There have been many articles written recently on the subject of Tata Motors, many of them relating to the People’s Car, the Tata Nano. Here are just a few of them.

Tata Nano’s Bookings Opening Next Month
Tata Motors will be opening as many as 100 retail outlets next month to enable booking for the Nano. Our dealers will open these special, retail counters to push sales,” Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant said in an interview. …

Tata Motors: US$3 billion fund raising to be completed by 31st May
Once Tata Motors has the US$3 billion in its kitty, Land Rover and Jaguar will be Indian-owned! The consortium of banks mandated to raise US$3 billion to fund Tata Motor’s acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover is likely to complete the …

Vision India 2020: MIT India
When we launched MIT India in 2010, we were handsomely financed by contracts from Intel, Infosys, Cadence, Autodesk, Tata Motors and IBM, and hardly raised any outside financing until much later, when we were ready to scale. …

DAIMLER CEO: DEAL WITH JAGUAR, LAND ROVER POSSIBLE
Daimler is prepared to strike a deal with Jaguar and LR, that could see the German giant selling components to the British marquees now owned by Tata Motors, CEO Dieter Zetshce told the reporters from Auto Motor and Sport. …

Tata NANO - The People’s Car from Tata Motors
In the world of Automobile, Tata Group’s again set a benchmark by made the car name TATA NANO, The world’s cheapest car of rupees 1 lacs. Tata Motors nano gave a very stout example in front of their competitors. …

Tata: Tata explores new small car platform
Tata Motors is planning a new platform for a compact car codenamed X4. The idea is “purely at an exploratory stage” right now but indications are that the company is keen to take it forward quickly.

Tata Motors: A Bumpy Ride
Over the last 12 months, Tata Motors shares have been acting like my daughter on a sugar high. Jumping up and then sliding down in the blink of an eye. Tata Motors is part of the Tata Group, which is India’s largest private sector …

Ratan Tata. You probably do not recognize the name, but this successful business man from India stared the automobile industry dead in the eyes and could have broken numerous molds that have haunted the industry over the past decades. His automobile, officially named the Nano, is the world’s least expensive car. At roughly $2,500 dollars each it boasts a roughly 33 horsepower engine and a five seat arrangement that isn’t just hard to look at, but also hard to imagine the vehicle can achieve an upwards of 50 miles per gallon. The car was not designed to boast stylish looks or revolutionary technology, but rather the ultimate blend of efficiency to meet the consumer’s needs and wants in India.

India over the past several years has come to have over 300 million individuals in its middle class, roughly the population of the United States. This enormous middle class is looking for some of the same luxuries as those of western countries and they have been for a while. Tata has been crunching numbers ever since the conception of the vehicle and he is currently projecting sales of nearly one million Nanos each year.

What does this mean for India as a whole? Many believe a great deal of problems. India’s road infrastructure is already under enormous pressure and traffic jams in the country make traffic in the United States look minimal. When potentially supplying hundreds of thousands if not millions of the middle class vehicles, it will only place further strain on the system. On more of a global scale, scientists are playing out the worst case scenario of adding even more carbon emissions from a country that normally has kept to itself.

Reports that surfaced around 2005 estimated that Indian vehicles released about 219 million tons of carbon dioxide and with the rise of low-cost vehicles and continued economic expansion, that number is expected to reach at least 1,467 million tons around 2030. Many countries are beginning to worry about the global implications the enormous addition of cars will have, while others are supporting India. Many political leaders are keeping to the sidelines with the notion that India has an enormous population and is clearly becoming an economic power that will do what it wants.

On a different note, several countries, including the United States, are analyzing the effects that this small car will have on the economy of India. The United States has had a small but noticeable movement towards smaller cars using less gasoline; however, even though the Nano would most likely not suit American tastes, especially with the lack of a radio, trunk space, and speed, the smaller footprint and higher efficiency of smaller vehicles has benefits that no nation can look over.

It is up to the new Indian market and the new Nano vehicle to show the world what will happen when low income individuals from a relatively under-developed nation have the means to travel and commute just like that of more developed countries around the world.

Tom Tessin is an author for FINDgascards.com that is geared toward people looking to save on gas with [http://www.findgascards.com ]gas credit cards

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Tessin

Cars in India
By Sonali Sharma

India is presently ranked 17th amongst auto car manufacturing countries in the world. Keeping in pace with the ever growing demand for cars, the production of cars has also been on a high off late. Thanks to a huge export potential and favorable Government policy, multinational companies have been eyeing at India to set up their manufacturing facilities. According to auto experts and analysts, India is poised to become third largest auto car manufacturing hub in the world by 2020.

