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Tata Motor’s air car to be reality soon!

Arun Prabhudesai — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:01:00 +0000

We had written about Tata’s Air Car called miniCat on Trak.in back in 2008. Fast forward to 2012, a recent update and press release on Tata Motor’s website hints that a compressed air car could be on Indian roads in the coming years. News reports too, suggest that Tata Motor could be in the process of setting up manufacturing plants to build them.

The press release on Tata Motor’s website mentioned

"The first phase of this programme – proof of the technical concept in Tata Motors vehicles – has now been successfully completed with the compressed air engine concept having been demonstrated in two Tata Motors vehicles. In the second phase of the development, the two companies are working together to complete detailed development of the technology and required technical processes to industrialise a market ready product application over the coming years."

The other company here is Motor Development International (MDI) based in Luxemburg. MDI has been researching and developing air-powered vehicles since the year 2000. It displayed its first prototype variants of OneCat at the New York Car Show in 2008. Tata has partnered with MDI to use its technology to develop a compressed air car in India.

Such a car can either be powered entirely by compressed air or can work on a hybrid platform integrated with traditional fuels like petrol, diesel or electricity. The air is stored in tanks that need to be strong so that they don’t rupture under the stress of holding immense air pressure per square inch, and in case of accidents.

A possible hurdle that could be coming in way of Tata Motor’s ambitious plans is the fact that compressed air would need to be cooled down in the tank of the car. If it heats up, it may expand and loose a significant amount of pressure leading to loss of available energy. There are also reports that such tanks may take hours to fill up with use of traditionally available mechanisms.

In the years of research that has been done on air powered vehicles, the range of such a car has always been an issue. Power is also not something that these cars can brag about. It would be fundamental to assume that reducing the power consumed to run the car would result in higher range. But when power itself is scarce, how will Tata going to develop a vehicle that copes up with either or both deficiencies?

We can speculate all we want but there is little denying that a functional compressed air car will rock the automobile and many other industries.

A vehicle that runs solely on compressed air may virtually forgo the use of traditional fossil fuels. Alternatively, a hybrid engine that runs on compressed air supported by traditional fuel will still require less amounts of fossil fuel. Compressed air motors have been used in the industry since many decades.

Handheld pneumatic tools powered by compressed air are still a mainstay in auto shops around the world.

If Tata Motors emerges with a viable, affordable and practical production model of a compressed air car in the coming years, it could very well be a pioneering effort that will go down as a first of its kind. Reduced emissions will be a boon to the environment and lesser dependence on fossil fuels will reduce our carbon footprint.

The Tata Group is no stranger to innovation. In fact, the group’s leadership got ranked 5th in Asia in a recent survey by consulting giant Hay Group. Innovation was one of the main reasons why Tata Group was featured in its list of best leadership companies.

Tata Motors has pioneered Tata Nano which is the smallest production car in the world and took the Indian automobile industry by a storm, making affordability the name of the game. Today, major auto giants are going all guns blazing to capture the small car segment.

Could Tata’s compressed air car be the next big thing to grab our traditional automobile industry by its neck?

Tata Nano 800cc variant Coming soon: Will it succeed in the Entry-level car segment?

Viral Dholakia — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:18:52 +0000

Business daily ET reported yesterday that Tata Nano is all set to resurrect its image from an ultra-low cost ‘People’s Car’ to a more powerful variant with an 800cc 3-cylinder engine to tap the entry-level segment in the four-wheeler car market.

This decision by Tatas to revolutionize the petit car comes with a number of caveats, and to allay down-market brand image of the vehicle in the light of various technical snags, including Nano going on fire on mid-roads, causing fear among the ultra-cheap car users.

Logically, the 800cc Nano is likely to increase the appeal of the small car with its more powerful engine and better pick-up to ride on the Indian roads, as compared to its current 624cc engine variant, which is one of the lowest by industry standards.

However, the powerful engine module would drive up costs for the Nano – leading to shift in its USP of being a cheap car to being pitted in competitive entry-level car segment, already crowded by the likes of Maruti Alto, Hyundai Eon and Chevrolet Spark. Most of these entry-level vehicles sport a tag of Rs.2.5 lakh at ex-showroom Delhi prices, and even Nano’s 800cc variant is likely to follow the suit.

[Image source]

In my opinion, Tatas does not have any hot-selling car in the entry-level segment. They have a sensational brand in the form of ‘Indica’, but that falls above the entry-level segment, which can be termed as mid-level hatchback segment.

