Detroit stalls as India roars on

gamercube · 01-06-2008, 00:32 AM

Detroit stalls as India roars on
Wall Street
Dominic Rushe

Detroit stalls as India roars on - Times Online

IN 1931 India was in the thick of its struggle for independence, Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights got its premiere and Ford secured its place as America’s second-biggest car firm.

Last week City Lights was playing again in New York, Ford lost its crown to Toyota, and an Indian firm became the preferred bidder for two of the remaining bits of the British car industry.

I bet people will still be watching City Lights in another 77 years, but will they be driving Fords?

Having eclipsed Ford, Japan’s Toyota is now closing on General Motors as the No 1 car firm in the US. Toyota sold 2.62m cars and trucks in America last year, 48,226 more than Ford, according to sales figures released last week.

Toyota’s sales were up almost 3% for the year, buoyed by new products such as the Toyota Tundra pickup truck. Ford’s sales fell 12% to 2.57m vehicles.

General Motors remains No 1, selling 3.82m vehicles last year. But the number is down 6% from 2006.

Soon GM could fall behind Toyota in the race to be the world’s biggest auto-maker. GM made 9.28m vehicles worldwide last year, roughly 230,000 fewer than Toyota’s 2007 estimate of 9.51m.

By the end of this month, when Toyota releases its final numbers, the battle could be over. GM has been the world’s largest auto-maker by sales for 76 years.

Even if Toyota does claim pole position, it will not be able to rest on its laurels. American dominance in the car industry may be coming to an end, but India and China will soon be along to challenge the Japanese.

This week at the Delhi auto show Tata Motors, India’s biggest car firm, will show its €1,700 car. This vehicle may do for “rural Indians what Henry Ford’s Model T did for early 20th-century Americans,” according to Iain Carson and Vijay Vaitheeswaran, authors of the book Zoom.

Tata already dominates the commercial vehicle market in India and has increased sales in the small car segment, where it works with Fiat. Its move on Ford-owned Jaguar and Land Rover will give Tata a global presence.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the takeover has encountered resistance. “I don’t believe the US public is ready for ownership out of India for a luxury-car brand such as Jaguar,” Ken Gorin, chairman of the Jaguar Business Operations Council, told the Wall Street Journal.

Some British people felt the same way when Ford bought the UK’s prestige marques and the figures show Ford did little to persuade them they were wrong.

There do seem to be quality concerns with Tata’s cars. The customer satisfaction expert JD Power has panned them and the deal may founder. Whatever the outcome, however, the ambition remains.

While Ford and GM look scared, Tata is launching a revolutionary car and gunning for two of the most famous brands on the planet. For much of the 20th century, the roads belonged to America. Now America is being forced to pull over for rising powers in the East.

**TopHatter** · 01-06-2008, 00:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamercube

While Ford and GM look scared, Tata is launching a revolutionary car and gunning for two of the most famous brands on the planet. For much of the 20th century, the roads belonged to America. Now America is being forced to pull over for rising powers in the East.

They'd better change that brand name if they want to sell so much as windshield wiper blade in the United States.

Blademaster · 01-06-2008, 01:05 AM

Masturbation thinking at best. As for me, I am gonna wait and see if Tata can make the $1,700 car work. If not, then compete with the next cheapest car, the Maruti model (I forgot the name) that goes for $3000 and meets the current safety, fuel efficiency, and carbon emission requirements in Europe. If Tata can do that, then I would consider changing my mind.

Tronic · 01-06-2008, 03:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blademaster

Masturbation thinking at best. As for me, I am gonna wait and see if Tata can make the $1,700 car work.

Ofcourse it will work. I bet for a lot of people, its probably going to be the one car they can actually afford. For the rest of us, that just means that the circus on Indian roads just gets wilder.

Quote:

If not, then compete with the next cheapest car, the Maruti model (I forgot the name) that goes for $3000 and meets the current safety, fuel efficiency, and carbon emission requirements in Europe. If Tata can do that, then I would consider changing my mind.

Maruti $3000 car? 3000 * 40 = 1,20,000...

You mean the Maruti 800???

GOD, Try being six feet tall and still try to fit in that car!!

