Finding Nano: A Phenomenon That Could’ve Been

“A promise is a promise.”

Those are the exact words that came out of Ratan Tata’s mouth at the launch of a product which was touted to change the history of the Indian automobile industry. For the first time in the history of the motor car, someone was about to manufacture and sell a brand new car for the price of a gearbox. The idea of producing the Tata Nano came to Mr Tata one day while he was travelling and witnessed an entire Indian family on a motorcycle along with their refrigerator and the wardrobe. Well, not literally, but you get the point.

Although he was successfully able to keep his promise, little did he know that his noble intent of providing a comparatively safer and comfortable option of transportation to the general population will be met with a cold response from the masses of this country. People who still think that a car, over and above everything else that it should be, is more of a status symbol.

One cannot find faults in the mentality, as the motor car for a lot of people in India is still a luxury. The idea of being comfortable and safe in an enclosed space one can call his own reeks opulence for people for whom getting a bellyful, by definition, sets them apart from the ‘poor’. A firm grip on the rain gutter over a local train’s door and living on a prayer while the body hangs loose outside, inches away from the poles that threaten to kill is the order of the day. Any and everything that offers more safety and comfort is a luxury. So when the moment finally arrives when men and women who toil for 28 hours a day in this country are in a position to uplift their lives, call it social pressure or image consciousness, some reaction in the mind and body makes them buy things that are bought for every other reason except practicality, things which we think fit our image.

Tata launched the Nano, the base variant retailing for a 100,000 Indian Rupees. However, from that very moment, what could’ve been positioned as a smart city car that was chic, urban and cool, Tata made the mistake of calling it ‘Cheap’. Sticking to a price tag, building a car to a cost turned from what Tata Motors imagined to be an advantage to a bane. Since the very first day it was born, the Nano has had to walk through various infernos, almost literally, it’s baptism under fire. Not to forget the geopolitical scenario which led the manufacturer to shift its production facility from the East Coast to the West.

In our opinion, the Tata Nano is a smart product which lugged around the weight of being called ‘Cheap’. If Tata would’ve just launched the car and never bothered to harp on the pricing aspect, it would’ve taken people by surprise, being a pleasant one at that, and this large-hearted car with a little fin would’ve attracted the success that it deserves. The little Tata still ticks all the right boxes if you need a vehicle that will only be used within urban environs. If only they did something to change the image of the car.

As for making it desirable, the manufacturer could’ve concentrated on other traits of the car and leave the price alone. On a different note, the Nano could also very well replace the noisy and relatively unsafe auto rickshaws, in the process, making our roads appear slightly prettier too. We seriously think the Nano could’ve been a milestone product capable of transforming the Indian transportation scene. We believe it could’ve been a monument of what India can engineer and manufacture at the fraction of a cost elsewhere. It could’ve been the automotive equivalent of the Mangalyaan. What went wrong? What could’ve been done better? Why has the Nano become a recommendation your friends suggest when they know you are broke? Share your views, comments and inputs in the space below.