While, on the one hand, Tatas can boast of product-wise monopoly in the ultra-low cost car segment – with no other automobile maker present in the segment as yet; there has been a vacuum in the entry-level car segment for the Tatas since a long time now.

For long, Maruti has led the entry-level segment with its best-selling Maruti 800 model – which is now in a gradual phase-out mode; and continues its strong hold on the segment with its 800cc Alto and 1000cc-engine upgraded Alto K10 model.

However, what concerns me is why someone would buy an 800cc Nano when so many tried and tested four-wheeler alternatives are available in the entry-level segment. Probably, a Nano will always be a Nano with the accompanying imagery of a poor man’s car.

Rather, Tatas could have re-modeled a newly branded car in the 800cc engine, looking at the broad technical support and know-how that the company boasts of in the automobile sector.

Moreover, Tatas have already pushed the sales of its new Tata Nano 2012 model – tweaked with new design for seats and headrests, all-beige interior theme, rear-view mirrors on both sides, four new attractive shades and a more powerful ride with 37 bhp of power and 51 nm of torque.

In addition, with Nano being originally envisaged as a low-cost car, the management could have further driven its cause by turning the wheels of Nano to hybrid fuel technology alternatives, including a turning it into an low-cost electric vehicle, amidst screaming fuel prices.

What’s your view on Tata’s plan to venture into a more powerful 800cc Nano?

eMO: Tata’s fully engineered Cheap Electric Car unveiled in Detroit!

Arun Prabhudesai — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:59:43 +0000

Tata has added another feather to its already crowded cap! They have unveiled a prototype of a approx. USD 20,000 electric car that can easily carry four passengers. The reason it should make us proud is because it has been fully engineered by Tata Technologies showing their immense capability. The similar electric cars from rivals are much more expensive!

According to the eMo website, the retail price point of USD 20,000 for this Electric Vehicle is without any Federal or State Government incentives!

By building a prototype of eMO, Tata has demonstrated to the world that it is possible to build an electric vehicle with an attractive price. Auto Experts are already skeptical of it and saying that Tata eMO will never become a reality and eMO will “never be made”!

eMo Electric Vehicle was built by Tata Technologies’ Vehicle Programs & Development (VPD) Group (and not Tata Motors), with more than 300 engineers operating from its four automotive engineering centers of excellence worldwide – Pune (India), Detroit, Coventry (UK), and Stuttgart (Germany).

eMo is an amazing feat that has been achieved by the engineers at Tata. In the summer of 2010, in anticipation of launching the Vehicle Programs and Development group, Tata Technologies decided to create a complete vehicle as an internal engineering study. eMo was the result!

Check out the eMO promotional Video

[more pictures & videos]

Tata has been forefront in innovation and Automotive engineering. They have been researching on Air Car. And now, they launched a prototype of a Cheap Electric car in a span of less than 18 months of conception. It’s a feat that has been achieved by very few companies in the world, leave alone India.

What do you think about this new eMO Electric Vehicle?

Gujarat: Fast becoming The Detroit of India?

Kaushambi — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:45:24 +0000

We all know that Detroit has been an automobile hub because it is home to GM, Ford and Chrysler. Gujarat, too, the way it is attracting Automobile giants, is poised to be the next big automobile hub, not only for India even internationally.

Fewer bureaucratic issues, transparency and no apparent labour problems are driving one automobile giant after another to enter Gujarat for production.

Let’s take a look at how it all started and how Gujarat is poised to be the star of the 7^th largest vehicle manufacturing country in the world.

2009: Tata Nano

Originally meant to be set up in West Bengal, the Tata Nano plant came up in Sanand after a long delay and a monetary loss caused by political hurdles in West Bengal. A large part of this switch was attributable to the strong leadership of Narendra Modi who was elemental in convincing Mr. Ratan Tata to bring the Nano plant to Gujarat.

The new Tata Nano plant is located in Sanand, a small city which is about a 30 minute drive from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. For those of you who are interested in numbers, the Tata Nano plant is located on a massive 1,100 acre space and after an on-going investment of more than Rs. 2,000 crore.

2011: Ford

Taking advantage of streamlined and transparent dealing with the Gujarat Government authorities, in July 2011, Ford officially announced that it would be setting up a plant in Gujarat. The facility will be located in Sanand, in the same region as the plant for Tata Nano.

It was announced that the Ford Plant in Gujarat would commence production from 2014 and will have an annual initial capacity of 240,000 vehicles. This facility is also expected to generate about 5000 jobs and total investment is pegged at whooping USD 1 Billion. Again, stunning numbers and a stellar deal for Gujarat to secure the investment of one of the world’s largest automobile giant.

