TATA Nano

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We wish to express our heart felt gratitude to our MAM who has provided us with vital inputs from his vast experience to help us complete this project. Without the presence of MAM the incorporeal existence of this project would have been impossible.

Manufacturer

Tata Motors

Parent company Tata Sons Also called Production Assembly The People's Car 2008present Pantnagar, Uttarkhand, India

Charodi, Gujarat, India City "Kei car" 5-door hatchback RR layout 2 cylinder SOHC petrol Bosch multi-point fuel car

Class Body style(s) Layout

Engine(s)

injection (single injector) all aluminium 624 cc (38 cu in)

Transmission(s) 4 speed synchromesh with overdrive in 4th Wheelbase Length Width Height Kerb weight Fuel capacity Designer 2,230 mm (87.8 in) 3,099 mm (122.0 in) 1,495 mm (58.9 in) 1,652 mm (65.0 in) 600 kg (1,300 lb)635 kg (1,400 lb) 15 L (4 US gal; 3 imp gal) Girish Wagh, Justin Norek of Trilix, Pierre Castinel

About Nano
"Nano" means "small" in Gujarati, the language of the founders of the Tata Group. "Nano" from the SI prefix for one-billionth is derived from the Greek , meaning dwarf, and is sometimes used to mean "small" in colloquial English. The introduction of the Nano received media attention due to its targeted low price. The Financial Times reported: "If ever there were a symbol of Indias ambitions to become a modern nation, it would surely be the Nano, the tiny car with the even tinier price-tag. A triumph of homegrown engineering, the $2,200 (1,490, 1,186) Nano encapsulates the dream of millions of Indians groping for a shot at urban prosperity." The car is expected to boost the Indian economy, create entrepreneurial-opportunities across India, as well as expand the Indian car market by 65%. The car was envisioned by Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group and Tata Motors, who has described it as an eco-friendly "people's car". Nano has been greatly appreciated by many sources and the media for its low-cost and eco-friendly initiatives which include using compressed-air as fuel and an electric-version (E-Nano). Tata Group is expected to mass-manufacture the Nano, particularly the electric-version, and, besides selling them in India, to also export them worldwide. Critics of the car have questioned its safety in India (where reportedly 90,000 people are killed in road-accidents every year), and have also criticized the pollution that it would cause (including criticism by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chairman Rajendra Pachauri). However, Tata Motors has promised that it would definitely release Nano's ecofriendly models alongside the gasoline-model. The Nano was originally to have been manufactured at a new factory in Singur, West Bengal, but increasingly violent protests forced Tata to pull out October 2008. (See Singur factory pullout below.) Currently, Tata Motors is reportedly manufacturing Nano at its existing Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) plant and a mother plant has been proposed for Sanand Gujarat. The company will bank on existing dealer network for Nano initially. The new Nano Plant could have a capacity of 500,000 units, compared to 300,000 for Singur. Gujarat has also agreed to match all the incentives offered by West Bengal government. Tata Nano is a rear-engined, four-passenger city car built by Tata Motors, aimed primarily at the Indian market. The car has a fuel efficiency of around 26 kilometres per litre on the highway and around 22 kilometres per litre in the city. It was first presented at the 9th annual Auto Expo on January 10, 2008, at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, India. The Nano had its commercial launch on March 23, 2009 and a booking period from April 9 to April 25, generating more than 200,000 bookings for the car. The cars started to be delivered to customers after July 17 2009, with a starting price of Rs 100,000, which is approximately equal to UK1,360 or US$2,160 as of December 2009. This is cheaper than the Maruti 800, its main competitor and next cheapest Indian car priced at Rs 184,641 ($3,988 U.S.). Tata had sought to produce the least expensive production car in the world aiming for a starting price of Rs 100,000 (approximately US$2,000 as of June 2009).

In early 2008 the news magazine Newsweek identified the Nano as a part of a "new breed of 21st-century cars" that embody "a contrarian philosophy of smaller, lighter, cheaper" and portend a new era in inexpensive personal transportation and potentially, "global gridlock". The Wall Street Journal confirmed a global trend toward small cars, which includes the Nano.

