TATA NANO

CREATING A NEW MARVEL IN AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING ?

This structured assignment is to accompany the case '608-034-1'. The
abstract of the case is as follows Tata !otors" one of the leading
automa#ers in $ndia launched their dream pro%ect 'Tata &ano' on 10
'anuary (008. The un)eiling of 'Tata &ano'" the people's car from Tata
!otors" mar#ed the beginning of a new era in automoti)e engineering in
$ndia. The dream pro%ect of 'Tata &ano' was designed with a family in mind
and had features that included a roomy passenger compartment with
generous leg space and head room. Tata &ano proposed to ha)e a top
speed of about 10* #mph and was nearly the same si+e as its nearest ri)al
!aruti" considered the benchmar# in terms of small car pricing.
,stonishingly all this came at the mere price of 1 la#h rupees" whereas
!aruti's cheapest model was priced 1.-* la#hs rupees. .owe)er" the
presence of a rear engine might create a few disad)antages in its
manoeu)ring" rendering une)en weight distribution" poor handling and
cramped space for rear-end passengers. ,part from this" the absence of air
bags" use of aluminum in engine ma#ing" use of instrument panels similar
to those in motorcycles had raised scepticism and discontent about the
'Tata &ano'. ,lthough the emergence of Tata &ano opened up a new
dimension of automoti)e designing in $ndia" the /uestion of its
completeness thus remained an area of concern in the future. The
pedagogical ob%ecti)es are to 011 discuss the role of Tata in the field of
automoti)e engineering in $ndia2 0(1 analyse the concept of frugal
engineering in the ma#ing of &ano2 and 031 analyse the ma%or obstacles in
the path of ma#ing 'Tata &ano' a success.