Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

its the act of smoking cannabis

My0gr81

DUH, I get it now, perhaps I should have just gone to urbandictionary from the start. OK, time to go for a toke.

allenjames

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Well, Tata Motors has verified, going to be delivered to the U.S. down the road. It definitely won't be the $2,500 bare-bones affair sold in India, but rather manufactured to meet laws to be sold and it will be a bit more expensive, but still affordable. It is simple to buy and sell car at the right dealership.

chikoo

420 is the Indian Penal Code for "cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section...ian_Penal_Code

In Nigeria, it is 419

It is very sad because Tata is the most honest and ethical company to work with and for in bribe ridden India.

A good read here. It is very refreshing to see an Indian company talking about their product rather than bribing the news world to shut up, as others would do over there, and other parts of Asia.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/20/for...ta-moters.html

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

I was just joking but nice to know the real story

mmarshall

Suzuki just recently left the U.S. market because of poor sales and an uncompetitive position....but my argument was that the company at least partially brought it on itself by allowing its American auto dealer-network to wither away to almost nothing (though they did keep a good motorcycle dealer network here). You can't sell vehicles if you don't have the shops and infrastructure to do so....which, right now, also seems to be Mitsubishi's problem here, as they are repeating Suzuki's mistake of letting their dealerships wither away.

I would hope so. Almost any company seems to be more ethical than some of the textile/clothing plants in that part of the world, where employees routinely are injured or die in building-fires, collapses, and other disasters.

As far as marketing the Nano in the U.S. for 10K or under, I wonder, though, if they have taken the extensive list of Federal vehicle-requirements here into account....and the fact that, in a couple of more years, dash-screen back-up cameras will also be required in all new vehicles here. I think that is one of the reasons we haven't seen entry-level models here from Chinese companies like Chery. With their low labor costs, if the Chinese could have sold a small car here for 10K or less, they probably would have done so by now.

chikoo

That is a bit of a harsh statement for the reputation of a company that you have zero awareness, let alone experience working with. Tata can and does go toe-to-toe in terms of working conditions with any western counterpart.

This should help you understand a bit
http://www.tata.com/aboutus/sub_inde...hip-with-trust

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Group#Subsidiaries

mmarshall

Well, that was my point....not really a harsh statement. I think you misunderstood me. Tata HAS to be better than some of the unscrupulous industries in that part of the world. And, of course, Tata employees not only produce the Nano but a number of high-class, upmarket Jaguar and land Rover products as well.

I still think it is iffy, though, if they can actually sell a Federally-approved vehicle in the U.S. for $10,000 or less and make a profit on it. The Chinese, who have had low labor costs for many years, can't. If Tata can actually pull it off in the U.S. with the Nano......more power to them. But I'm not holding my breath.

Aron9000

The Tata Nano will never meet US crash regulations. I'd imagine they'd have to start with a clean sheet design in order for it to meet current/future US safety standards. I don't think they could just throw some airbags in there and call it a day. It was built to a price point, engineering the unibody to meet our crash standards would've thrown their budget and its base price out the window.



There are a couple of reasons why tall/narrow vehicles like this do not make it to the US. And its not because they are prone to rollovers. You need to remember that even though its tall/narrow, the center of gravity is still really low. Its not like the old Samurai, which had 17" of ground clearance and a stupidly short wheelbase. I'd imagine a similar era Jeep CJ7 would handle about the same, ie don't do anything stupid.

That car there is a "kei" car, a special class of Japanese micro cars that enjoy huge tax and insurance benefits. Originally the class of car was invented after the war to get Japan moving again, but they have remained popular for years thanks to the cheap price, easy to park(big deal in crowded Japan), and continued government tax and insurance subsides. I forget the exact rules, but the engines have to be 600cc or less and they have length/width limits as well. As such, the only way you are going to get 4 people to fit in one of these tiny cars is to make the seating bolt upright, thus you end up with this funny shape.

Around the world, the same principle applies for a variety of different cars/trucks. Make them tall/narrow so they'll fit down the narrow streets of Europe. Its just that in the US space is not at a premium, so tiny tall/narrow city cars just will not sell here. Plus even if Americans weren't fat, we are just bigger people than the Japanese. I doubt a 6' 200lb man is going to be very comfortable in that Suzuki.