Genesis
The global auto industry is dynamically establishing a niche as major economic engines. Millions of aspiring Indians and the international auto markets watched in awe, the launch of worlds cheapest car Tata Nano. Tata Nano, launched by the $29-billion Tata group, is a believed to be a peoples car. The car was launched in an auto expo held at Delhi on 10 Jan 2008. Ratan Tata is a 70-year-old kind and tender chairman of the Tata group, drove this worlds cheapest car to the Tata Motors pavilion and unveiled this new car, giving sleepless nights to rival companies. According to Tata group, the car will come out on Indian roads in the later part of this year. The price of this car is a cause of astonishment and fear for all the other auto companies who are now trying to reduce their market prices as to compete with the launch of Tata Nano. The price of Tatas car is about Rs 1 Lakh ($2500). Launch of Tata Nano is not only the pride of Tata group but also for the whole of India. This is because this launch reflects technological and entrepreneurial ability of our country.

Category context
Ratan Tata, the Chairman of Tata Motors, began development of the world's cheapest production car in 2003, inspired by the number of Indian families with two-wheeled rather than four-wheeled vehicles. The Nano's development has been tempered by the company's success in producing the low cost 4 wheeled Ace truck in May 2005. Contrary to speculation that the car might be a simple four-wheeled auto rickshaw, The Times of India reported the vehicle is "a properly designed and built car". The Chairman is reported to have said, "It is not a car with plastic curtains or no roof it's a real car." To achieve its design goals, Tata refined the manufacturing process, emphasized innovation and sought new design approaches from suppliers. The car was designed at Italy's Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering with Ratan Tata requesting certain changes, such as the elimination of one of two windscreen wipers. Many components of the Nano are made in Germany by Bosch, such as fuel injection, brake system, Value Motronic ECU, ABS and other technologies. The Nano has 21% more interior space (albeit mostly as headroom, due to its tall stance) and an 8% smaller exterior compared to its closest rival, the Maruti 800. Tata offered the car in three

versions: the basic Tata Nano Std; the CX; and the LX. The CX and LX versions each have air conditioning, power windows, and central locking. Tata has set its initial production target at 250,000 units per year.

Competitors and Market scenario

Rival car makers including Bajaj Auto, Fiat, General Motors, Ford Motor, Hyundai and Toyota Motor have all expressed interest in building small cars in India that are affordable to more middle-class consumers in emerging markets. The bulk of demand there is for small cars because people are much more sensitive to fuel prices. Honda and Toyota are leading the way on so called cleaner gasoline-electric hybrids, and some environmentalists argue getting prices down on these technologies is where efforts should be concentrated. Inexpensive and eco-friendly electric-cars like Tara Tiny (which has an engine producing 4 hp compared to Nano's 33 hp), Oreva Super (both reportedly even cheaper than Tata Nano) and REVA pose even more significant danger to Nano. There are also rumors of Maruti Suzuki introducing a lower priced version of Alto to counter Tata Nano. Competition to Tata Nano - Maruti 800 Maruti 800 is a city car manufactured by Maruti Udyog in India sold at around $5000. It is a rebadged version of a Suzuki Alto. It has a 3 cylinder engine of 37 bhp (28 kW) at 5000 rpm. It used to be the largest selling car in India until the Maruti Alto recently took that title. It is also exported to a number of countries in southeastern Asia including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and to some South American markets (as Chile, sold as Suzuki Maruti), and was available in selected European markets between 1988 and 1992, sold as the Suzuki Maruti. The car comes in different versions including one with air conditioning and one without. It was launched in December 1984 with almost 100% imported content. Competition to Tata Nano - Bajaj Small car Bajaj silently unveiled its 'Lite' concept car in New Delhi, two days before the much hyped launch of Tata Motors' Rs 1 lakh car. Bajaj Auto, the country's second biggest twowheeler maker, said it plans to bring out its small car in collaboration with Renault and

