Jump to content

India Offers Cheapest Car on Earth


Friendstar
 Share

Recommended Posts

MUMBAI: There was the $400 airplane seat that plummeted to $40. Then there was the $2,000 laptop reborn for $200. And now the $25,000 car has a $2,500 cousin.

 

 

Every now and again in business history, a disruption comes along that breaks the conventional wisdom about cost, tweaking and paring features once thought untouchable.

 

 

Likewise, the $2,500 car, scheduled for introduction Thursday by the Indian company Tata, swims against the current, with a rear-mounted engine, a trunk that fits little more than a briefcase, and plastics and adhesives replacing metal and bolts in certain nooks. (Some analysts expect the car to be priced closer to $3,000, still making it the cheapest on earth.)

 

 

But the still-untold story of how the Tata car was built is less about big-bang innovations than about a long string of $20 trims: a steering-wheel shaft rendered hollow here, a small headlight leveler removed there, the use of an analog speedometer less accurate than its digital equivalent.

 

 

The car is thus a triumph, not of one great invention but of a new engineering philosophy rising out of the developing world, with potential to change how cars everywhere are made, industry experts say. Just as Japan popularized kanban (just in time) and kaizen (continuous improvement), so Tata may export to the world what can perhaps be called "Gandhi engineering" - a mantra that combines irreverence toward established ways with a scarcity mentality that spurns superfluities.

 

 

"It's basically throwing out everything the auto industry had thought about cost structures in the past and taking out a clean sheet of paper and asking, 'What's possible?' " said Daryl Rolley, the head of North American and Asian operations for Ariba, which provides parts for Tata and other auto makers like BMW and Toyota. "In the next 5 to 10 years, the whole auto industry is going to be flipped upside-down.";

↡ Advertisement
Link to post
Share on other sites

I'd happily buy this car if it has a toilet seat, which i go in & dump everyday & converts my sh1t to biofuel which can power me to & from work everyday! [laugh]

Link to post
Share on other sites

[laugh][laugh][laugh]

 

Good pic.

 

Actually, just think what this car is going to do. India does not have a viable alternative in public transport in many of its big cities. (i.e. no MRT, light rail, efficient bus system, etc.)

 

Now, these cars are so affordable that many middle class Indians who used to ride motorbikes will now buy cars.

 

I envision jams of monumental proportions. This is a case of private enterprise zooming ahead of government capability.

 

All the best to India.

Link to post
Share on other sites

India Unveils World's Cheapest Car

By Alex Crawford

Asia Correspondent Updated:17:44, Wednesday January 09, 2008

 

India is launching what is being billed as the world's cheapest car.

 

A snip at

post-1-1199941432.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

and plastics and adhesives replacing metal and bolts in certain nooks.

Come heavy rain and strong winds, will the car fall apart? [sweatdrop]

 

It's a kite! It's a bird! Hey wait......... It's a CAR!!!! [laugh]

↡ Advertisement
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...