Bajaj Quadricycle RE 60 and Tata Nano: Lessons of Technology-Business Nexus

Bajaj Auto Limited (Bajaj), India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, has secured limited Government approvals for its quadricycle, code named RE 60. The four-wheeler RE 60 vehicle is powered by a water-cooled, 216-cc, single-cylinder engine which can develop 20 HP. This is about 40 percent more than the power generated by 175 cc powered three-wheeler and about the same in power as 200 cc powered three-wheeler, historically manufactured by Bajaj in India for domestic and export markets. RE 60 sports a metal-polymer monocoque body and weighs 400 kg, has a turning radius of 3.5 meter and can reach a top speed of 70 kmph. It can seat the driver and three passengers and run 35 kilometers on a liter of petrol. Lest RE 60 should be misunderstood as a mini-car like Tata Nano, it is not so as it is just half as powered as Nano. Tata Nano is powered by an air-cooled two-cylinder engine which produces 37 HP. It has an all-metal body and weighs 635 Kg.

Bajaj has positioned RE60 quadricycle as an alternative to its three-wheeler. RE 60 has four wheels instead of three wheels that Bajaj’s all-pervasive three wheeler of India has. RE 60 is intended by Bajaj to eat into Bajaj’s own market for three wheelers, of which Bajaj is, undoubtedly, the world’s largest manufacturer. The company sells approximately 225,000 three-wheelers per annum and records growth rate of around 11 to 12 percent on a compounded basis, according to the statistics of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Analysts expect Bajaj’s quadricycle to be priced anywhere between Rs 1.5 lakh (USD 2500) and Rs 2 lakh (USD 3300) while a Bajaj three-wheeler auto rickshaw’s ex-showroom price in Delhi is Rs 1.35 lakh (USD 2250). Having invested Rs 550 crore (USD 92 million) in developing the platform and creating the capacity to produce 5,000 of the vehicles every month, the price is nearly that of India’s cheapest and proper mini-car, Nano at Rs 2 lakhs (USD 3300).

Industry response

The Indian car and other two-wheeler manufacturers have taken up cudgels against RE 60 quadricycle on the grounds that it is unsafe compared to a passenger car. They want the Indian government to lay down norms as stringent as those applicable to cars. Bajaj, on the other hand, maintains that the RE 60 is not a car and would not compete in the car market. Bajaj has been seeking less stringent safety standards for the vehicle on the basis that the quadricycle with doors and seat belts, et al, is a safer and more stable alternative to three-wheeler. It has a seating capacity of four passengers, with owner-chauffeur possibility as opposed to three wheeler carrying capacity of only three passengers (that too tightly packed) with sole chauffeur mode. RE 60 has also a better ground clearance compared to the three-wheeler. It is noteworthy that RE 60 has the lowest carbon emissions, better than a three-wheeler or a Nano.  

To be sure, the concept of a quadricycle is not new. It has always been there in the European Union; however, only 23,800 quadricycles were sold in Europe in 2011. The three main traditional markets for quadricycles, France, Italy and Spain, have seen their sales fall from a high of 29,000 in 2007 to just 18,000 in 2011. The vehicles are used either by the elderly or those not old enough to qualify for regular driving licenses. They are also used as golf carts and recreation vehicles. That said, such use which may be well suited to the European road conditions, regulated traffic intensity, and driving discipline may not be appropriate in India given that those factors are much worse in India. Just because quadricycle is a convenient mode for select applications in Europe it need not be so in India.   

European regulations

Quadricycles are European categories of four-wheeled microcars defined by limitations in terms of weight, power and speed. Two categories are defined: (a) Light quadricycles, category L6e and (b) Heavy quadricycles, category L7e.  Light quadricycles (L6e) are defined by Framework Directive 2002/24/EC as: "motor vehicles with four wheels (...) whose unladen mass is not more than 350 kg, not including the mass of the batteries in case of electric vehicles, whose maximum design speed is

not more than 45 km/h, and (1)whose engine cylinder capacity does not exceed 50 cm³ for spark (positive) ignition engines, or (2)whose maximum net power output does not exceed 4 kW in the case of other (e.g. diesel fuelled) internal combustion engines, or (3) whose maximum continuous rated power does not exceed 4 kW in the case of an electric motor.

