Tata Launches Nano. In Theory.
By Robert FaragoMarch 23, 2009
Autocar reports that Indian automaker Tata will spend part of its day launching their NSFA (Not Safe for America) Nano in Mumbai. In case you’d forgotten—what with all the delays—the Nano is slated to be the world’s cheapest car. “The tinny four-door will sell for 100,000 rupees or $1979 (£1366) when the company takes bookings next month.” Sorry, typo. “Tiny.” So, it’s not REALLY launching the car. And it’s only TAKING BOOKINGS next month. Autocar reveals that DELIVERY will start well after the factory’s built, which “should be up and running next year, despite delays caused by an industrial dispute, but may only have capacity to build 350,000 cars a year. Until then Tata is thought to only be able to provide 50,000 cars annually.” So less, later, maybe from Mumbai. So what’s up with that? “Despite facing huge demand for the Nano, experts estimate the car will not create enough revenue to refinance by June a $2 billion (£1.3 bn) bridging loan Tata used to buy Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford.” Spinning wheels. Got to go ’round.
Posted in India | New Cars | News Blog | 41 comments 
Tata Motors. Profile of an Indian Car Company in Trouble
By John HornerFebruary 2, 2009
India’s Tata has gone from darling to dumpling in just a year. The high profile Nano People’s Car project still hasn’t gone into production, and the $2.3b purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover now seems spectacularly ill-timed. Business Week recently covered the story with these great opening notes: “What a difference a year makes.” India is in the throes of its own economic crisis; thanks to high inflation, high interest rates, tight credit markets, excessive corporate debt and a suddenly spending averse middle class. Pretty much like most places in the world, but a little different.
Posted in India | News Blog | 24 comments
UK Wants To Bail Out Jaguar. Financial Times Hates It. With A Vengeance
By Bertel SchmittDecember 19, 2008
The Financial Times (sub) is pissed. Pissed at Peter Mandelson, Britain’s business secretary, and his planned bail-out of Jaguar Land Rover. Forgetting the old school of not mixing reporting with opinion, the FT pulls out the flame thrower and blasts away: “It is hard to imagine a less deserving candidate. The luxury carmaker fails the public interest test on two key grounds. First, its products are of questionable social utility. For the government to allocate scarce funds to prop up the production of the 4.2 Litre V8 Petrol Supercharged Jaguar is a nonsense. It has a top speed of more than 150mph, emits 299g of carbon dioxide per kilometre and costs about three times the average annual wage. True, the UK car industry employs 190,000 people directly and supports several hundred thousand more once components and retailing are taken into account. But if Mr Mandelson wants the government to underwrite this £50b industry, he should harness such public funds as are available to develop the green cars of the future, not pander to vested interests.”
Hmmm. Let us remind you: This is not a rabid blog. This is the venerable Financial Times. We kid you not. Would the pink Financial Times be so ferocious if Land Rover and Jaguar still be a company that’s firmly in British hands? We guess not. The FT seems to have issues with the current owners of Land Rover and Jaguar, who happen to sit in one of Britain’s old and long departed crown colonies. After refilling the flame thrower, the FT launches an incendiary attack in the easterly direction:
(more…)
Posted in India | News Blog | 22 comments
Mahindra: “We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Jeep Nameplate”
By Edward NiedermeyerDecember 11, 2008
..although some US dealers might be nice! Indian firm Mahindra and Mahindra showed this tasty little neo-Willys at the recent Bologna auto show. The the 12-foot long, 1.5 ton off-roader concept sports a 2.5 liter diesel four, making 108 hp and 250 Nm. And since it is just a concept, that’s about all the info that Auto Motor und Sport could dig up.