Amongst the newly launched cars in small & mini car segment, General Motors’ Chevrolet Spark & Aveo U-Va have received tremendous response from the market. With the launch of these Chevy brands, General Motors India has thrown a tough competition to the predominant Indian auto giants like Tata and Maruti. The stupendous growth the GM car sales bears testimony to the growing popularity of Chevy brands in India. Hyundai and Fiat are the other major players that are present in this segment.

In the sedan and luxury sedan segment, General Motors’ Chevrolet Optra and recently launched Optra Magnum have been receiving rave reviews from auto enthusiasts and auto experts. With the launch of Chevrolet Aveo and Optra Magnum which have a class defined performance, GM India eyes at grabbing 10% of the share in Indian car market by 2010.

In the multi utility vehicle segment General Motors’ Tavera is directly competing with Toyota Innova and Mahindra Scorpio. Tavera has been doing consistently well and has been delivering best in class mileage to its customers.

GM India is now foraying into the premium A-segment cars in India with the Chevrolet Captiva which is all set to hit the road later this year.

Sonali Sharma

India Cars Review Writer

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sonali_Sharma
http://EzineArticles.com/?Cars-in-India&id=729017

Asian Cars: Auto Manufacturers to Watch
By Matthew Keegan

The Asian automobile manufacturing market is much broader than many American consumers understand it to be. Beyond Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, and other household names there are quite a few automakers that are growing in size and respectability in their own markets. Two of these companies have already committed to selling their models in the U.S., but there are three others worth knowing about and watching.

Starting in 2007, two Chinese automobile manufacturers will be exporting cars to the U.S. and Canada. Geely Automobile Company and the Chery Automobile Company are part of the first wave of new Asian automakers preparing to serve the U.S. market. I won’t go into more detail about these two manufacturers, so please read a related article I wrote titled, “Chinese Cars: Redefining the Market,” to learn more about them.

Proton — Proton Holdings, the parent corporation of Proton Motors, is the largest manufacturer of vehicles in Malaysia. Volkswagen and Proton signed a strategic partnership agreement in October 2004 whereby Volkswagen cars would be built on Proton assembly lines beginning in 2006. Apart from the VW venture, Proton has a line of models of its own consisting primarily of subcompact and compact sized vehicles. Proton cars are currently exported to Australia and the company is eyeing the U.S. market perhaps as early as 2010. In addition to its VW relationship, Japanese automaker Mitsubishi owns nearly a 16% share in Proton.

Hindustan — Since 1950, Hindustan Motors has been building cars for the Indian market. Their current line up of automobiles, looking as if they were built in the 1950s, do not match up to current world styling standards. However, the emerging Indian economy has been providing remarkable growth across all business sectors and the Indian automobile industry is ripe for renewal. The Ambassador Grand, one such model, has recently been updated to meet current European emissions standards. Look for a Hindustan model to be exported to Europe first before taking on the highly competitive U.S. market.

Tata — Unlike Hindustan Motors, India’s Tata Motors is currently producing cars that look as if they were designed recently. As the only Indian car company featuring cars built and designed by Indians, the company’s Indica V2 and Indigo compacts have received a favorable reception at the Geneva Auto Show. Plans to export directly to the U.S. have been considered but Tata cars may get to the U.S. under another label before then, such as Ford or Dodge.

Beyond these five companies other state run automobile manufacturing companies have sprung up in communist controlled China. If Geely and Chery succeed, more makes will follow and the floodgates will be open. More choice is coming for consumers…for better or for worse.

Copyright 2006 – Matt Keegan is The Auto Writer covering industry trends, car parts, accessories, new models, the classics, and so much more. You can save on top quality auto parts and accessories by shopping online today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_Keegan
http://EzineArticles.com/?Asian-Cars:-Auto-Manufacturers-to-Watch&id=151523

Tata Nano - Car for the Commons
By Venkat Ramamurthy

Ratan Tata has finally made it. The man, who dreamed big to make a small car has achieved it and gave the cynics a halt that predicted doom on the project. Major competitors wondered in awe, a feat they thought would remain in paper. However, as the expectations from the Indian middle classes soared, the opinions resonated with global sentiments on the need for an affordable car that would carry the common people. The light has ultimately shone with Tata Motors realizing the dream into reality.

