Archive for India

Indian paper The Telegraph has revealed to us one of the partners in India that Proton is talking to. Argentum Motors is the new owner of the defunct Daewoo Motors plant in Surajpur, Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India.

Proton is reportedly talking to Argentum Motors on using the plant for contract manufacturing or sourcing of components. Argentum executive Ajay Singh says Proton was looking into ways to bring down production costs for its Indian market entry, and the Argentum plant provided some ways to achieve that goal. He added that Argentum is also talking to other manufacturers like Daimler AG.

Related Posts:
Proton to finalise India plan by mid-2008
Proton and the Indian automotive industry

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Proton plans to finalise its India strategy by the middle of 2008, according to its managing director Datuk Syed Zainal in a report by The Star yesterday. A suitable partner (or partners) for the Indian market would have the following qualities:

• manufacturing and distribution experience
• car design and localisation capabilites

Proton will be targetting the B-segment and C-segment in India with cars like the Proton Saga and the Proton Person, with a strategy similiar to the one they used in China, which was getting a Chinese manufacturer to buy CKD kits of the GEN2 (CBU imports initially) and handle sales and marketing themselves in their own market which they would be familiar with, something Proton would not have experience with.

Read my previous article for my thoughts on how Proton could fit into the Indian automotive industry: Proton and the Indian automotive industry. It was written before the Saga launch so at that point we were still speculating the Saga’s dimensions.

On the local scenes, there will be something nice from Proton next week

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Tata is inching very closely to acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company, and everyone is already assuming the two companies are in Tata’s hands, in a deal that analysts have pegged at being worth between US$1.5 to US2.0 billion.

One company that is very happy about all of this is Fiat, who has a close relationship with Tata. Tata uses Fiat turbodiesel engines in their cars, and the two companies have a partnership worth Rs 4000 crore (3.3 billion ringgit) in India.

Fiat says this will most likely allow the Italian company to get access to Jaguar’s technologies. It is particularly interested in Jaguar’s rear wheel drive platform as well as Land Rover’s four-wheel drive technology. Yup, you guessed right - the first model from the Fiat group to benefit from this is most likely the new flagship Alfa Romeo 169, which Fiat plans to develop as a rear wheel drive car.

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Ford may forgo retained stake in Jaguar and Land Rover

Tata is on both ends of the car market right now, from one of the cheapest cars around that is the Tata Nano right up to two luxury brands that they are about to purchase from the Ford Motor Company, Jaguar and Land Rover.

While the original plan was for Ford to keep a minority stake in the company as it has done with Aston Martin (it retains a US$77 million out of US$925 million stake), Indian paper the Economic Times has reported that Ford has decided not to retain a minority stake in Land Rover and Jaguar as “it is convinced about the future development of these two brands in the hands of Tata.”

Ford’s earlier intention of holding a minority stake in the two companies, as with Aston Martin, was to ensure supply contracts and jobs are protected. Analysts have pegged the deal at worth between US$1.5 to US2.0 billion.

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This is a series of 3 videos from the Delhi Motor Show - where the Tata Nano was unveiled for the very first time to the public. Watch the videos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Tata Nano unveiling at Delhi 2008

The Tata 1 Lakh Car was unveiled recently and it was given the name Tata Nano. We know its small, egg-like and comes with a small two-cylinder engine, but what exactly did Tata do to achieve the now famous “1 Lakh” price?

• Base 1-lakh model has no radio, power steering, power windows or air conditioning.
• Instrument panel only has the basics - speedometer, odometer and fuel gauge.
• Its 12 inch wheels only need 3 lug nuts.
• Small 12 inch tyres are cheaper because they use less material.
• The 624cc two-cylinder gasoline engine only has a single balance shaft.
• Does not pass US emission or safety standards.
• Bosch’s 35 amp generator is lighter than the usual 40 amp model.
• Bosch used a motorcycle starter motor.
• Bosch Value Motronic ECU removes 700 of the Motronic’s 1,000 functions, and the chip and housing itself has been shrinked.
• ECU sensors are smaller and lighter and fewer - 4 instead of the usual 7 or 8.
• Throttle position sensor is half its usual size because the pressure plate uses more sensitive material.
• It looks like a hatch but isn’t a hatch - the rear is welded shut and cannot be opened, this means the engine bay which lies under the rear seats also can only be accessed from inside the car.
• Drum brakes all-round instead of front discs.
• The basic 1-lakh model does not even come with a brake booster or servo.
• Reduced NVH materials, instead sheet metal frequencies were designed to control boom and vibration.
• Seats have a built in headrest and do not recline.
• No glovebox.

That’s basically the laydown of what cost-cutting measures Tata have taken to bring the Tata Nano’s price down to slightly more than 1-Lakh. Would you buy the Tata Nano if it was available in Malaysia?