Srirangan · 01-06-2008, 03:14 AM

The 1 lakh rupee car is said to be released in Autoexpo this month. It gonna make a huge dent into the used cars and two wheel automobile market.

**Officer of Engineers** · 01-06-2008, 03:51 AM

The crash test will determine the market.

Srirangan · 01-06-2008, 04:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Officer of Engineers

The crash test will determine the market.

Yes it will. And look what it is competing with:

It won't fair too badly imho.

Tronic · 01-06-2008, 04:47 AM

Sri, I think OoE meant the global market.

(which btw, I think it is only being launched in the Indian market. The other Indian small car which went global was the Reva, don't know how it faired.)

And btw, aren't those rickshaws like 30,000 rupees or sumthin? I think they are cheaper then your average bike. Despite the 1 Lakh car, I think the Rickshaws stay!

Tronic · 01-06-2008, 04:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Srirangan

The 1 lakh rupee car is said to be released in Autoexpo this month. It gonna make a huge dent into the used cars and two wheel automobile market.

Next week! Its been a long wait.

gunnut · 01-06-2008, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TopHatter

They'd better change that brand name if they want to sell so much as windshield wiper blade in the United States.

Yeah, especially if they want to see it in San Francisco...

Ray · 01-06-2008, 14:58 PM

Tata should change the name to read as Hakunama Tata!

HistoricalDavid · 01-06-2008, 20:55 PM

They'll sell it with the song as the horn sound.

Kansas Bear · 01-06-2008, 21:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tronic

GOD, Try being six feet tall and still try to fit in that car!!

Try having a 6'4", 15yr old son trying to fit in that!

Lilo · 01-10-2008, 10:53 AM

Quote:

India's Tata revs up with world's cheapest car
Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:24am GMT

By Rina Chandran

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian business baron Ratan Tata silenced critics 10 years ago when he unveiled Tata Motors' first car, the Indica hatchback.

His business acumen was again questioned as the truck and former locomotive maker hatched plans to build the world's cheapest car and buy Ford's (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) premium Jaguar and Land Rover brands.

But Tata has remained steadfast and successful: the Indica has sold more than 1 million units and Tata Motors has emerged as the preferred bidder for the luxury Ford brands.

On Thursday, the 70-year-old chairman of the Tata Group unveils the "People's Car", a mini 4-seater expected to be priced, as promised five years ago, at 100,000 rupees (1,300 pounds), less than half the price of the cheapest car on the market.

"I have confidence in what we can do, provided we are critical enough about what we can do and we have a desire to improve," Tata said in a rare television interview last month.

"You have to have a belief that you can do something. You have to carry that belief through till the end or decide not to do it. What we should not do is a half-hearted job," he said.

The automotive world has taken note. Volkswagen (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), Toyota (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research), Honda (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Fiat (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) have since said they are looking to build low-cost cars. On Tuesday, Ford said it would invest $500 million (250 million pounds) in India to make a small car.

And an alliance of Nissan (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Renault (RENA.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), which has made a big success of its no-frills Logan sedan, is developing a $3,000 car with Tata rival Bajaj Auto Ltd (BJAT.BO: Quote, Profile, Research).

TRANSFORMER

Tata, recently ranked by Fortune magazine as one of the world's 25 most powerful businessmen, is credited with transforming the group from a sprawling, conservative conglomerate into a corporate powerhouse hungry for growth.

The Tata group, with interests spanning automotives, energy, hotels, retail, broadcast, software and telecoms, is India's second-most valuable by market capitalisation behind energy giant Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research).

Last year, Ratan Tata landed India's biggest takeover, Tata Steel's (TISC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) $13 billion purchase of UK's Corus.

He also spearheaded Tata Motors' (TAMO.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) 2004 listing on the New York Stock Exchange, the only Indian auto maker on the Big Board.

Tata Motors' initial roll-out of the Indica was far from successful, with Tata joking he was afraid to walk his dogs in the early days because angry customers would accost him to complain about parts that rattled and doors that did not shut.

The problems were quickly fixed, and the company, which was loss-making just a few years ago, controls about 60 percent India's bus and truck market and is the third-biggest car maker.

Even if he pulls off the Ford deal, Tata is unlikely to be seen scorching Mumbai's crowded streets in a Jaguar. He is known as much for his quiet style as for his aversion to the spotlight.

