The £1,290 car delights Indians but horrifies the green lobby

[2rth2pwr]

(100,000 Rupees = about $2,500)

At 100,000 rupees (£1,290), the People's Car, designed and manufactured by Tata, is being marketed as a safer way of travelling for those who until now have had to transport their families balanced on the back of their motorbikes....

But Tata hopes also to create a 'new market for cars which does not exist', making them accessible to India's booming middle classes made recently rich by an economy growing at around 9 per cent a year. This rapidly expanding market is potentially extremely lucrative; consultants McKinsey predict that the size of the Indian middle class will grow from 50 million now to 583 million by 2025.

Last year just over one million cars and seven million motorbikes were sold in India. Tata wants to transform some of those motorbike buyers into car owners and believes that the company can eventually sell up to a million People's Cars a year. Analysts say the project could revolutionise car prices, not just in India, but globally. Several other manufacturers have similar products in the pipeline...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2235975,00.html


...These figures alarm environmentalists, already concerned by the congestion and rising pollution levels in India's overcrowded cities. The Tata car is expected to sell for a few hundred pounds more than the most popular motorbikes and less than half the price of the current cheapest car on the market, a Maruti 800. Pollution analysts warn that such a drastic cut in prices could have devastating consequences.

[truedelphi]

1. A car like this may actually pollute less than a motor bike does

A two stoke engine, such as propells many small motor bikes, can have no catalytic converters or other such affairs to help process the filthy emmissions.

So even though it may use more gasoline, this small car may end up being a cleaner and safer choice.

[phantom power]

6. Unless you are counting CO2 as a pollutant.

The whole "safer" argument is what allowed suburban America to justify the trend that ultimately led to the appearance of an SUV in every garage.

Or course, the reason that it worked so well is because there is some truth to it. In a collision, superior inertia is your friend.

That said, I categorically refuse to blame Asians for aspiring to the lifestyle that we Americans made famous, even though I agree that it's going to be worse for the environment in just about every way.

I rather expect that peak oil is going to cut this trend short before it builds up much momentum. In the big picture, our lifestyle is going to approach Asia's, rather than the other way around.

[XemaSab]

2. Eat the poor

:sarcasm:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. What about the air car

that is supposed to be available in India by the end of the year? Less than 4000 Euros, it runs on compressed air.

[DCKit]

5. AND which Tata has licensed to build.

Not to mention that the first viable and affordable electric car is probably going to come from them or a Chinese company. How many of these concerned environmentalists spend half their days looking for food and cooking fuel? Yeah, I see their point, but their time would be better spent offering alternatives for the poor rather than telling them they can't have the same conveniences the rest of us enjoy. The last thing we need is for the term "environmentalist" becoming yet another synonym for "hypocrite". Put up, or shut up.

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. This is worth keeping an eye on

.
.
.

Tata is not a new company >>http://www.tatamotors.com/

and they got some serious backing:

Tata expected to appoint Ford executive to head Jaguar-Land Rover - report

January 06, 2008: 10:06 AM EST


LONDON, Jan. 6, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Ratan Tata, chairman of India's Tata Group, which owns Tata Motors, is expected to appoint a senior Ford executive to run Jaguar and Land Rover, according to The Sunday Times.

Senior industry sources said last week Tata is likely to name a top Ford executive in Europe as chief executive of the Jaguar-Land Rover group, which Tata is poised to acquire from Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F PRS) (NYSE:F PRA) (NYSE:F) , the newspaper said.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-22061308.htm

While the West sleeps . . . .

hmmmmm