Tata Motors unveiled the Tata ‘Nano’, the cheapest car in the world at the Delhi Auto Expo, which was held recently in the Indian Capital city. There were mixed reactions among the global manufacturers with some looking at it with envy and some dismissing it to be yet another gimmick only to say, “Let’s see how long it lasts”. International Automobile giant Volkswagen was all praises for the car. All emotions taken into account, it was a red-letter day for Tata Motors, which entered the annals of history for having released the world’s cheapest car.

Ratan Tata drove the car to the podium amidst cheers and got down with a sense of satisfaction in his face. “A promise is a promise.” Ratan Tata spoke these words, when reporters quizzed him how he could accomplish this task in the specified time with many price fluctuations in the meanwhile. Well, the Nano has been priced at US $2500, which by any means appeals to the masses and this is evident from the thronging of the public at Tata’s marketing outlets. Despite many hurdles right from the politicization of the manufacturing facility at Singur, the car made its way to the public domain and was the cynosure of all eyes in the exhibition.

Technical Parameters

Nano is a two-cylinder driven car with an Engine capacity of 625 CC and a power of 33 BHP. The little wonder can travel up to 20 to 25 km per liter of petrol. The maximum speed it can cruise is 90 Km. The car is slated for release in Oct 2008 and comes in three colors viz. Red, Yellow and Silver.
Small it may look albeit; it has not compromised on road safety. Nano has passed the necessary rigors of testing such as the ‘Full Frontal Crash’, a test that determines the impact strength of a car. It has complied with Euro-4 emission norms for environmental qualification tests, which establishes that the car has undergone conventional checks required to ensure a smooth and safe plying on the roads.

People’s sentiments

People in India have already started bee lining in the showrooms to book the Nano. The reasons are more than encouraging, as the difference in price between Nano and other cars is wide. It also has struck a good balance in pricing when compared to motor bikes. What else would people require, when a small family of four can travel with comfort in a car, which offers them luxury and a status that was once considered the choice of the privileged.

The adage ‘Small is beautiful’ fits very well for Tata Nano. The efforts by the 500-member team, which developed the Nano is by no means a nano effort, but certainly a mega one. Now the challenge rests with the government to widen the roads and provide proper infrastructure facilities for an efficient and safe plying of cars in general. This issue comes to the fore, since the fleet of cars will suddenly increase on roads due to advent of cheaper cars.

There will be stiff competition among car manufacturers and one would vie with the other by slashing prices to keep pace with the market needs and competitive pricing for customers. The game has started. Now it is up to the government to keep the roads as fit as a fiddle and for the manufacturers to bring down the prices for a sustained share of their market.

About the Author

Venkat Ramamurthy is a Freelance Writer from India and writes on different topics. He has several published works to his credit. His maiden work ‘One Indian’s View of Diet: How Food Habits Can Make or Break a Person was published in ‘The Positive Health’ published from Portsmouth U.K. His travel articles ‘Legacy of City of Pearls’, ‘The Seat of Nawabi Culture’ and articles on social malice ‘Far from Maddening Crowd’, ‘Operation Crush’ were aired in the web portal hyderabadnews

Venkat Ramamurthy’s travel article Tranquebar- The Danish Connection can be viewed in http://www.worldpress.org in the Asia section.

He writes for interlinkcity and was selected as their Favorite Freelancer for the month of December 07. He has started submitting articles for articlesfactory.

He posts on health related information at http://food-health-lifestyle.blogspot.com

His contact e-mail is caduvetimurthy@yahoo.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Venkat_Ramamurthy
http://EzineArticles.com/?Tata-Nano—Car-for-the-Commons&id=927416

Tata Motors
By Rajendra Repanar

Launched in 1998, the Indica was a trailblazer in more ways than one, and it set Tata Motors on the path to reaching a leadership position in India’s passenger car segment. The original Indica variants were followed by the outstanding Indica V2, a runaway bestseller. This car is now also available in the UK, under the label City Rover, following a tie up between Tata Motors and Rover, the British carmaker. Presented below are the different versions and models of the Indica.
Indica V2 diesel

Indica V2 diesel: The Indica V2, an improved version of the original Indica, has several added features: SuperDrive engine, BlockShock absorbers, SmoothRide suspension, EasyShift gears and WideTread tyres. It is available in a range of vibrant colours and there is no waiting period (since it is available on an ex-stock basis). There are four models in this version: the Indica V2 DL, the Indica V2 DLE, the Indica V2 DLS and the Indica V2 DLX.
Indica V2 petrol

Indica V2 petrol: The petrol version of the Indica is embellished with state-of-the-art technology and stunning style. Features include collapsible steering column, side-impact beam, energy-absorbing crumple zones in the front, anti-submarine seats, child-safety locks on rear doors, and laminated front and rear windshield glass. There are three models in this version: the Indica V2 LEI, the Indica V2 LSI and the Indica V2 LXI.