Belonging to the small but prosperous Parsi community known for its love of music and the arts, Tata upholds a family reputation for treating employees fairly and not paying bribes.

A conservative dresser, he avoids the party circuit and lives alone in an upmarket apartment, riding to work in a Mercedes or Tata Indigo, sitting beside his driver in a country where the class system is rife.

Tata, who studied architecture at Cornell University and management at Harvard, received one of India's highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan, in 2000 and is due to retire in 2012.

Asked in a recent newspaper interview if he had the fire in his belly for a further five years, he said: "Not really."

"In an ideal world, after the small car has been launched and is successful, that would be a nice time for me to exit."

India's Tata revs up with world's cheapest car | News | Reuters

Quote:

Specifications of Tata's Nano
10 Jan 2008, 1701 hrs IST,AFP

NEW DELHI: Tata Motors Ltd on Thursday wheeled out the world's cheapest car, priced at 100,000 rupees (2,500 dollars).

Here are key facts about the four-door, mini hatchback named the Nano, which is due to hit the Indian market later this year.

Looks: The snub-nosed car keeps in the tradition of the Fiat 500, Nissan Micra and the Smart.

Dimensions: 3.1 metres (10.23 feet) long, 1.5 metres wide and 1.6 metres high. Can seat four to five people.

Engine: A two cylinder 623 cc, 33 horsepower rear mounted, all aluminium, multi-point fuel injection petrol engine can power the car to top speeds of 105 kilometres per hour (65 miles per hour).

Fuel Efficiency: 20 kilometres per litre, or 50 miles per gallon is claimed.

Pollution: Exceeds Indian regulatory requirements and can meet strict Euro IV emission standards. In terms of overall pollutants, Tata says the car is better than two-wheelers manufactured in India currently.

Safety: Car exceeds current regulatory requirements with a strong passenger compartment, crumple zones, intrusion resistant doors, seat belts, strong seats and anchorage.

Initial Annual Production Target: 250,000 units to rise later to 350,000. PRICE: Basic model price 100,000 rupees (2,500 dollars) plus tax and transport costs, which will bring on the road price to at least 120,000 rupees. The price of two deluxe models that will include air-conditioning and other features to be announced later.

Nearest Domestic Car Rival: Maruti 800, part of Japanese-owned Suzuki Maruti stable whose base model sells for about 4,800 dollars -- nearly double the price of the Nano.

Nearest International Rival: China's Chery QQ which retails for 3,600 dollars.

Sales: Tata will focus on selling the car in India for the next two to three years, before eyeing Latin American and Southeast Asian markets.

Market: India's car market is a huge draw because car penetration is just seven per 1,000 people, compared to 550 per 1,000 in such countries as Germany or 476 in France, according to the Society of Indian Automobiles.

Company Details: Tata Motors is India's largest vehicle company with revenues of 7.2 billion dollars in 2006-2007. It is the leader in commercial vehicles, such as trucks and buses, and the second largest in passenger vehicles. There are over four million Tata vehicles on Indian roads.

Specifications of Tata's Nano-India Business-Business-The Times of India

just by looking at the specs iam sure that we have a winner here.

WhamBam · 01-10-2008, 12:26 PM

Rellay liked Ratan Tata taking a dig at all the naysayers.

Suzuki, Pachauri, Sunita Narayan, Mamata, none was spared and it was good to see.

