Life & Style | Motoring
Little big car
It's a car that will bring mobility to India's millions, but why is the little Tata Nano figuring in big environmental debates? Is all the fuss necessary?
- By Nitin Nair, senior features writer
- Published: 00:08 July 2, 2008
- The Nano features a rear-wheel drive, an all-aluminium two-cylinder, 623 cc, 33bhp.
- Image Credit: Supplied Picture
It's a car that will bring mobility to India's millions, but why is the little Tata Nano figuring in big environmental debates? Is all the fuss necessary? Nitin Nair reports
Ranjan Chetri's Suzuki motorcycle is among the many two-wheelers that snake their way through Bangalore's ever crowded streets.
The 43 year old, who lives in a city that has the highest two-wheeler population in the world, is soon giving up the two-wheeler lifestyle.
By the end of this year, Chetri, who makes about Rs600,000 (approx. Dhs 60,000) annually as an engineer, will be among the many Indians who will fork out the Rs100,000 (approx. Dhs10,000) to pick up the Tata Nano, the 'people's car' designed and developed in India.
But the car that could bring mobility to the country's middle class millions is also now the source of considerable angst for green activists the world over.
There are many who think that thanks to a booming economy, millions of Indians will swap their two-wheelers for the Nano, thus adding to the already congested roads.
The Nano features a rear-wheel drive, an all-aluminium two-cylinder, 623 cc, 33bhp, multi-point fuel injection petrol engine and weighs about half a tonne.
With its snub nose, the impish looking hatchback will come in two versions - the standard will feature a four-gear manual transmission and seatbelts while the deluxe version will have air-conditioning with the additional possibility of air bags and radio.
With climbing oil prices and an ever-increasing global carbon footprint, even countries like the US have seen drivers opting for smaller, more fuel-efficient cars over big, chunky SUVs.
In times like these, will the Nano look to tap markets outside India? "For the initial two-three years, the focus will be on selling the car in India. We will subsequently explore other countries, but specific countries and timelines are yet to be decided," saysTata Motors.
Earth and the Nano
Environmentalists have raised concerns that the Nano will add to the increasing congestion on Indian roads and lead to an increase in carbon emissions.
Though Tata Motors' chairman Ratan Tata was quick to assure everyone at the launch that the car would meet all environmental norms - it currently meets the Bharat Stage-III and IV norms in India and Euro-IV norms - greenies have been grumbling endlessly about nightmares featuring Nano and ever-increasing carbon footprints.
The difference in the Bharat Stage and Euro norms is that the maximum speed at which the vehicle is tested on the chassis dynamometer for compliance with, say, BS III emission norms is limited to 90 kmh, in keeping with the Indian conditions, whereas it is 120 kmh for Euro III.
The emission limits of Bharat Stage III and Euro III are almost the same.
In his hugely popular column in The Times of India, leading economist Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar labels this as "elitism parading as virtue."
He writes, "Elite greens own cars, but cannot stand the poorer masses becoming mobile, since the consequent congestion will eat into the time of the elite! More logical would be a protest against big cars that use more space and fuel, or highly polluting old cars."
The intelligentsia in India was quick to point out that it makes no sense in singling out the Nano as a possible cause for global warming.
The fault, many argue, lies with the government's inability to provide quality infrastructure and a dependable public transport system.
"London and New York have ultra-high car densities, yet have clearer air than Delhi. Our problem is too many bad policies, not too many cars," writes Aiyar.
Tata clarified its stand on this carbon footprint issues in an email to 4men.
"Apprehensions of pollution and congestion are unfounded. The Nano will meet all current emission standards (as per BS-III), as also future emission standards (BS-IV) when applicable.
"When launched, the Nano will be less polluting than any other vehicle in the country today. Its carbon dioxide emission will be 120 gm per kilometre," said a company spokesperson.
Tata believes that in the near future people in India will desire and demand all options of both personal transportation and also public transportation.
Even as it markets cars, Tata Motors is also the country's largest marketer of buses.
"So going forward, there will be a bouquet of choices of both personal and public transportation, supported by enhanced infrastructure, allowing customers far greater width to decide what mode to use and when."
The cost factor
The standard version of the Nano will be a no-frills car. But this fits in well in a market where people are reticent about shelling out an extra Rs20,000 (Dhs2000) for automatic transmission and air-conditioning in cars was considered a luxury till about ten years ago.
The deluxe version will come with optional airbags and air-conditioning, but Tata Motors is yet to announce the pricing on the deluxe version.
"Features like ABS, air bags, power steering and automatic transmission are already being offered on several car models in India, with several customers opting for them. In fact, the Tata Indica V2 Turbo DLX has ABS and dual front airbags.
"In that sense, the Indian car buyer is already familiar with them. But the Nano was conceived as an affordable car. The standard version of the Tata Nano will be priced at Rs100,000 (excluding Vat and transportation cost)."
The company has not announced the prices of other versions.
Tata explained two key measures the 500-strong team used to keep the prices down. "The very fact that it is smaller means that it uses less material and therefore saves cost. The lean design strategy has helped minimise weight.
"Similarly, the Nano's production plant at Singur (in the state of West Bengal) will have a vendor park adjacent to it that will supply components for the car. That brings down inventory cost."
The Singur plant has a capacity to produce about 2,50,000 units annually.
"It was a challenge alright. Most of us initially had our doubts, but as the project progressed, we slowly saw the possibilities," said a senior Tata motors executive on condition of anonymity.
"The biggest challenge was to keep the costs down, so we endlessly debated the use of materials and electronics in the car."
No one's called 'time' on that debate yet, but interestingly, there are others close following in the Nano's path.
Bajaj and Renault have already announced a tie-up to build a low-cost, small car. And in a country where owning a car is still a big deal, this bit of news is giving middle class families something to look forward to.
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