TATA Nano - The One Lac Car Pradeep Saxena, TNS Automotive India gave the concept of Zero and Decimal to the world many centuries ago. Now Ratan Tata has brought alive the term One Lac. Finally, as Indians, we don't have to explain that a Lac is one tenth of a million or is equal to one hundred thousand. It is said that the spectacle of a family on a scooter at every traffic light in small and big towns of India spurred the thought in the mind of Mr Tata. A child standing in the front and another in mother's lap is not the greatest way to travel anyway. Add to that the slippery roads in monsoon or the biting cold or furnace like heat of a north Indian summer and the recipe for a dangerou? outing is complete. I don't know if it occurred to Mr Tata at that time that not just in India, people travel like that in many other countries as well, ranging from Turkey in the West to Vietnam in the East. Therefore, the impact of the solution was likely to have a global impact from the beginning itself. To my mind the importance of Nano does not lie in the thought conceptualizing it, because many people in the past have looked at the scooter owners with great interest. The important thing about Nano is that for the first time, someone has actually delivered a real solution to a scooter owner, which is neither a 'super scooter' nor a 'half car'. When I was at Hero Honda, we routinely looked at scooter owners, as they constituted a large source of business for us. But, our solution comprised just the more fuel-efficient motorcycles. Maruti 800, the first small car of India actually used the spectacle that of a rain drenched family on a scooter to attract buyers to its fold by offering a good finance scheme. But, of course, the gap from Thirty Thousand rupees to Two Lac was just too large to bridge despite easy finance availability. Thus, most of the times, these were 'part solutions'. It was thought, what could be done for the scooter riding family? Put two more wheels to give it stability, add a crash bar for safety and put a canopy to protect from sun and rain. Some of the two-wheeler companies including Honda and BMW even tried this route but without much success. In fact at BMW the design brief was that it will offer weather protection and safety comparable to that enjoyed by cars At another level, 'Hamara Bajaj' three-wheeler is a concept very similar to car in terms of its stability and seating capacity compared to a two-wheeler. But it is still not a car. So, some people tried making three-wheeled cars. Many years ago, Sipani Automobiles, a Bangalore based company tied up with Reliant Automobile of UK to produce Badal a three-wheeled car with 198cc rear mounted engine. It had a fibre plastic body to keep the weight low. Tata Motors also started with ideas on similar lines. For example, it was thought to use engineering plastics joined together with adhesives, to keep the weight low. To have roll up plastic curtains instead of windows. Not have any doors, but openings like auto rickshaws. At one point it was reported that Tatas were going in for a Quadricycle instead of a car. But finally, it was decided to make a proper car and not half a car or three quarter car. To me that was the biggest achievement of Tata Motors. Once that was decided, the key question was who to benchmark against. The obvious one was Maruti 800. But it could not be just similar to Maruti 800, because then it would simply be a cheaper Maruti 800 built by Tatas. Therefore, it had to be better on at least some parameters. Once the design direction was agreed, the challenge was to achieve the targeted cost. This was never going to be easy, because the person buying it would be the one with limited resources and will therefore look for high durability and low cost of maintenance. Therefore, it would be an equivalent of a Moped in the car context. More difficulty was added on account of stringent norms for environment and safety laid down by the Govt. To meet these challenges new ground was broken in many areas by collective thinking and innovation. As many as 40 patents in relation to small cars resulted in the process. Finally, Nano has arrived, with 33 bhp max power, tubeless tyres, enough space to seat four adults comfortably and squeezing in a fifth one. It has a multiport fuel injection system, meets Euro IV norms and has force absorption structures and beams in the front as well as side doors for safety. A revolution in the Auto industry is on the cards. According to C K Prahlad, the management mahaguru, the Nano represents an important inflection point in the global auto industry and in the evolution and maturation of Indian industry. Customer excitement is unabated days after the launch. People have been seen on TV waving their chequebooks and expressing disappointment that they were not allowed to book the car at the Auto Expo. Some of the autorickshaw drivers have claimed that they would like to buy it if the Govt gives approval to ply it. Retired people want to buy because they feel they can afford it. What originally started as an alternative to a scooter, now has the capability to cater to a multiple set of needs and therefore will address a number of segments. These are likely to be: First time car buyers: 1.  People who are looking for just a utilitarian personal transport on four wheels with minimum comforts 2.  Those who aspire for a car for social status but could not afford earlier. Replacement Buyers: Those who currently own a small car but will replace that with Nano because of its low operating cost. Additional Car Buyers: 1.  Those who already have a car, but want an extra car just for fun 2.  Those who buy two wheelers for their college going children only because they can't afford a car. These segments may exist geographically anywhere from small towns of India to parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Obviously, the export variants may require more features such as air-conditioning, power windows, power steering, automatic transmission, etc. Because of the low basic cost, even a fully loaded model will be very attractive in terms of price. Going by the size of every day swelling crowd at the Auto Expo in New Delhi one can easily say that it is probably the greatest case of a largely un-orchestrated PR blitz riding purely on public sentiment in India and abroad. A media launch, the type of which has never been seen before for any product whatsoever. A brand name, which got established globally in 24 hours flat. Global media was present at the launch of Nano in New Delhi. Post the launch; executives from global car companies were cautious and non-committal in their reactions. However a number of CEOs of Indian companies (including those from auto) called it a moment of pride and elation for the Indian industry. Two wheeler bigwigs had reactions ranging from no comments to no worries. The media has termed it an event as important as the launch of Ford's Model T in the modern world history. Speaking to The Times of India, Remy Pothet-the Global Head of TNS Automotive said" Products like Nano, with breakthrough price and great design has highlighted the country's strength. ..It is not possible for any manufacturer to ignore India and the prowess of its automobile industry." However, the American media true to form had a mixed reaction including some spicy comments, which smack of grudging admiration. Some examples: "It can seat five people.. ..if no one breathes" - ABC Network "Automotive journalists had traveled from four corners of the globe to see a golf cart crossed with a jelly bean". "Upstart Econobox" – Time “The world's ultimate reverse status symbol” - Motor Trends. Another set of detractors is the environmentalists. They are up in arms as they see the spectre of all roads getting chocked with Nanos, and global temperature rising. Suddenly, there is a newfound concern for the entire infrastructure getting hit by Nano - no traffic being able to move on the city roads and highways alike, the sky becoming all gray with automobile smoke and children asking parents, what the Sun looks like. All in all, one can say that the world has been hit by 'EI Nano'. You may like it for its daring or you may hate it because of its audacity to challenge the conventional norms, but one thing is sure, you can't ignore it for it has finally positioned India on the global manufacturing and automotive map. "Long live Nano". Note: The author is Sr Vice President, TNS Automotive, the specialist division of TNS Global, a global market information company.