01-06-2008, 00:32 AM	#1 (permalink)
gamercube Banished *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 11-20-06 Location: Barbados Posts: 771 Country:	Detroit stalls as India roars on Detroit stalls as India roars on Wall Street Dominic Rushe Detroit stalls as India roars on - Times Online IN 1931 India was in the thick of its struggle for independence, Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights got its premiere and Ford secured its place as America’s second-biggest car firm. Last week City Lights was playing again in New York, Ford lost its crown to Toyota, and an Indian firm became the preferred bidder for two of the remaining bits of the British car industry. I bet people will still be watching City Lights in another 77 years, but will they be driving Fords? Having eclipsed Ford, Japan’s Toyota is now closing on General Motors as the No 1 car firm in the US. Toyota sold 2.62m cars and trucks in America last year, 48,226 more than Ford, according to sales figures released last week. Toyota’s sales were up almost 3% for the year, buoyed by new products such as the Toyota Tundra pickup truck. Ford’s sales fell 12% to 2.57m vehicles. General Motors remains No 1, selling 3.82m vehicles last year. But the number is down 6% from 2006. Soon GM could fall behind Toyota in the race to be the world’s biggest auto-maker. GM made 9.28m vehicles worldwide last year, roughly 230,000 fewer than Toyota’s 2007 estimate of 9.51m. By the end of this month, when Toyota releases its final numbers, the battle could be over. GM has been the world’s largest auto-maker by sales for 76 years. Even if Toyota does claim pole position, it will not be able to rest on its laurels. American dominance in the car industry may be coming to an end, but India and China will soon be along to challenge the Japanese. This week at the Delhi auto show Tata Motors, India’s biggest car firm, will show its €1,700 car. This vehicle may do for “rural Indians what Henry Ford’s Model T did for early 20th-century Americans,” according to Iain Carson and Vijay Vaitheeswaran, authors of the book Zoom. Tata already dominates the commercial vehicle market in India and has increased sales in the small car segment, where it works with Fiat. Its move on Ford-owned Jaguar and Land Rover will give Tata a global presence. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the takeover has encountered resistance. “I don’t believe the US public is ready for ownership out of India for a luxury-car brand such as Jaguar,” Ken Gorin, chairman of the Jaguar Business Operations Council, told the Wall Street Journal. Some British people felt the same way when Ford bought the UK’s prestige marques and the figures show Ford did little to persuade them they were wrong. There do seem to be quality concerns with Tata’s cars. The customer satisfaction expert JD Power has panned them and the deal may founder. Whatever the outcome, however, the ambition remains. While Ford and GM look scared, Tata is launching a revolutionary car and gunning for two of the most famous brands on the planet. For much of the 20th century, the roads belonged to America. Now America is being forced to pull over for rising powers in the East.

01-06-2008, 03:14 AM	#5 (permalink)
Srirangan *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 08-06-04 Location: New Delhi Posts: 3,030 Country:	The 1 lakh rupee car is said to be released in Autoexpo this month. It gonna make a huge dent into the used cars and two wheel automobile market. __________________ I rant, therefore I am.

01-06-2008, 03:51 AM	#6 (permalink)
Officer of Engineers *Military Professional* Moderator Scotch taster Join Date: 08-06-03 Posts: 16,659 Country:	The crash test will determine the market. __________________ Chimo

01-06-2008, 14:58 PM	#11 (permalink)
Ray Postmaster General *Military Professional* Join Date: 08-20-03 Posts: 27,246 Country:	Tata should change the name to read as Hakunama Tata! __________________ "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination." I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to. HAKUNA MATATA

01-06-2008, 20:55 PM	#12 (permalink)
HistoricalDavid Distant Deeps or Skies *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 07-19-05 Location: North London, UK Posts: 2,100 Country:	They'll sell it with the song as the horn sound. __________________ HD Ready?

01-06-2008, 01:05 AM	#3 (permalink)
Blademaster Banished *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 08-15-03 Posts: 3,196	Masturbation thinking at best. As for me, I am gonna wait and see if Tata can make the $1,700 car work. If not, then compete with the next cheapest car, the Maruti model (I forgot the name) that goes for $3000 and meets the current safety, fuel efficiency, and carbon emission requirements in Europe. If Tata can do that, then I would consider changing my mind.

01-06-2008, 04:47 AM	#8 (permalink)
Tronic Navajo Code Talker *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 12-27-04 Location: Patiala, India Posts: 5,364 Country:	Sri, I think OoE meant the global market. (which btw, I think it is only being launched in the Indian market. The other Indian small car which went global was the Reva, don't know how it faired.) And btw, aren't those rickshaws like 30,000 rupees or sumthin? I think they are cheaper then your average bike. Despite the 1 Lakh car, I think the Rickshaws stay!

01-10-2008, 12:26 PM	#15 (permalink)
WhamBam Contributor Join Date: 02-27-07 Location: India Posts: 655 Country:	Rellay liked Ratan Tata taking a dig at all the naysayers. Suzuki, Pachauri, Sunita Narayan, Mamata, none was spared and it was good to see. __________________ There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don’t..

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