These vehicles shall fulfill the technical requirements applicable to three-wheel mopeds of category L2e unless specified differently in any of the separate directives. Therefore, in many European countries such as France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, light quadricycles can be driven without a full motor car (category B) or motorcycle (category A) driver’s license, and in some countries without any license at all (being vehicules sans permis). However, in more recent years there has usually been at least a requirement to obtain a basic road safety certificate (e.g. BSR and ASSR1 in France, analogous to CBT in the UK) along with at least a provisional A1/B1 class license, meaning only older drivers (typically those who came of legal driving age before 1998) retain permission to literally drive such vehicles "without a licence".

Quadricycles (L7e), also referred to as Heavy quadricycles, are defined by Framework Directive 2002/24/EC as motor vehicles with four wheels other than those referred to (as light quadricycles), whose unladen mass is not more than 400 kg (category L7e) (550 kg for vehicles intended for carrying goods), not including the mass of batteries in the case of electric vehicles, with a design payload not more than 200 kg (passenger) or 1000 kg (goods), and whose maximum net engine power does not exceed 15 kW. These vehicles shall be considered to be motor tricycles and shall fulfill the technical requirements applicable to motor tricycles of category L5e unless specified differently in any of the separate Directives. Bajaj RE 60 quadricycle falls under this category. The European regulations also illustrate the tenuousness of quadricycle definition and compliance requirements.

France was the first country to define technical standards and traffic rules for quadricycles. The French ministerial decree of May 29, 1986 legally defined the quadricycle as a vehicle included in the moped category, equipped with four wheels and a body. In 1992, the European Union published Directive 92/61/EEC which considered that quadricycles fell into the same category as mopeds. Framework Directive 2002/24/EC then refined this definition by distinguishing between light and heavy quadricycles (L6e and L7e categories). The European Commission  was set to revise this 2002/24EC directive in order to simplify legislation, to improve road safety and to set new standards for gaseous emissions. Furthermore, Directive 2006/126 (3rd Driving Licence Directive) establishes a common framework for light quadricycles driving licences. It imposes the same requirements for light quadricycles as for mopeds, including the driving age, for which it recommends 16 years as a minimum. The transposition deadline of the directive was 19 January 2011.

Unlearning Nano?

As we consider Bajaj Auto’s initiative to indigenously design, develop, manufacture and commercialize its RE 60 quadricycle, several issues of strategic technical and business considerations arise. The first and foremost is whether the lessons of Nano have been learnt by Bajaj. As we know, Nano was a socially relevant innovative design initiative by Ratan Tata to replace the risky family travel on two-wheelers by a relatively safer, elegant and affordable small car full family travel through Nano small car. Unfortunately, the technical sensation and social initiative that Nano represented did not translate itself into enthusiastic acceptance by the target customer-families. The reason, probably, has been that the typical two-wheeler user nurtured a dream, and even esteem value, in terms of catapulting to a full-fledged “middle class” car than graduating to a specially designed low-end transport solution that Nano represented.   

Bajaj must keep in mind that the auto-rickshaw owner/driver of India may similarly consider catapulting into a full-fledged taxi through an Indica or sedan (or even a Nano) as his dream and of greater esteem value than just graduating into the quadricycle of a boxy design that could be as costly as a Nano but not as safe and powerful as a passenger car. This threat is indeed real, given that the Indian market is flooded by several attractive models of entry and mid level small cars, hatchbacks and sedans. The design concept of RE 60 which probably originated seven to eight years ago is now far less relevant in the rapidly maturing Indian automobile market and rapidly upgrading social stratification. This example points to the need for business strategists to continuously validate what originally start out as innovative design concepts in terms of market relevance in rapidly changing environments.

 

Enduring design innovation

One way to insulate a company’s efforts from environmental volatility is by developing designs that are enduringly innovative. In the context of contemporary designs that are prevalent and are on the anvil in the Indian automobile industry, RE 60 is spookily designed to say the least. A three-wheeler loyalist may find the well-tested three-wheeler design more elegant compared to RE 60 to which the term contraption more appropriately fits. One may compare RE 60 design effort with the new Nissan Datsun entry level car, also designed and developed in India, and conclude that the latter is miles ahead in terms of design elegance and integrity. Design innovation must be durable and sustainable, capable of successfully piloting through at least the full design-manufacturing-commercialization cycle, besides offering the basic platform for launching successive generational improvements.

