Many say Tata Motors has perhaps paid the price for being too ambitious.
In the past, Tata Motors gave India its many first - country's first indigenous car (Tata Indica), first sports utility vehicle (Safari), first micro truck (Ace) or a Rs 100,000 car for the common citizen (Nano). After JLR's acquisition, however, the company has failed to connect with Indian car buyers.
Allegedly owned by CPI(M) promoters, it is not cultivated, says Trinamool leader. Rally turnout lower than expected.
Terming Tata Motors Nano project as "very important for Bengal and industrialisation", CPI-M Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri was on Thursday hopeful that talks between the West Bengal government and Trinamool Congress on the issue would lead to a solution.
The price movement and trading volumes for few days prior to Mistry's ouster will also be looked into
The demand from second-time car buyers outstrips the demand from those seeking to upgrade themselves from two-wheelers. Tata Motors' city dealers say about 60 per cent of all Nano buyers are those who already own a car and the rest 40 per cent are those who either own a two-wheeler or have never owned a vehicle earlier.
Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata was in Kolkata on May 18, 2006, the day Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee started his second innings as chief minister of West Bengal, to announce the Nano small car project.
Too much symbolism and emotion is invested in making cars for the masses.
"The amount payable to the company at the time of booking is Rs 95,000, and the bank would lend this money to the applicant at a less than 10 per cent interest," said S K Goel, chairman and managing director of UCO Bank. He said the scheme offered by UCO was different from that of the State Bank of India, in the sense that UCO would lend any amount less than Rs 95,000 to the customer depending on their need.
Prices of second-hand cars, mainly compact ones, have fallen 15-20% in the last few days. Dealers in the unorganised market fear a further price dip of 10 per cent when delivery starts and the Nano is seen prominently on roads. The Nano, expected to sport an on-road price of Rs 1.25-1.3 lakh for the no-frills, base version, will compete with the compact cars of Hyundai Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and General Motors.
"This is for the first time that a manufacturer will charge for an application form. However, it will be refunded if an application is rejected," said a senior bank executive. Bookings are expected to start by the last week of March. The forms will be collected through various channels. "All the forms and the collected money will be transferred to SBI, where they will be processed, and loans will be given through various banks within 90 days," said a source.
Just when it was almost certain that the Tatas were pulling out the Nano project, the West Bengal Cabinet assured help and cooperation to Tata Motors and requested them to change their minds. The West Bengal Cabinet said after a meeting on Thursday that though the Nano project was not on the agenda, it came up for discussion following requests by ministers.
Describing Narendra Modi as 'propaganda-hungry', Gujarat Parivartan Party President Keshubhai Patel on Monday alleged that the chief minister observed 'Sadabhavna' fasts across the state and also wooed the Tatas to set up Nano project in Gujarat only to boost his image.
"If need be we will move and relocated the Nano project elsewhere. Relocation will cost both the Tatas and the West Bengal government, but I will not bring my employees here if they will be beaten up," the Tata Group chairman said.
Old ideas contained in the heads of old economists still dominate. That's not good, asserts T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.
If Tata pulls out now, it will be a huge blow to the state, and will be expensive for Tata too, as the company has irretrievable sunk cost in Singur of between Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion) and Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion). Among the will be Mamata Banerjee, who will find it hard to live down the ignominy of having deprived her state of a project that has made news the world over.
Despite what the Nano can do to the country's automobile market, its ability to transform Tata Motors' financials will be limited, says Shyamal Majumdar.
Come Sunday, India's automobile industry will achieve a unique distinction of showcasing both the world's cheapest car Nano and two of the costliest brands -- Jaguar and Land Rover -- from the Tata Group.
Vyarawalla was upset to learn that the company has already delivered 16 cars in the city yesterday, beginning with customers in Mumbai, followed by Ahmedabad and Vadodara and her name did not figure in this list.
If all goes well, Ford India will park its second manufacturing unit right next to Tata Motors' Nano factory at Sanand.
Cars like the Land Rover Evoque, endorsed by Victoria Beckham, have more women customers than men.
Tata has moved up the ladder in a list of the world's most-valued brands.
The company expects first-time buyers to account for over 80 per cent of the sales of the small car in the coming months.
The car gives a mileage of 24 km per kg of CNG.
India's two big car manufacturers, Maruti and Tata, hinted that they plan to manufacture hybrids in the coming future.
Government officials working overtime to dismantle the Tata plant and return land to farmers, says Ishita Ayan Dutt.
After witnessing a historic launch, the Nano could prove to be a flagship brand for Tata Motors' fortunes.
South Korean steel giant Posco has narrowed down on Sanand (Gujarat) for setting up its steel coil unit at an investment of $20 million.
Less than five months after Tata Motors relocated its Nano project from West Bengal to Gujarat over land issues, another Tata group company, Tata Metaliks, is reviewing its expansion project in the state on similar grounds.
Tata Motors on Thursday said it will have talks with the West Bengal government on the Singur land when the Nano factory was originally slated to come up, a day after state principal industry Secretary Sabyasachi Sen said the world's smallest car would be made there.
The state government has been lobbying the central government for continuation of these incentives.
The Tatas had earlier stated that it could return the land if compensation was offered. Tata Motors last year shifted its small car Nano project from Singur to Sanand in Gujarat after protest by local farmers and political parties.
The Tata group has done yet another Nano -- this time in the water purifier segment. Group company Tata Chemicals on Monday launched a compact water purifier, called 'Swach', which means clean in Hindi.
Sources in the West Bengal government's finance department said the state had made budgetary provisions that would run into several hundred crores every year for 20 to 30 years to attract Tata Motors' Nano project to Singur.
He was responding to the shareholders' questions relating to the abandoned Nano car factory at Singur at the AGM of Tata Global Beverages.
The distinction between "cheap" and "affordable" is a fine one, but no one understands this better than India's aspirational first-time car-owner, says Kanika Datta.
She faced off against former disciple-turned-defector Suvendu Adhikari in a very different contest. It's not land acquisition, but an ego clash that has acquired, tragically, communal overtones, explains Kanika Datta.
"The scene will be a bit like the Maruti 800 days. Those who are lucky enough to be allotted cars this year can resell it immediately at a premium of Rs 30,000 due to the anticipated shortage," an executive at a Motors dealer said. Supply, Tata Motors dealers say, would be between 40,000 and 50,000 cars, with 100,000 being the most optimistic estimate. This would mean customers may have to wait for up to two years to get delivery if all the bookings are accepted.
After more than two years, Tata Motors has dislodged Korea's Hyundai Motors in India from the second spot in monthly domestic passenger vehicle sales. The spurt in Tata's June numbers has primarily been due to a dramatic increase in sales of the Nano, after the mother plant at Sanand in Gujarat went onstream last month, as well as a surge in that of the Indigo.
Five months after Tata Motors shifted its Nano plant to Gujarat, another Tata company has decided to move a project out of West Bengal. Tata Metaliks has scrapped its 500,000-tonne billet project, proposed to be built with an investment of Rs 700-800 crore
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