Nissan within four years but it will not be for Rs 1 lakh (Rs 100,000). "I know Carlos Ghosn (President and CEO of Renault and Nissan) has set a target of 2010 for Bajaj-Renault car. While it is hard to put any time-frame, we can say in two-four years we can expect to have the product ready," Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj told reporters in New Delhi. Bajaj declined to give a specific price of the small car. Ghosn has earlier stated that Renault was looking for a $3,000 car in India, a move triggered by Tata Motors' Rs 1 lakh car that will be unveiled later this week. Competition to nano? Toyota IQ : Small Car While not a threat to Tata Nano in terms of price, Toyota's new mini-car concept, the IQ, was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The IQ is only 2.98 m long which makes it about a foot longer than the Smart for Two. While the Smart is strictly a two seater, the Japanese mini is advertised as a 3+1 seater. That means there are two seats that can be inhabited by adults in the front. The asymmetrical dashboard design allows the front passenger seat to be pulled forward, allowing another adult and potentially a child to sit in the back hence the + 1. No information is available about what kind of drivetrain the car might include other than it's location at the front of the car. The IQ may go on sale in Europe as early as 2009 and would likely have an engine in the 1.0L range. Other Cheap cars - Chery QQ

Chery QQ : which sells in China for about $3,900. It's apparently a copy of the GM-Daewoo Spark, introduced in China in 2003. The car is at the center of an industrial rights controversy, since GM have claimed that it is very similar to the Chevrolet Spark/Daewoo Matiz. GM executives have proved that the doors of the Chery car can be mounted on the Chevrolet Spark without

modification, and Car and Driver, an automobile magazine, even calls it "a copy".

Current communication
Some times when a car is to be rated u often wonder how much the car deserves. But in the case of the Nano the feeling is different. You wonder do the ratings deserve this Car. What ever has been said about the Nano till date can not be enough. For this is a global masterpiece and an engineering marvel. To make the cheapest car in the world here in India is indeed a major accomplishment. Now the questions is does it live up to the hype and the expectations. Are we really going to have Nanos running on the roads just the way we have autos and taxis. After all the Rs. One lakh car is sure to have lot of applicants once the application process begins. The Tata nano has a great design to go with the trendy look. With the engine place in the rear, it has been able to maximise the space on the inside thereby providing enough room on the inside. The car is easy to drive and can be handled on turnings comfortably. The car can be driven with ease at speeds of 60 and 80 km per hour though once you approach the hundred km mark the noise vibration in the car increases. Fuel efficiency is the best that could have come at 22km per litre. The car will definitely give competition to every car in its segment and also to the two wheeler segment and the replacement segment. The car once it lands on the road is set to change the way Indians travel and will also achieve greater heights internationally. A rating of ten on ten would also appear a bit less for this beauty. The Tata Nano gathered millions of dollars worth of advertising through unpaid media coverage, prior to launch. The launch too has been widely covered both in Indian and international media. Expectedly, the company is implementing a different approach to car marketing. Nano news in print and Nano break on television are great properties. As far as the print ads are concerned I thought they will not go beyond the symbolic full-page launch ad. But the print campaign continues with another ad appearing in Times of India today. Yes, the print ad is informative but do they need a sustained campaign? There are ads from banks, advertising the financing options for the Nano in regional press. For a potential buyer,

isnt the buzz on unpaid media and specific finance option ads good enough to make a decision?

Way forward
Besides the regular and conventional petrol-variant, the following variants are also expected A website has reported that the Tata Nano might be made available with a 690cc diesel engine by September 2010. Tata motors have not confirmed this yet have hinted that a diesel version will be introduced in the future. "As of now the Diesel variant is not offered. It will be offered only in Petrol now" Tata Motors is working with a French firm on using compressed air as an energy source. Tata is also believed to be making an electric version of the Nano, called the E-Nano (reportedly with attached or side by solar panels as well) which might well turn out to be the "world's cheapest electric car" which is more eco-friendly and has many enthusiasts and media for its support. It's supposed to be as cheap as the conventional gasoline version. Tata is making the Nano compliant with export market regulations and plans to export such a car worldwide, particularly to the UK and the rest of continental Europe, the US, and Australia. The Economic Times reported that the "electric Nano" "would still make good sense for economic, clean and green personal mobility in countries around the world." According to the Hamburg-based newspaper, Auto Bild, the E-Nano would be built in cooperation with the Norwegian electric car specialist, Miljbil Grenland AS. Leftlanenews reported that "a hybrid version [of Tata Nano] is also likely, although it is not yet known whether the electric motor will be paired with a gasoline or diesel version. Tata Motors unveiled a version of the Nano mini-car called the Nano Europa at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. The car will be coming to mainland Europe and the UK and will have a number of improvements over the standard Nano. The Nano Europa has an increased wheelbase, a new 3-cylinder engine and improved interiors and exteriors. The Nano Europa will be more expensive, heavier, and less fuel economical than the standard Nano with prices said to be around the US$ 6000 mark. The Nano Europa was heavily modified to meet European safety and emission standards.

