The much-touted small car at affordable prices is still not a reality in India. Save Tata’s low-cost Nano dream; and there is nothing worth taking home for the common people to spur a transition from riskier two-wheeler ride to a four-wheeler shed. Automakers the world over are targeting the base-of-the-pyramid car category in India to benefit from the rising middle-class consumer sentiment.
Apart from petit Nano, most other car manufacturers are still in design and development stage to tap the growing consumerism in fast growing Indian affordable car market. Moreover, most of the recent small car launches such as Honda Brio, Hyundai Eon and Alto K10 are still no where in the price-competition against the ultra-cheap Tata Nano.
Maruti’s Alto K10 model at 998cc engine is priced around Rs.3.50 lakh on-road at Mumbai. Alternatively, Chevrolet’s Spark is priced at Rs.2.79 lakh as most of the print ads depicts. However, on-road Mumbai with registration and insurance the four-vehicle costs around Rs.3.50 lakh.
The latest to hit the roads will be Hyundai’s Eon which will start in range from Rs.2.50 lakh for a base model to Rs.3.70 lakh for a topped-up version. But, then again these are just reflective prices, but on road the low-end version is likely to cost no less than Rs.3 lakh in Mumbai with octroi expenses.
Coming back to Tata Nano, the base non-AC version would cost you paltry Rs.1.65 lakh in Mumbai. At Rs.1.85 lakh mark, you could get to ride across Mumbai in an air-conditioned car powered by around 600cc engine range. You could still buy a luxurious Nano model if you are willing to shell apart Rs.25000 extra for the high-end model.
Thus, other than Nano which would roughly cost you Rs.2 lakh, there is nothing below Rs.3 lakh range for the poor people to shift from a riskier bike ride to a safer four-wheel vehicle. On the other hand, a bike would usually provide a fuel mileage of 50 kmph for a litre of petrol, in an era where fuel costs have reached sky-high on account of being partially decontrolled.
[...] Editor on January 5, 2012 Finally, Tata Nano has a competitor in Bajaj RE60 in the ultra-low cost four-wheeler category. However, these two vehicles are not strictly comparable as RE60 is aimed at targeting [...]