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More photos of the Tata Nano
Tata Nano - the name of the Tata 1-Lakh car

Here are more photos of the new Tata 1 Lakh Car, the Tata Nano. The photos include some of the car’s interior, which is so basic that its seats do not have reclining functions, and the instrument panel lacks an RPM meter.

The red car in this post with the unpainted black bumper is the basic version, which does not include air conditioning. As you can see, its very basic with steel wheels and etc. The yellow car is the more “luxurious” version, if the word may be stretched this far. It includes alloy wheels, climate control and other features.

View all photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of More photos of the Tata Nano

Tata has unveiled its 1-Lakh Car at the 2008 Delhi Motor Show, and its officially been christened the Tata Nano. The model at the motor show was powered by a 33 horsepower 624cc two-cylinder gasoline engine mated to either a stepless CVT transmission or 4-speed manual transmission. A diesel version will soon follow. The car will initially available with the manual, with the CVT to be available later.

The 4-seater (5 if you squeeze) Tata Nano uses 5 liters of fuel per 100km and meets all Indian local crash test and emissions guidelines. It was also designed to pass international side offset and side crash tests as well as Euro 4 emissions tests. It has a length of 3.1 metres, width of 1.5 metres and height of 1.6 metres

The two-cylinder engine, which uses Bosch’s Value Motronic fuel injection and engine management is mounted at the rear of the car together with the battery. There is a small boot at the front where a person would normally expect the engine bay to be.

The car has no power steering, but being so light I don’t think you’d really need one anyway, plus at its 1 Lakh price point you really can’t complain. It also lacks an RPM meter, with its instrument panel consisting of only a speedometer, a fuel gauge and an oil light. The car will be priced at 100,000 Indian rupees, or 1 Lakh, but customers will pay slightly more than 1 Lakh at the dealers because of taxes and other charges.

This 1 Lakh price tag is for the standard car, which does not have air conditioning. The two deluxe models will cost more. 1 Lakh Indian Rupees is roughly RM8,350.

Tata expects to sell 500,000 units of the Tata Nano, and the car will go on sale in the second half of 2008.

Previous Posts on the Tata 1-Lakh Car:
Tata 1-Lakh car to use Bosch Value Motronic ECU
Artist’s Impression: Tata Abarth 1-Lakh Car
More details on the Tata 1-Lakh Car
Tata set to launch US$2,500 car in mid-2008

Artist’s Impression - Click to enlarge

Bosch’s new Value Motronic is a new engine management platform for gasoline-powered engines, aimed to provide maximum functionality at minimum cost. What Bosch has done is cut down the use of sensors, injectors, and other hardware, instead using more intelligent software to make up for the reduction in sensors.

The Bosch Value Motronic is one of the key items to scale down the cost of the new Tata 1 Lakh car, which Tata calls the People’s Car. The cheap, no-nonsense car will be built using re-engineered plastics and modern adhesives, and is aimed at converting India’s many motorcycle users to something with 4 wheels and a roof, which will ultimately benefit them as it is much safer.

The car’s 660cc engine (expect to produce 30 to 35hp) will not only use Bosch’s Value Motronic ECU but sources say the engine itself will be built by Bosch, who has just setup Bosch India by investing Rs 850 crore (RM 710 million) into its Indian operations previously known as Mico Bosch. Total investment in India by the German automotive technology company will reach Rs 2,650 crore (RM 2.2 billion) by 2010.

Those who have seen the 4-seater car describe it as a small jellybean shaped car, and our very own talented Theophilus Chin has whipped up a very nice artist’s impression (shown above) which will have to do until the car is unveiled at the Delhi Motor Show on Thursday!

Related Posts:
Tata set to launch US$2,500 car in mid-2008
More details on the Tata 1-Lakh Car
Tata Abarth 1 Lakh Car

Guy Negre was a Formula One motor racing engineer. The Frenchman has been looking for 15 years for backers for his invention - a car that runs on air - and he now has the backing of Tata, who have invested 20 million Euros in his project.

Negre’s car uses compressed air to move pistons, which in turn also helps compress the air again in a reservoir. The car also has an electric motor, which also compresses air. This electric motor uses batteries that need to be charged. The compressed air can also be filled up at service stations in a matter of minutes.

His company Motor Development International based in France has developed an entire series of engine and car prototypes, some of which include fuel engine options together with the compressed air system. The fuel engine is used to extend the car’s range when not in reach of a special power point or a service station.

The car will be built in India and pre-production will start this year. It is protected by 50 patents, and the car will cost between 3,500 to 4,000 euros (RM17,000 to RM19,400). It weighs not more than 330kg and goes up to a top speed of 150km/h. Projected range is about between 160 to 320 km, depending on traffic conditions.

“It is clear that with oil at $100 a barrel this will force people to change their use of fuel and pollute less. My car is zero pollution in town and almost no pollution on the highways,” said Negre.

Look after the jump for a video on how the engine works.

Click here to read the rest of Tata invests in car powered by compressed air