Nano's future less clear thanks to plant siege
click photo to enlarge
With work halted at the factory that is to build the Tata Nano, the future of the world's cheapest car is uncertain. Well, we're still pretty certain that it will be built somewhere, but the details are much more hazy now that people in the West Bengal region have spoken out against the way Tata Motors got the land to expand their plant. Tata might pull out and move to a more-friendly region, but what does the whole kerfluffle mean for cheap motoring in India and the world?
Writing in Automotive News Europe (subs req'd), Jesse Snyder makes a clear statement: "No matter who "wins" in the protracted protest over land in India's impoverished West Bengal region, the innovative Tata Nano will lose." Snyder's article is a fair look at the situation and says that the main problem here, for Tata Motors, is lost time. Ultra-cheap cars are coming for the masses, and if Tata wants to be in the game (a game they helped create), then they need to find a solution fast. Of course, if you're of the mindset that ultra-cheap cars are not what the planet ordered, then perhaps one siege isn't enough for you...
Gallery: Tata Nano: The People's Car
[Source: Automotive News Europe]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Don 11:59PM (8/31/2008)
Just what we need. A $2500 car in a country with a billion people.
Reply
Avinash machado 7:31AM (9/01/2008)
So Don, do you feel that only people in the United States should be able to afford cars?
Turbofrog 11:15AM (9/01/2008)
I'm not sure anyone should be able to afford cars, at least not in their present incarnation. North American car culture has utterly ruined urban planning for communities and put a tremendous drain on natural resources and the environment, to say nothing of the mentality shifts it's created in people.
Freedom of mobility at what cost...
Reply
ronnie schreiber 3:11PM (9/01/2008)
Freedom of mobility at what cost...
The same can be said about freedom of speech.
You don't have a problem with restricting freedom because, like most leftists, you think you're gonna be the one doing the restricting, not being restricted.
If you're a good little apparatchik you might even get a luxurious dacha.
stevefazek 2:21PM (9/01/2008)
I believe repeating the same mistakes we did with transportation in China and India is a huge mistake.
China and India subsidize fuel costs in a effort to do the same mistakes we did.
I saw stop subsidies require a world wide standard for fuel quality mexico still uses LEADED gas its called NOVA.
Chinese gas sucks so does india they both have the same emission standards we did in the 1950s-60s which is NONE.
With out cheap gas the market will show who can actually afford a car.
Reply
wave54 3:11PM (9/01/2008)
** Chinese gas sucks so does india they both have the same emission standards we did in the 1950s-60s which is NONE. **
Don't let the facts get in your way. China adopted the equivalent of Euro 3 emissions standards this summer.
http://www.chinacartimes.com/2008/05/12/chinese-3-emissions-standard-to-be-enforced-nationwide/
Beijing has gone further with implementation of Chinese 5 (Euro 5) standards.
http://www.chinacartimes.com/2008/02/20/beijing-lays-the-slap-down-on-polluting-vehicles-foreign-and-domestic-kod/#postcomment