The other approach of design innovation involves an integrated value proposition rather than a hotchpotch of incremental benefits in different performance components. Seat belts and doors, addition of a wheel,  marginal improvements in torque and horse power, and increased ground clearance need not necessarily add up to becoming a radically new value proposition for the Indian automobile user, as a Maruti 800 car or a Toyota Innova multi-utility vehicle represented at their respective times of entry into the market. Bajaj must really reevaluate whether RE 60 offers such a value upgrade. Even as a low cost safe mini-public transport solution, other options such as Tata Ace and Magic passenger variants are available for the three-wheeler operators and users alike.

Strategy-technology nexus

There are several strategic pointers that could arise from RE 60 strategy of Bajaj, when fully executed (based on the author’s analysis of possible future outcomes as well). Fundamentally, technological innovation and business inventiveness must go hand in hand for strategic success. Secondly, it would be impossible to create new markets without a deft combination of product innovation and market positioning. Thirdly, incremental product enhancement may help in life cycle management but certainly not enable new product entry and market growth. Fourthly, product innovations should be sufficiently innovative to form the market and create a product family base. Fifthly, strategic plans of business must integrate technology plans that enable sustainable and durable product innovation. Sixthly, new product introductions must aim at creating a total value proposition of distinctive functionality. Seventhly, any product introductions which are based on tenuous regulatory options could face the risks of policy vagaries and industry collectivism.

Business strategists would do well to keep the above perspectives in mind as they develop business plans that are dependent on product enhancements and new product introductions. Product functionality and market segmentation would carry a nexus that would be difficult to perceive at the time of product conceptualization but could become patent as products and markets evolve. Repositioning of products could even be an option to consider as a retrospective strategy relevant for a new product-market equation. For example, Tata Nano mini-car could well turn out to be a better upgrade option vis-à-vis a three-wheeler than RE 60 as a quadricycle would. Probably, the marketers of Nano would find a final winning proposition from a stuck-in-the-middle RE 60 quadricycle, with Nano emerging as an effective, flexible and safe family transport solution!    

Posted by Dr CB Rao on August 3, 2013

      

     

 

 

 

 

Synergy of Innovation and Perfection: Towards the Ultimate Competitive Advantage

Apple is reportedly working on a smart watch, called as iWatch by the media.  Will this be a successful product? Probably yes, if one were to consider Apple’s string of successful products such as iPod, iPhone and iPad; need not necessarily be, if one were to take into account its occasional failures such as its early generation gaming devices and portable computers.  Apple’s recent successes have, in large measure, been due to its ability to design, manufacture and deliver an innovatively perfect product for the market. From the looks and objectives, iWatch seems to have the innovative specifications and the perfect form factor that are in keeping with Apple’s core competence of innovation coupled with perfection. Apple’s track record does suggest that the combination of innovation and perfection is a pathway to success.

A study of several successful firms suggests that introduction of new products or services on a systematic basis is a key factor of success, but only if such products and services are delivered with perfection, that is, without any faults or weaknesses, and in a completely correct and exact manner. The relative importance of innovation and perfection in the combination has, however, been a matter of subjectivity. Companies that sparkle with innovation but fail to deliver it with panache have been far less successful than companies which have been merely followers but delivered products and services of impeccable quality. It would, therefore, appear that companies need to not only ensure both innovation and perfection but also get the right balance of innovation and perfection that makes economic sense.

Innovation

Innovation has no end. What appears to be an innovative product at the time of innovation or commercialization is soon rendered obsolete by a more innovative product or by a clone that is designed and manufactured more perfectly. Smart phones, for example, led a wave of innovation in mobile phones and convergence devices. The current experimental trend of iWatch and Google Glasses indicates that certain products, be they computers, smart phones or cameras, can be rendered obsolete by the trend of wearable or communicable computers that these smart watches and smart goggles signify. Companies which recognized the cycle of innovation and obsolescence, and have in addition made their own products obsolete by more innovative products have enjoyed consistent success. 

Innovation has no limits. What appears to be beyond the reach of a first innovation becomes a facile task for the subsequent innovations.  Having 256 MB RAM was once a design feat for computers. Today, a smart phone is designed with 2 GB RAM and quad-core processors. HD screen was unthinkable in a cellular phone not too long ago. HD screen capability of 1080p is now passé in contemporary mobile phones. iWatch with Bluetooth and wireless connectivity could lead to remote connectivity between the wearer and his or her devices easy. With development of needleless diagnostics, Apple may develop its iWatch into an iDoctor next. The more innovatively hardware and software are designed, and more importantly they are integrated, the more innovative a product would be.