2011: Peugeot Citroen

Not wanting to be left alone, Peugeot and the officials of the Gujarat government signed an agreement in late August 2011 to set up a plant, again in Sanand. Much similar to Ford, Peugeot expects to commence production in the Sanand plant by about 2014.

Peugeot’s facility is set to come up on a 600 acre site with investment pegged at Rs. 4,000 crore. Similar to Tata and Ford, Narendra Modi’s government was instrumental in bringing Peugeot to Gujarat, making Sanand officially an automotive hub.

2011: Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki had been desperately trying to ward off labour problems and political unrest in its Gurgaon and Manesar plants. After suffering massive financial losses, Maruti Suzuki decided to set up a manufacturing facility in Gujarat. Maruti Suzuki’s facility is planned on a massive 1,400 acre spread and production is expected to commence by 2015.

Existing Automobile players

Before the influx of these automobile giants in Gujarat, there were other companies already flourishing in the state. The likes of General Motors in Halol, Apollo Tyres in Limda, Asia Motor Works in Bhuj and CEAT have already set up base in Gujarat.

What makes Gujarat tick?

Apart from the very obvious efforts put in by the Gujarat Government under the capable hands of Narenda Modi, Gujarat also seems to offer other advantages to car manufacturers. Here are a few highlights.

Ports of Gujarat (Mundra, Kandla and Pipavav) offer manufacturers a cheaper option to export vehicles to Western countries
Good connectivity in terms of roads and other utilities like electricity and water
Easy connectivity by road to various hubs in the country – Gujarat has about 35% of the proposed Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).
Various Special Investment Regions and Special Economic Zones that allow businesses and companies to avail tax benefits and a host of other state concessions including a fast track approval

Here is what Mr. Narendra Modi had to say while Peugeot was signing the paperwork for its plant in Gujarat.

"We wanted to encourage our engineering sector as a result of which a lot of automotive companies have come to the state. Gujarat is moving towards becoming a global automotive manufacturing hub and shall become backbone of Indian automotive sector"

Looking at these developments, one can definitely say that Gujarat is fast becoming the Detroit of not only India but probably the Detroit of the East!

What’s your take?

Tata Nano gets costlier – Is the Price hike Justified? Yes, of course!!

Viral Dholakia — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:12:00 +0000

Tata Nano denies remaining out of buzz! The people’s car was recently in news on account rumors of going topless – however, there is no confirmatory news from the management about any such conversion-led models.

But, most of the times the little Nano has remained strangled in the negative news – be it roadblocks on account of agitating Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee-led Singur row or the small car getting drubbed by a couple of unfortunate fire incidents when it actually hit the roads.

Even this time around it’s not so conducive news from the manufacturer of Nano – Tata Motors – which created a history in early 2008 while it unveiled the world’s cheapest car at the 9^th Auto Expo in New Delhi. In a latest, Tata Motors has said that Nano cars will be priced 3-4% higher due to steep increase in input costs.

However, the company will not raise the prices for the first 1 lakh bookings as per their promise during the launch. The reputed Tatas had promised the lowest ranged Nano model to be sold at Rs.1.23 lakh for ex-showroom price at Delhi.

As many as 45000 units of the people’s car were sold over the last one year. The sales are expected to pick up as the company’s factory at Sanand in Gujarat, which has the capacity to produce a minimum of 2, 50,000 units annually, has been operational since a couple of months now. The delivery from the Sanand outlet had reached more than 7000 cars in June 2010.

Now, coming to the point – have input costs really surged? Yes, currently, the raw material prices of base metals are way higher than the one that prevailed during the Nano’s launch – although they seem to have cooled down a bit during the last 1 month.

In fact, most of the domestic carmakers – which sell their cars at much higher margins than that of Tata’s Nano – have raised the 4-wheeler prices at least TWICE this year.

One such hike in the car prices has been effective immediately after the Union Budget 2010 on account of 2% increase in excise duties. The other one has been effective from the month of April, on account of up-gradation costs involved in conforming to the stricter emission norms for the vehicles.

Thus, all this while, Tatas have loyally stuck to its promise to allot cars, at the promised tags, to its first 1 lakh valued customers. In my opinion, a potential hike of 3-4% is not a big issue and a clear testimony to the fact that the reputed company is no mood to claim unfair benefit of a steep price hike to cash-in from its robust order book position for Nano.

What’s your take on this?

WoW ! Tata Nano going topless ?

