremely meaningful, and yes btw, thanks for reminding me of Jurm/Sansanee – wo maut ki saudagar, Vish-kanya etc 😛
Yes, I am also a proud Indian today and would join in to say in unison, “Yes, we can do it”.
And I am sure we’ll be all over one day.
Hmm we can surely do it.
While going through the interviews and presentation of Ratan TATA and looking at the fact that TATA is supposed to make a wafer-thin margin of about 4k on every such car sold, one thing that is evident is the honesty about the mission and the larger vision of enabling the Indian middle class with a form of affordable and comfortable means of transport.
If we think about it, it is actually very difficult to do in business. Usually all big leaders start with a vision+profit intention, and during the course of action the market realities take control and the whole mission is forgotten for being ahead in the race.
Its not a joke to invest 1700 crores on the R&D of a potential project over 4-5 years and then take a low margin to fulfill the dream and to keep the promise. I mean when they are so cheap compared to their nearest competitor, it probably makes business sense for them to charge say 10 k more.
I mean look at Reliance telecom..started with Dheeru Bhai’s vision of ultra-cheap telecommunication for the masses..but somewhere down the lane all that was forgotten amidst the competition and today Reliance Telecom is just another telecom company fighting for market share..Ambanis are just another business tycoons fighting for money..And much ahead of them there is Ratan TATA, basking in the glory of his achievements. He may not be the richest one but surely the most admired business leader of today’s India.
@Anunay
was at home during the new year eve…got a serious torture from these hindi news channels!
@ Abhishek
thanks for visiting the space and post some new stuff in ur blog as well. though I empathize with on the issue of time constraints 🙂
It was good to read your blog post about Nano. Interesting perspective, informative.