Tata Motors has opted unconventional mediums like web search, viral marketing and innovative public relations-driven campaigns, where the news in brief is called 'Nano news' in some papers and television advertisement breaks are called 'Nano breaks.' There is also Nano merchandise like T-shirts and key chains. Unlike most car launches, it is not supported by a television campaign, leading to a big saving for the company.
At the annual general meeting (AGM) of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Wednesday, shareholders made the usual request to the top management for bonus shares. But this time, the setting was different. The man at the helm, outgoing group chairman AM Naik, 82, was heard assuring shareholders that he would join the chorus soon. There were laughs and chuckles at Naik's playful remark as he addressed the last AGM, nearly six decades after he joined L&T as a junior engineer and some 25 years at the top.
After Tata group chief Ratan Tata criticised the spectrum allocation criteria announced by the government, GSM cellular operators on Tuesday took potshots at the guidelines, which they said was 'lenient' towards CDMA operators.
When the world's cheapest car was launched to global fanfare at the 2008 Delhi Auto Expo, a Singaporean journalist asked Ratan Tata whether he had considered the traffic implications once the Nano hit the roads.
The Supreme Court has said that Cyrus Mistry's removal as executive chairman of Tata group was justified as a "a person who tries to set his own house on fire for not getting what he perceives as legitimately due to him, does not deserve to continue as part of any decision-making body".
Noting that the company's Nano plant in Singur, West Bengal, was expected to come into operation in the last quarter of 2008, Ratan Tata, in a letter to shareholders in the annual report for 2007-08, said that manufacturing facilities would be expanded to meet domestic and global demand in the future. "New variants of the Nano are also currently under development to meet the new environmental and fuel price challenges".
Nano's sales have been sliding. How does Tata Motors plan to bring the excitement back?
Among other things, Ratan Tata also said, 'All I can say at the moment is that the project is highly profitable. After all, I am not doing it for philanthropy.'
The company has already unveiled the European version -- Nano Europa -- at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month -- which is likely to be fitted with a more powerful engine than the Indian version complying with Euro-V emission norms.
Indian Hotels hardly has any other option as even domestic competitors such as ITC, the Oberoi group, The Lalit Group etc are fast catching up.
The investments are expected to happen in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor.
The Indian information technology industry will need to move up the value chain to tackle competition from countries like China, Philippines and Vietnam, said Ratan Tata.
Known to be the world's least expensive car, Nano is expected to redefine personal transportation in modern India. Customers can expect to own a car coming at a price between Rs 1.20 lakh (Rs 120,000) and Rs 1.30 lakh (Rs 130,000), depending on the version.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to discuss the impact of global demand contraction on Indian economy with industry leaders in New Delhi on Saturday, ahead of the G-20 summit in London next week.
Ratan Tata, chairman of India's sprawling Tata Group, on Thursday will pull the covers off a car that is dividing his country
Just a decade ago, a kind of muscular nationalism was the leitmotif for talent management within Indian corporations. Any suggestion of bringing in foreign talent had managers bristling with indignation.
India Inc very keen to do business in Gujarat.
Leading industrialists met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (not in picture) in New Delhi on Thursday to discuss the general state of the Indian economy and other industry-related matters.
Here is a list those great men and women who, in the past 20 years, have shaped the course of India Inc.
Some 100 component makers worked with Tata Motors for over 3 yrs.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday had a breakfast meeting with top honchos of India Inc at the iconic, sea-facing Taj Hotel in Mumbai. Amongst those from India Inc who were present at the meeting included Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Group and Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani. Others present were the chiefs of India's two largest banks, O P Bhatt of State Bank and Chanda Kochhar of ICICI Bank, Swati Piramal and Sudha Murthy.
Names of the 100,000 customers who have been finalised for allotment of the Nano through the computerised procedure were announced by the company last month.