Challenges
Singur factory pullout After much speculation, Tata Motors announced on May 19, 2006 that it will be manufacturing Tata Nano from Singur, West Bengal. However, within a week protests were started by a few farmers in the area against the acquisition of their lands by Tata. The cause was taken up by Mamata Banerjee, the leader of Trinamool Congress. The situation escalated with Tatas threatening to pull out, and disruption of compensation for farmers who had volunteered to sell their land by anti-acquisition activists. This was followed by a state-wide bandh by Trinamool Congress in October. The government banned political parties from holding meetings or processions at Singur and installed a huge police force there. There was widespread violence in the clashes between the police and the farmers on December 2, 2006. On December 4, 2006 Mamata Banerjee entered into a hunger strike. A 48-hour strike was later called by her to protest the death of Tapasi, a Save Farmland Committee campaigner, whose burnt body was found at the Nano plant site in Singur. Two CPM activists were later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder. On the 24 th day of her strike, Banerjee was given oxygen support and finally called off her fast after appeals from the then President Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. As the protests over the land continued in 2007, Ratan Tata accused that the competitors had a role in the controversy. The acquisition of land was initially criticised in February 2007, but later approved by the Calcutta High Court in 2008. As political unrest and rains hampered the construction, Tata Motors delayed the launch of Nano to September 2008. Violence continued throughout 2008 and on September 2, 2008, Tata Motors announced that they have suspended work at Singur. On October 2, 2008 Tata Motors announced that they are pulling out of Singur. On October 7, 2008, it was announced that the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi had signed an MoU with Tata Motors for allocating land for Nano factory in Sanand in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat. Questions of safety The Nano has an all sheet-metal body made from Japanese and Korean steel, with safety features such as crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat-belts, strong seats and anchorages, and the rear tailgate glass bonded to the body. Tires are tubeless. Mass motorization As the Nano was conceived and designed around introducing the automobile to a sector of the population who are currently using eco-friendly bicycles and motorcycles, environmentalists are concerned that its extraordinarily low price might lead to mass motorization in countries like India and therefore possibly aggravate pollution as well as increase the demand for oil. The

ecology focused German newspaper die tageszeitung feels that such concerns are "inappropriate" as the Tata Nano has lower emissions compared to the average Volkswagen, and that developing countries shouldn't be denied the right to motorized mobility when industrialized countries should be looking to reduce their emissions and usage of cars. Die Welt reports that the car conforms to environmental protection, and will have the lowest emissions in India. In crowded metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Ratan Tata has conceived a scheme to only offer the Nano to those individuals who do not have an automobile already. The Nano will also replace many overloaded and worn-out two-stroke polluting vehicles, both two and threewheeled. According to Anumita Roychowdhury, associate director of the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi, "the low-cost cars will be disastrous" in the current policy and regulatory framework. Used car market effects The Nano is alleged to have severely affected the used car market in India, as many Indians opt to wait for the Nano's release rather than buying used cars, such as the Maruti 800 (a rebadged Suzuki Alto), which is considered as the Nano's nearest competitor. Sales of new Maruti 800s have dropped by 20%, and used ones by 30% following the unveiling of the Nano. As one automotive journalist summarizes; People are asking themselvesand uswhy they should pay, say, 250,000 Rupees for a Maruti Alto, when they can wait and get a brand new Nano for less in a few months time, a car that is actually bigger. Spontaneous fire There have been 30 cases of spontaneous fires occurring inside the Nano out of the first 7,500 cars delivered. The fires have been traced to a short circuit in the combination switch that controls the headlights, windscreen wipers and indicators located in the steering column. Technical experts have also blamed the placement of the battery for contributing to overheating in the wires, the failure of the circuit breaker in tripping during a short circuit episode, and the failure of the fuse to melt when excessive amperage (resulting from a short circuit condition) is detected in the circuit leading to heated wires.