Innovation has no boundaries. What appears to be a partial innovation in a component of a product can be a dominant driver of total product innovation. Samsung may be a follower in smart phones but its innovative edge in touch screens, ranging up to the latest large format Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) screens as well as bendable and extendable OLED screens has driven innovation in its smart phones. Ordinary components can be assembled into an extraordinary product through software innovation as Apple has demonstrated. As firms systematically specialize in innovation, they also acquire core competence in certain categories of innovation, as exemplified by Toyota in hybrid vehicles, Intel in computer chips, Qualcomm in mobile chips, Nintendo in gaming devices, BD in needles and so on. Continuous and systematic innovation leads to product specialization on one hand and erects entry barriers on the other.

Perfection

Like innovation, perfection has no end. As nano measurement technologies emerge, tolerances can be defined more tightly, for example. Perfection, however, tends to be comparative and contextual. Perfection is measured against the specifications set by the designer. Companies committed to high quality go in for high specifications to set the design tone for perfection. Each successive generation of products sets higher standards for perfection. In an automobile engine, spark plugs, for example, have become 30 percent thinner while moving parts like pistons, connecting rods and crankshafts have seen reductions in weights ranging from 30 to 50 percent. Perfection in measurement technologies has enabled such improvements.

Unlike innovation, perfection has a limit, a limit that is Zero in defects of manufacture and another limit that is infinity in “meantime between failures (MTBF)” of a product in service.  These limits are not easy to achieve, though. They are dependent on the sophistication, consistency and reliability of the manufacturing equipment and the manufacturing process as well as the quality of materials of manufacture on the other.  Continuous improvements have led automobile component makers to specifying defects from defective parts per  thousand that was in vogue years ago to defective parts per million that is the standard more recently. Six Sigma is another approach that tightens the limits for process variability. The term Six Sigma originated from statistical modeling of manufacturing processes and denotes 99.99966% of the products manufactured are statistically expected to be free of defects (3.4 defects per million).

Like innovation, perfection has no boundaries. It is not confined to products and services or product and process technologies. It is equally related to people and processes. Quality and avoidance of defects needs to be a credo, right from construction of language to manufacture of products, and from understanding consumer needs to fulfilling them. This assumes great importance given that consumers are more demanding, regulators are more watchful and competition is unrelenting. Over the last few years, millions of cars have been recalled by marquee companies such as Toyota, BMW and a few others, indicating that not being perfect has a significant cost attached to it. Perfection does not necessarily mean getting things right first time. There are enough practices in the design and manufacturing processes such as simulation and piloting to ensure that all defect-prone systems, causes and interventions are identified and addressed.

 

 Synergy

If innovation drives the boundary of user experience, perfection establishes the quality of user experience. Innovation has onetime design costs while perfection has recurring manufacturing costs. The combination of innovation and perfection thus determines the lifecycle costs for the company and the lifecycle value for the company. Depending upon their strategies, individual companies choose that combination which best suits their business position and market standing. The synergy of innovation and perfection comes from a combination of technology and people, a competitive and proactive mindset being the underlying behavioral foundation. Without innovation, perfection has little space while without perfection, innovation can go awry. This is best illustrated by the story of the modern day spark plug (first engineered in 1860  with the engineering of the internal combustion engine) which demonstrates how innovation and perfection are synergistic.

Spark plug is the heart of the internal combustion engine which in turn is the core of the petrol-powered automobile.  Spark plugs have seen a leapfrog in sparking efficiency and maintainability over the last several decades due to a combination of the use of more advanced materials (innovation in materials sciences) and the deployment of tighter tolerances in each of the components, not limited to the electrodes (perfection in design and manufacture). Use of exotic iridium and platinum materials for central electrode and ground electrode respectively, and tight ultra-fine tapering and gap setting promote not only high efficiency sparking but also long life and more effective self-cleaning characteristics. The synergy of materials innovation and manufacturing perfection that the modern day spark plug represents is also illustrative of how innovation and perfection can be synergistic to achieve ultimate competitive advantage for firms.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on February 17, 2013

         

       

Tata Nano Technology Marvel: The Need for Marketing Muscle

When Ratan Tata set out on a mission to have Tata Motors design and manufacture the world’s smallest four door micro car with a capacity to seat comfortably a family of five adults at a price of INR 100,000 (USD 2000 approximately) which is less than half of the price of India’s ruling small car, Maruti Suzuki 800, there was disbelief. However, when Nano was finally unveiled in the 2008 AutoExpo, its successful development was welcomed with rapturous applause. And, when it could not be manufactured in the originally envisaged green-field plant at Singur there was disappointment all round  that one of the best indigenous industrial marvels of India was being stymied. Well-wishers followed Nano’s manufacturing journey from Singur in West Bengal to Sanand in Gujarat and appreciated Ratan Tata’s commitment and gumption to commercialize Nano despite the multitude of challenges.

