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Tag: JLR
Tata Motors renews talks to sell stake in engineering unit
July 23, 2018 Tata Motors Ltd., the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, has restarted talks on the sale of a stake in its engineering unit just months after a deal with Warburg Pincus was called off, people with knowledge of the matter said. The carmaker has started preliminary discussions with a private equity firm that… Continue reading Tata Motors renews talks to sell stake in engineering unit
Waymo’s autonomous cars have driven 8 million miles on public roads
Waymo, the self-driving unit of Google parent company Alphabet, has hit another milestone: 8 million miles driven on public roads. That translates into roughly 25,000 miles driven every day, which is light-years ahead of the company’s competitors and is the result of Google’s very early investment in self-driving technology. The news was delivered by the… Continue reading Waymo’s autonomous cars have driven 8 million miles on public roads
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Eleven years after its acquisition of Siemens VDO for more than 11 billion euros, the German Continental is preparing to partially cede these activities. With 40,000 employees for a turnover The transmission division (Powertrain) is expected to be listed on the stock market from mid-2019 as part of a major reorganization, the second-largest German automotive… Continue reading Big bang at the German Continental
UK joins project for autonomous vehicle platform that can find potholes
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Chelsea Truck Company: The car firm made in Chelsea
The King’s Road in west London is overrun with fearsomely expensive boutiques and exclusive restaurants. It has long been the epicentre of London’s fashion elite, a sort of elongated headquarters for the city’s trendsetters. It is a haven for supercar spotters too. Lamborghini Huracáns are part of the furniture along here. But for all of… Continue reading Chelsea Truck Company: The car firm made in Chelsea
Tata Discontinues Nano City Car
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Tata Discontinues Nano City Car
15 Jul 2018, 16:52 UTC · by Mircea Panait
/ Home / News / Car Profile
11 photosOf the most unfathomable, uninteresting, unworthy, uncanny, and unforgettable cars to have made it into series production, the Nano is up there at the top with the very worst of them.
Introduced by Tata as a cheap means of personal transport in 2008, the Nano is no longer with us. Production came to a virtual stop in May over drying demand, and as of June 2018, Tata has stopped making the Nano altogether.
Automotive News reports that Tata produced one Nano in June, “down from 275 in the same month last year.” The confirmation of the Nano’s dismissal, however, comes from the export numbers. Which were zero, if you were actually wondering.
The Nano, which starts in India at the equivalent of $3,500, was interesting to the value-conscious buyer back in 2008. But things have changed since then. Even the European low-cost segment has seen changes since 2008, with Dacia upping its game with superior products and after-sales service.
In addition to the horrific exterior styling, the Nano is less comfortable than a ride on the bus and just as lacking in terms of safety. But most of all, it was the fault of Tata for thinking that the lowest price possible is what will make the Nano a commercial hit.
Tata even thought that it would be great to electrify the Nano, but that didn’t work out either. Automotive News puts it as follows: “India may not be ready for the pizazz of futuristic vehicles. But it's past the point of no-frills metal shells.” And that’s the thing with the Nano.
Instead of being the go-to car for those with budgets on a shoestring, it became a repugnant reminder that the people who are now part of the aspirational middle class were poorer and more limited in options in 2008.
The bottom line is, Tata ignored one of the most important aspects of a customer’s mindset by omitting a simple question. It doesn’t all boil down to “can I afford this car?” but “do I want this car?”
On the matter of wants versus needs, the most basic of economic laws teach us that a growing middle class favors wants over needs. And with that, Tata should take note for the future.
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India Digest: 19thMile, Spanugo get funds; Mobycy to raise $3m; Tata’s lending platform
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Waymo-branded Jaguar I-Pace vehicles hit the streets of San Francisco
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Press Releases – Environmental impact of car production strongly reduced over last decade
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