Viral Dholakia — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:57:00 +0000

Tata Nano – the car has been in the constant news either for its ultra-cheap price, petit model or the back-to-back fire incidents that gutted the vehicle more recently. Prima facie, Nano has its value deeply rooted in terms of innovation to match its economical needs.

So, would you like to go for a long drive in this small car within the comforts of its air condition or with the whiff of a fresh air blowing all over your smiling face? :D

This vehicle which is termed as a people’s car, could offer you a jazzy ride by going topless. A latest buzzing news is that auto major Tata could as well be planning to introduce the convertible version of Nano. The report says that topless Nano was spotted ferrying visitors inside the new Sanand factory in Gujarat.

One aspect that the auto major may have to determine is testing of the operational feasibility of its light-weighted vehicle and its integrity related issues. The convertible Nano may offer style to the vehicle but its safety standards may be put to test.

The company may have to evolve a unique safety standard in convertible cars to shield the passengers in case the car gets rolled-over. Also, it might not be of safest prospects to tweak the structural rigidity of this light-weight model by going for convertible roof.

A topless Nano might sounds frenzied to the youth genre, but it is more preferable a modification for a sports car with two-seater capacity rather than a family car.

The architecture also needs a close look where a convertible car must have a limited amount of open and closing space for better maneuverability. If the top begins to wear down at higher speeds, it might affect the aerodynamics of the vehicle.

What’s your view on this frenzied model?

Nano on Fire- how serious can this be?

rabigupta — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:35:26 +0000

Will you risk your life for a technology that comes cheap? I guess NO. Well, if you actually see the picture above you will be petrified and terrified before buying even an ‘Audi’ if it comes for 2 lacs. Right? But I wonder why news of ‘Nanos’ catching fire is not propagating that effectively. One reason may be this-

“One of the neighbours phoned some Tata Motors officials about the fire,” the watchman said. “Company personnel arrived soon after and put out the fire. The car was then immediately moved from the place by the owner.” Despite much effort by journalists, the identity of the car’s owner could not be established. When the mediapersons requested that they be allowed inside the bungalow to talk to the car owner, their request was denied. The owner had apparently left instructions that no media-person should be allowed to enter the bungalow premises. [Last year’s incident from Ahmedabad]

‘Nano’ has been a very ambitious project for Tata and has got extensive international exposure. Such type of news if exposed may very well put immense pressure on Tatas, which is already finding it hard to bail out “Jaguar” and “Land Rover”. But what if there is a mishap? As I learned in today’s news the owner and his family of the Brand new Nano were ‘just’ saved when they were informed by a motorist about the engine of the Car which caught fire. Since the engine of Nano is at back its almost impossible to notice the same.

I’m still surprised with the calm response from Nano- “we believe it was a one-off stray incident”, TATA spokesperson Debasis said. Tata has offered the owner a replacement or refund! WTF? Is it that simple?

As we know Tata’s great innovation was made possible not only because of Tata but because of hundreds of other vendors who joined hands to contribute towards cost savings. But I’m sure the quality parameters must have been reduced by at least 0.1% or so and if there are hundred vendors than that means a combined quality reduction of 10%. I’m not an automobile expert but this seems to be quite obvious. Moreover considering that Car is one of the most complex mechanical systems, 10% quality reduction means 100’s of other possible known/unknown issues. Since Nano project faced various other issues like ‘Singur’ it must have been difficult to run proper quality tests before getting the product in market. There was also pressure on Tata to release the product at the earliest as it was already running behind its scheduled launch date.

But even after considering all the above factors, I must reiterate that a Car catching fire is not a common issue. TATA could have been sued for millions in US for such a mishap or worse their license itself could have been cancelled. It’s a pity that life gets least priority in this politically driven country.

What’s your thought on this?

Maruti 800 To Make Its Journey Into History Books,To Phase Out Of 13 cities

Ankit Agarwal — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:30:33 +0000

The dynamics of the consumer marketplace have changed phenomenally in the last few years.In this never ending pursuit to meet customer demand, the manufacturers have been forced to revisit their products and deliver new and better product variants every now and then.Now, the whole marketplace thrives on better and new products ever so frequently that it becomes very difficult to garner a long standing memory of a product.

However, there are a few which have an immense connect with the domain they belong to.These products are not even path breaking in the current timeframe but they continue to linger in our minds.

As is clear from the title, we are talking about the good ol Maruti 800 , the defacto car for the middle class families for a long time.Maruti 800 revolutionized the auto industry in India when owning a car was a dream for many.The car was an engineering genius of its time packing good amount of features in its relatively small frame and to beat it all, a very affordable price tag.So much so, that in a car market spoilt with choices, Maruti 800 has still managed to hold its fort for 26 long years.