Post launch, however, Nano car did not exactly set the Indian car market afire. It was received with a rather tepid response, and the initial glitches did not help the car either in its image. Given that the pricing was attractive and the car was cute and spacious the inability of Nano to translate the consumer and corporate expectations into robust market demand and sales is intriguing. Nano’s maximum monthly sales has not exceeded 10,000 units while the sales have languished below the 1,000 units per month for most months since its launch in 2008. This compares with market leading sales of Maruti Suzuki’s  Alto sub-compact car at over 35,000 units per month.  In fact, there would be no comparison of a new product that had, or probably would have, its performance-price equation so favorable for the consumer.  It is somewhat strange that management schools have not yet thought it fit to analyze Tata Nano from a management perspective. This blog post seeks to fill a vital gap in this respect, hoping also to throw some useful pointers to make Nano a mega success, a feat that the car, Tata Motors and Ratan Tata richly deserve.

‘Design to demand’ variance

The primary reason for Nano’s failure relative to its potential can be traced to the huge variance between the concept that triggered its design genesis and the platform on which it was eventually positioned in the marketplace. The genesis of Nano can be traced to Ratan’s desire to offer an affordable and safe car for the typical Indian small family of a couple and two or three children, which otherwise travels riskily on a two-seater two wheeler. Given that a high end two wheeler costs INR 70,000, Nano as a five seater, four door car at INR 100,000, with all its features, had an unbeatable value proposition. Given that India absorbs each year 20,000,000 two wheelers the demand potential for Nano even on the basis of conversion of only 10 percent of two wheeler buyers into Nano buyers would have been huge. Nano would have easily become the largest selling car in the Indian car market had events gone right for the car, several of them in the management’s own control.

This potential has not been realized mainly because the company fought shy of converting its design inspiration into a marketing value proposition. Either because of the Tatas’ corporate ethic of not directly attacking competitors or because of casual hope that Nano would have its own natural demand pull,  the company never had an aggressive marketing campaign that directly appealed to the Indian small family, especially the young family, on a platform of safety and security. The dilemma for the Tatas would have been whether such a campaign would imply that its co-industrialists market two-wheelers as unsafe family transportation vehicles or that the India traffic system turns a blind eye to the overloaded Indian two-wheelers on the road. Independent of such conundrums, the important lesson for corporations from the Nano experience is that the original design genesis and the ultimate marketing platform must have a clear nexus and alignment. The other lesson is that marketing must rise above the paradoxes to deliver a clear product proposition to the consumer, without fear or favor, and without prejudice or bias.

Gross and subtle, Mind and heart

Whenever the design inspiration for a new product is extraordinary and out of the box, even if it is seemingly explicit, the challenge for the marketer increases manifold. Successful companies have focused time, effort and cost to market and institutionalize new concepts in the consumer mind. A classic example is that of Samsung launching a massive campaign for its large smart phone Galaxy Note as a phone cum tablet, ‘phablet’, with the unique proposition of a stylus to write and sketch. The company did not think that it was distorting its own smart phone and tablet markets that were growing exceedingly well under the Galaxy umbrella brand, nor did it think that it was cannibalizing its own smart phones or tablets. The power of unique technological concepts needs to be demonstrated to the marketplace, also positioned in the minds of the consumers and instilled in in a gross manner. In respect of Nano, the technological innovation of the product should have been demonstrated with unceasing and high-force campaigns rather than sporadic and low profile advertisements. Mind space can be secured only through powerful, explicit and rational delineation in respect of technological factors.

