By Adil Jal Darukhanawala             12 January 2008

View :Tata Nano Special Coverage

"A promise is a promise", said Ratan Tata as he wrapped up his high tech address to deliver the low down on his dream project - the Tata peoples' car. If there was a hint of emotion in his voice, he could be excused but no it was just his passion unfolding. A passion of not just delivering on his promise but probably showing the way forward to an all-new segment in the global automotive world. This is exactly what has stumped everyone - what Tata essentially tried to provide by way of a simple solution has massive ramifications to the actual manner in which a car is built, both in India and the rest of the impoverished world.

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The Tata Nano has knocked its critics and the competition into touch, of that there is no doubt. And the reason was there for all to see at the Auto Expo: it is not an apology of a car as many would have liked to have drummed into the unsuspecting. It is a properly thought-out design, efficiently packaged so as to use just so much material and not more, is safe (meets the frontal crash test limits and also the off-set and side-impact crash test legislation abroad), has a modern yet simple drive train which delivers performance as intended, can seat four in comfort, has all-weather protection, is contemporarily styled and is both fuel efficient and spews tail pipe emissions lower than some two-wheelers on the market. In fact, this is a car which the greens should embrace rather than oppose in their zealously misguided pontification.

Lets look at design which is not just style but the entire Nano package and the housing of all its aggregates. The Nano has a monovolume style to it but with clever thought to enhance useable occupant space on one hand while reducing the overall length to occupy even lesser space on the road. At just a shade over 3.0 metres in length and 1.5 metres wide, the Nano has a twin-cylinder engine that has been placed horizontally flat at the rear and drives the rear wheels via a four-speed transaxle. The placement of the engine has helped deliver a low flat floor and exceedingly good cabin space which with an upright seating stance helps the four occupants survive the cut and thrust of the city commute with reasonable comfort. Given its proportions, the car should also be very easy to manoeuvre and that is a good thing, be it in the urban or the rural operating environment.

Lets look at design which is not just style but the entire Nano package and the housing of all its aggregates. The Nano has a monovolume style to it but with clever thought to enhance useable occupant space on one hand while reducing the overall length to occupy even lesser space on the road. At just a shade over 3.0 metres in length and 1.5 metres wide, the Nano has a twin-cylinder engine that has been placed horizontally flat at the rear and drives the rear wheels via a four-speed transaxle. The placement of the engine has helped deliver a low flat floor and exceedingly good cabin space which with an upright seating stance helps the four occupants survive the cut and thrust of the city commute with reasonable comfort. Given its proportions, the car should also be very easy to manoeuvre and that is a good thing, be it in the urban or the rural operating environment.

The incredulous zeal to reduce weight, so as to garner the best on-road fuel efficiency has seen Tata come up with tubeless tyres on the Nano, innovative bonding technology of glass to the metal - employed on the tailgate, the ribbed roof to build in more strength and rigidity without adding more material have all played small but critical roles in slashing materials costs and weight resulting in the high fuel efficiency the company claims for the car.

Operating costs are going to be as crucial as the low base price which Tata Motors intends to sell the car for. And given that it would be the 100cc motorcycle user who would delight in such a car, the Nano will also deliver big on the operational front. Tata Motors clain that the Nano in actual use will do better than 20 kilometres to a litre of IOC's best and that is both bold yet eminently achievable given the entire set-up and how the car has been engineered.

One of the TV channels asked me a question as to whether Tata Motors had done the math right as regards the Rs 100,000/00 price point to the consumer (delivery and VAT not included). The simple answer to getting the maths right on such a low-cost high volume car is to get the physics right so as to make it a profitable rather than a philanthropic exercise. The 500-strong team at Tata Motors' famed ERC (Engineering Research Centre) has done just that under Girish Wagh. The holy grail in the automotive world today is all about large car makers trying to harness their capabilities and skill sets to meet the notional US $3000/00 mark. Volkswagen, Toyota, Renault and a few others have spoken quite fervently on attaining such a cost and price target since the last two years.

And this is where an Indian auto maker has redefined the very tenets of the game and showed everyone else how the game has to be played. Nano truly is the new big and presently only Tata Motors has the big picture clearly outlined. So it's back to the drawing boards then, not just for Suzuki which was the biggest detractor of this concept, but also for everyone else in the global automotive world who said the concept goals were unattainable. Gentlemen, a confident India has shown you all up. Mera Bharat Mahan!