But, a few months from now and Maruti 800 will finally be starting its journey into the history books.The government has imposed the new BS IV norms (equivalent of EURO IV) and the car manufacturers will be allowed to sell only EURO IV compliant vehicles in the four metros and the 9 major cities including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Agra and Surat.There were talks about M 800 being retired from 11 cities a few months back but it is indeed going to happen now.

The folks at Maruti have decided not to upgrade the current EURO III compliant M-800 to EURO IV and as a result of that, have decided to retire M-800.Maruti 800 has also suffered a steady decline in sales over the last few years and a considerable amount of competition has come from its own in house Maruti Alto which seems to be much in tune with the times in terms of technology and aesthetics.So, it might be a wise decision to retire the Maruti 800 in phases.

Maruti 800 IMO has truly been the car that made India drive.I still get nostalgic recalling that most of the cars that i saw on road during my childhood were indeed dominated by Maruti 800.Everything from the product features,price,marketing seemed perfectly connected to India and this is one thing i totally feel M 800 managed to stay on the road for 26 years and still counting.Maruti will continue selling its M 800 in other cities where the EURO IV norms have not been mandated.

However, i wonder if M 800’s retirement will make it even easier for theÂ path breaking ,super affordable Tata Nano.Nano has altered the affordability factor for cars by a few notches and with M 800 phasing out, its pricing will beat other car variants fair and square.

What do you think about the phasing out of M 800? What do you think made it go on and on for a good 26 years and still retain its charm.

A Good Year For The Indian Automobile Sector

Ankit Agarwal — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:34:13 +0000

The dawn of a new year brings with it a lot of insights into what transpired in the year just gone by.In the industry , it is even more relevant when companies take a look at their Year On Year numbers.Well, the Indian Auto Sector seems to have come out tops reporting impressive numbers for the year 2009.Almost all major automakers reported increasing growth numbers.This assumes even more significance since the U.S. Automobile industry is yet to get back on its feet completely.So, the Indian advantage is showing in all its glamour.

What is even more heartening to note is that the major automakers in India have reported increasing Export revenues too.Now, a few automobile manufactures like Hyundai are not necessary Indian but their Indian operations have been doing brisk business and this brings home the fact that the Indian Economy is getting back in shape.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the country’s second largest car manufacturer and the largest passenger car exporter surpassed its target for 2009 and reported a 42% increase in domestic sales.The exports grew by around 9% , a lot of contribution to this coming from the latest flagship model i10 and the advanced version i20.Hyundai opened its second plant in Chennai to cater to the increasing export demand for its i10 models.

Maruti Suzuki , one the leading car maker in India did get its bearings right in an increasingly competitive Indian Car market by gradually shunning down the traditional M800 model.Maruti represented a ~31% increase in sales on a YOY basis.Maruti has been very aggressively rolling out a gamut of new models specially in the small car segment as it is known.Maruti has also increased its market share in the A3 segment with its SX4 and D’zire models giving the likes of Honda City a run for its money.

General Motors India registered a phenomenal >100% increase in sales for the month ending Dec against the same in the year 2008.This marked the highest ever sales number in a month for General Motors India.The company has gained good traction with its new hatchback Chevrolet Spark and the Chevrolet Tavera.The company registered a 16% growth for the 3rd quarter ending Dec 09.

Mahindra and Mahindra , a major player in the tractor market has launched into the passenger car market for sometime and has reported tremendous number for the month ending December 2009.It reported a whopping 122% increase in the sales for the last month of the year and a phenomenal increase in export by 203%. Talk about explosive growth.

All in all, the month of December in the year 2009 turned out to be fruitful for the auto makers in general.However, the Indian Auto makers are getting even more hotter.The german car maker Volkswagen has made an impressive entry into India and they seem to have their focus right on the money, the small car segment.This year should be an interesting one too for the auto makers and the auto makers are happy with the demand.So much so that the likes of Ford India have raised the prices for their models and the industry analysts claim that a 5% increase in car prices is around the corner.It will also be a worth watching how Tata Motors shapes up this year.Nano has enjoyed tremendous publicity and hype and it will be great if the sales numbers justify the same.Tata Motors will also be looking to get aggressive with its recently acquired Jaguar and Land Rover models.

With the economy growing at a healthy rate, the future looks promising for the Indian Auto Market.

What are your thoughts on the Indian Auto Industry? Do you think they will be able to maintain the growth momentum this year in an ever increasing competitive marketplace