Posted in Diesel | Future Vehicles | India | News Blog | 15 comments
Bailout Watch 252: The Last Refuge Of The Scoundrel
By Edward NiedermeyerDecember 1, 2008
Since the first mutterings of an auto industry bailout, the idea has wrapped itself in unabashedly patriotic rhetoric. Now that the battle for the billions has been joined, this nationalist veneer is reaching near-self-parody levels of earnestness. All the while we’ve been arguing that saving American jobs and saving the Detroit Three in their current forms are mutually exclusive goals. As reality slowly becomes too real to ignore, directors, representatives and pundits are beginning to acknowledge this trade-off, although you might be surprised by how they’re playing. Or, if you’re as cynical as we are, not. The gameplan comes from Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press, who argues that to survive, Ford and GM must “must show a business plan that’s profitable at much lower sales volume and has upside flexibility to build more vehicles and for workers to make more money with overtime. This will require plant closures and layoffs.” At home, of course. Meanwhile, Phelan argues that “GM and Ford’s greatest assets are their worldwide facilities and capabilities…
Posted in Bailout Watch | India | News Blog | 7 comments
Chinese High-Rollers High On Rollers
By Bertel SchmittNovember 2, 2008
Chinese mothers don’t admonish their one-and-only child to “eat up, there are children starving back in America.” But we’re getting there. Case in point: This weekend, another Rolls-Royce showroom opened in Shenzen, Gasgoo reports. It’s the seventh Rolls Royce retail location in China. Another one, located in China’s industrial center Ningbo, will open its doors in a few months. Rollers are on a roll in China. I counted two Phantoms alone in the underground garage of my Beijing building. At the Shenzen opening, Rolls presented their new Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé to the Chinese public. It’s their entry model. “Nearly two-thirds of Coupé customers worldwide have not owned a Rolls-Royce before,” said Jenny Zheng, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ General Manager for Greater China. BMW are thanking their lucky stars…
Posted in China | India | News Blog | 19 comments
FIAT to Make Nano of its Own
By Cammy CorriganSeptember 5, 2008
FIAT and Tata have been cosying up to each other for some time. Ratan Tata was elected to the board of Directors at FIAT at Sergio Marchionne’s request, FIAT are looking to supply engines for Land Rover and Jaguar (A Jaguar XK with a Ferrari sourced engine? Fancy that!) and their joint ventures in India. But it seems, FIAT want a slice of Tata pie now (no, dirty jokes, please). The Economic Times of India reports that FIAT want to launch their version of the “world cheapest car” by 2010. However, Sergio Marchionne (FIAT’s CEO) didn’t disclose the price of the car. I’m no Sherlock Holmes, but I’m guessing it’s got to be less that Tata’s $2500 for the Nano, if it’s to qualify as “the world’s cheapest car”. Marchionne also didn’t say how it would be built, where it would be built, how much would be shared with the Nano, or how many Bothans died to bring us this information. Meanwhile, doesn’t Tata need to sort out its own production issues first?
Posted in Future Vehicles | India | Industry | News Blog | 6 comments
Are Tata Cars Electric?
By Cammy CorriganSeptember 4, 2008
While GM, Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi are readying their electric vehicles, a new contender has emerged and is aiming to beat them all to the punch. Tata motors, in conjunction with Norway’s THINK!, plans to launch an electric car themselves. Reuters reports that the car will be based on the Tata Indica and be launched in Norway within one year. S. Ravishankar, senior general manager at Tata Motors’ engineering research centre, says that the car can run for 175 km (110 miles) to 200 km when fully charged with a “two-pack” battery, but mileage could vary according to the battery used. (Ya think?) There’s little doubt that, if successful, Tata will use the Jaguar/Land Rover global dealer network to sell these cars. “Could I interest sir in a Jaguar XJ? A Supercharged Range Rover sport? A Tata Nano? or an Electric Tata Indica?” Uh, maybe not.
Posted in Electric Vehicles | Fuel Economy | Future Vehicles | India | News Blog | 6 comments
GM COO: “We do not have a huge amount of optimism for the rest of the year as the pressure on consumer continues”
By Cammy CorriganSeptember 2, 2008
Commentators criticize GM’s executives for being “out of touch” and “detached from reality.” Nonsense. Reuters reports that GM’s COO (and CEO in waiting) spoke the truth before jobbing journos at the opening of a $200m production plant in Talegon, India. Yes, after revising its ‘08 sales estimates gently downwards– twice– and talking about an “economic recovery” at every possible opportunity, Fritz Henderson has finally admitted that GM’s biz is on the skids all the way into ‘09 [as stated above]. In fact, it’s so bad that he might even stop saying the rest of the world is enough. “The most important thing we can do is to turn around the North American business,” Fritz pronounced. Unfortunately, old habits die hard. Henderson returned to Ye Olde developing countries Spin. “We see greater consumer resilience in emerging economies. We expect growth in China, India and other emerging markets will continue.” Nick Reilly (another GM executive) rogered that. “We are on track for full-year profit growth in Asia despite the hit we took in Q2.” Characteristically, Mr Reilly didn’t state a time line for this recovery. But GM’s got big plans. Forbes reports GM’s new Indian plant can crank out 140k units a year. With The General’s total regional sales running at about 72k units p.a., they’ve got some work major ahead of them. Either that or a shitload of surplus production capacity.
Posted in India | News Blog | 2 comments
Mahindra’s US Launch Delayed For More Testing
By Edward NiedermeyerAugust 25, 2008
Automotive News (sub) reports that Indian tractor firm Mahindra and Mahindra has delayed the US launch of its Appalachian pickup, built in Chennai, India. M&M's American distributor Global Vehicles was ready to start chasing its goal of 50k annual sales of the diesel four-banger light truck, when its CEO got a call from Mr Anand Mahindra himself. The message was simple: "My family's name is going onto this vehicle, and it's not going to fail." Mahindra is using the delay to log some 3.2m American miles on 25 trucks in hopes of fine-tuning it for the US market, with a particular eye on reliability. 324 dealers across the company have signed up to sell the Appalachian, but most have not yet built stores, so the delay could only help there as well. Oh, and there's one more thing… the diesel hasn't passed the EPA's new 50-state diesel standards. Global Vehicles and M&M swear on a stack of bibles that it will pass with flying colors, but with the price of diesel staying high, efficiency ratings will be crucial to the Appalachian's success. And since they've got the extra time, maybe they'll find some clever way to explain why an Indian truck has been named after a region of America. Maybe.
Posted in Diesel | Future Vehicles | India | News Blog | 32 comments
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