Indigo

The Indigo is a comfortable, spacious, premium-features sedan with class-leading ride and handling characteristics in the midsize (C) segment. Developed on Tata Motors’ highly successful car platform in Pune, the Indigo, launched in 2002, comes in three models of petrol and two models of diesel in six attractive colours.

The Indigo petrol comes with an 85bhp engine, while the diesel version is the only vehicle in this class with a turbo-charged engine. An extended wheelbase helps maintain a compact overall length while delivering large interior space. The different models of the Indigo are: the Petrol GLX, the Petrol GLS, the Petrol GLE, the Diesel LX and the Diesel LS.

Indigo Marina
The Indigo Marina story started following the success of the Indigo, and the realisation by Tata Motors that there was a market for a car that has the luxury of a sedan and the utility and convenience of a multi-utility vehicle. The Marina has the power, safety and luxury of the Indigo — and a whole lot more boot space.

he Indigo Marina story started following the success of the Indigo, and the realisation by Tata Motors that there was a market for a car that has the luxury of a sedan and the utility and convenience of a multi-utility vehicle. The Marina has the power, safety and luxury of the Indigo — and a whole lot more boot space.

For more information and contact details, please see
http://www.tatamotors.com or Tata Motors profile

please visit my site.

http://www.raj.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rajendra_Repanar
http://EzineArticles.com/?Tata-Motors&id=469550

Tata Motors have now confirmed their plans to take over the British motor icons Land Rover and Jaguar. In a deal said to be worth around US$2.3 billion, Tata Motors will now venture into the European market. This represents one of Tata Motors’ largest investments.

Jaguar and Ford will continue to manufacture their vehicles in Britain using Ford motors and other components.

“We are very pleased at the prospect of Jaguar and Land Rover being a significant part of our automotive business,” Tata group chairman Ratan Tata said.

Tata will replace Ford as the new owner of the companies which British unions said would help preserve thousands of jobs in Britain.

Tata Motors listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2004. After thousands of changes, in the quarter ending December 2006 Tata earned $116 million on revenue of $1.55 billion. Annual revenue grew to $5.2 billion for the fiscal year ending in March 2006. Analysts worry that high product development costs and rising commodities prices could lower profit margins for the next few quarters.

The changes at Tata Motors are coming as India itself is transforming. With economic growth charging along at 9% last year, more and more Indians can afford cars. But on the highway from Mumbai to Pune, the new cars zoom past wooden carts filled with construction materials and pulled by ponies, camels, elephants or even people. Roadside markets offer chickens and geese–those chosen are slaughtered on the spot and usually carried home on motor scooters. Outside the Tata Motors gates in Pune, a woman in a flowing red sari balances a 3-foot-wide basket on her head. It holds snacks and drinks and serves as a roving roadside shop.

Inside the company gates is a modern factory complex. In one building, just past a small statue of the beloved Hindu elephant god Ganesha, robots pick up pieces of sheet metal and feed them into a series of 30-foot-tall stamping presses every ten seconds until the left-side door of a Tata Safari suv is formed. In a building nearby, workers in navy-blue uniforms use computer-aided designs from Tata engineers to create tools and dies used to make those sheet-metal stampings. Tata Motors boosts its revenue by making dies for Jaguar, Ford, General Motors  and Toyota, too, just as it does by allowing the made-in-India Mercedes to be run through its paint shop.

Workers at the Tata Motors factory have been trained in Japanese manufacturing techniques that call for continuous improvement. A worker building Safaris noticed that each day on average, one front grille was ruined when a worker leaned over to work on the engine and accidentally scratched the grille with his belt buckle. Cost: about 2,500 rupees–$57–a day, or $17,000 a year. Tata designed a simple protective cover for the grilles, plus a slip-on fabric cover for belts and watches that is now used to cut down on expensive waste at each of Tata Motors‘ factories. Cost: about 25 cents per vehicle.