Gross campaigns need to be reinforced with subtle messaging too, particularly when the product really needs to change the segment proportion within the overall market, and wrest the overall market share in competition with a different group of products made by competition. Nano was indeed faced with the dilemma of challenging the two wheeler segment with a superior value proposition of safety of a micro four wheeler. Gross messaging would have not served the purpose, apart from possibly being a strict no-no for the Tatas corporate competitive behavioral philosophy. Emotional subtlety that appeals to the heart is the key to such messaging. Here again, we have the example of Cadbury positioning its milk chocolates as a ‘sweet’ for homely and auspicious occasions in competition with traditional Indian sweets. For the Indian small family, the concept of caring for the life partner and protecting the kids through the small car as opposed to leaving them to the vagaries of environment and turbulence of road traffic in a two wheeler would have been highly effective, for example. Equally, in a society where owning a car is considered to be a symbol of having arrived to a noticeable stage in life, owning a Nano car at the very early start of the career, independent of the relative affluence, would be an impressive value proposition. Subtlety impacts heart positively, which in turns influences the mind share of the buyer.

Value qualifiers

All marketing literature talks about value for the consumer being a function of price and features of a product. In respect of Nano, technology speaks for itself in terms of compact exterior and spacious interior on one hand and the power to drive and fuel to conserve on the other. Any additional value drivers must appeal to both the mind and heart, if the above gross and subtle messaging is accepted. Electronic braking system and front and side air bags would reinforce the safety tag. Experimental evidence of crash test safety would reinforce the safety image even further. An ability to upgrade Nano to a Manza sedan as the family evolves in life, through Tata exchange and finance schemes, could be another value driver. It would be important for the company to first develop a list of various additional features that could add value as a comprehensive list of value qualifiers, and then select value drivers which are appropriate to different groups of customers. For example, a 2 DIN music system will be a stronger value add for a couple while a safety kit as outlined above will probably be a more welcome value add for a couple with babies or kids.

The fundamental value creation, however, starts at the dealer point. The low price of Nano means that the turnover on Nano sales and service would be the lowest for the typical dealership in the Tata family of vehicles. This problem is further compounded by the initial strategy of having a combined dealership covering all vehicles, from cars and utility vehicles to trucks and buses. The implication for Tata Motors as also to all other automobile manufacturers in India is that dealership can no longer be considered just a point of sale. The infrastructure and organization for automobile dealership would need to extend vertically along the product value chain as a continuum of design, development, manufacture, distribution, sales and service. Ideally, Tata Motors would need to have completely different dealerships for cars and utility vehicles on one hand and commercial vehicles (light, medium and heavy trucks and buses) on the other. In each case, the product should receive the same level of care; for example a Nano micro car should receive the same attention as a high end Aria crossover and an Ace mini-truck the same attention as a high end Prima luxury truck. Value qualification by dealership should be an important component of Nano resurgence strategy.

From breakeven to breakthrough

Tata Motors which has received acclaim for being the pioneer in indigenous development of passenger cars and utility vehicles has been losing ground in that segment in recent years. This has been admitted by Ratan Tata himself in the annual shareholders meeting of Tata Motors.  The appointment of Karl Slym, a GM veteran who had a successful stint in GM India, as the Managing Director of Tata Motors has been indicative of the resolve of Ratan Tata to turn around Tata Motors’ fortunes in the passenger car sector. Hopefully, Tata Nano will be a beneficiary of his attention, given that Tata Nano car initiative is at crossroads. The car has certainly seen a revving up of sales in recent months.  However, even with the recently achieved monthly high of 10,000 Nano cars, the production level is below the breakeven point of 150,000 Nanos per annum. Breakeven should not be a concern, however. To utilize the current capacity of 250,000 Nanos per annum and the potential capacity of 400,000 Nanos at the 75 acre site which also has an adjunct component park, Tata Motors requires breakthrough strategies.

Tata Nano is more than just one another passenger car model. It represents the passion and creativity of the Indian Business and the innovation and skill of the Indian engineers to develop and manufacture a passenger car with a feature and cost profile that no other automobile company, global or Indian could ever conceive of and commercialize. More than the success of Nano as a car model of Tatas, far more is at stake for the Tata Group as well as the Indian industry. The author of the blog post hopes that Tata Motors would persevere and make an enduring success of Tata Nano based on an effective strategic format. The announcement by Tata Motors that it would take Tata Nano to the US at an appropriate price tag is indicative of the resolve of the management to take up the challenge by scaling even higher bars. As this blog post brings out, an integrated techno-marketing strategy, customized to the marketplace, is required to reposition Nano car for accelerated growth in India and also position it for successful entry into advanced countries.   

Posted by Dr CB Rao on October 24, 2012