Before the reforms Indian customers had so few choices that Tata was sheltered. When demand tailed off it just worked down a waiting list, and there was never a need to concern itself with customer desires. Sure enough, after the economy slumped in the late 1990s–just when expenses for developing the passenger car hit home - Tata truck and bus sales plunged by 40%, and Tata Motors lost $110 million in fiscal 2000. It was the first red ink seen since 1945, when the company was founded to make locomotives. Executives were stunned. “It was corporate India’s biggest loss,” says Ravi Kant, managing director of Tata Motors. “The crisis changed us. We told ourselves, ‘Never again.’”

But Tata Motors, part of India’s largest conglomerate, first had to reset its ways. Like many Indian companies protected for decades from foreign competition, Tata had gotten to 2000 still fat and slow.

Change started with a spring 2000 meeting at the Lakehouse, a bungalow across the street from the company’s main factory in Pune, a three-hour drive east of Mumbai. Kant, then in charge of the commercial vehicle division, needed fresh ideas instead of rigid resistance, so in an experiment, he called a meeting of 20 of his most promising young managers–all under 35 years old.

“I have a problem,” he said in his matter-of-fact tone. “The company is bleeding.” He asked for ideas on how to stop the gush of red ink. Okay, they told him, trim costs.

Girish Wagh was there, just 29 then. He remembers the shock of what came next. “Ravi Kant said that 1% in cost cuts would be a rounding error. He asked for 10%!” says Wagh. “Never had we thought of such a target.” Every single year until then costs had gone up, not down. Kant told them to present a basic plan that very afternoon, in front of him and–alarmingly–all their bosses.

They worked frantically. By the 3 p.m. meeting, their wildest ideas were on the table. Taken together, they added up to 6.5%. “A breakthrough!” Kant remembers thinking. But that’s not what he said. “Please go back and think again,” he told them. He needed 10%, not 6.5%. “You’ve got three weeks.” The young team took some measures even as it scrounged for more. In came benchmarking, purchasing from Internet auctions, outsourcing parts to more efficient suppliers and boosting revenue by selling Tata-made dies to other companies. Meanwhile, the Pune factory’s veteran boss bought into the project.

The transformation of Tata Motors had begun with the searing loss in 2000, but it continued with a return to profit in the fiscal year ending March 2003. By then it was producing two car models and selling a bit abroad. Today, after buying or partnering, the company has vehicle projects around the globe and exports 11% of output, mostly to South Africa.

Efficiency is way up: It now takes between 12 and 15 minutes to change a die on the passenger car assembly line, down from two hours in 2000. The company’s break-even point for capacity utilization is one of the best in the industry worldwide. Between 2000 and 2006 nearly 6,000 workers left the company with early-retirement deals. Meanwhile, the once radical e-sourcing idea has become routine for Tata, which ran 750 reverse auctions on Ariba in the past year to bring down purchasing prices by an average of 7% for everything from ball bearings to the milk served in the company cafeteria.

Tata Motors’ plans would produce, in real terms, by far the cheapest car ever made.

An Indian car may soon earn a parking place in history alongside Ford’s Model T, Volkswagen’s Beetle and the British Motor Corp.’s Mini, all of which put a set of wheels within reach of millions of customers after they rolled onto the scene. Tata Motors  is developing a car it aims to sell for about $2,500–the cheapest, by far, ever made.

There is a lot riding on its small wheels. If the Nano is a success when it goes on sale next year, it would herald the emergence of Tata Motors on the global auto scene, mark the advent of India as a global center for small-car production and represent a victory for those who advocate making cheap goods for potential customers at the “bottom of the pyramid” in emerging markets. Most of all, it would give millions of people now relegated to lesser means of transportation the chance to drive cars.

It is a hugely ambitious project - rivals have called it impossible - for any company. But it is audacious for one that hadn’t even built cars a decade ago.

For decades Tata Motors has been India’s largest commercial vehicle maker–the Tata logo appears on buses, dump trucks, ambulances and cement mixers. Sturdy as elephants, they are a fixture of the Indian landscape. Owners inevitably paint the exteriors in a cheerful riot of bright red, green, orange, blue and yellow and line the un-air-conditioned cabs with teakwood to keep them cooler in India’s searing heat.

However ubiquitous, Tata’s trucks faced a problem after the Indian government began reforms that opened the Indian economy in 1991: the huge cyclical swings in demand typical for commercial vehicles. To diversify, Tata would enter, at great expense, the less volatile passenger car market.