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Can cars get too cheap?
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Would you — should you — buy a car for just 1,300 pounds.
This week, India’s Tata motors unveils the world’s cheapest car at around that price.
The prospect of a motor that costs less than half of the most basic model on the market in India has generated a lot of excitement. The so-called “people’s car” looks set to liberate the masses in the same way that Volkswagens did in Germany and the Fiat 500 did in Italy. No more puttering about on scooters.
But the more environmentally minded in India are troubled.
Not only will the traffic get even worse if everyone goes out and buys cars but the impact on the environment of potentially millions of new exhaust pipes belching out fumes can only be imagined.
What do you think? Is it ecologically irresponsible to make a car that sells for so little?
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Surely, this would add to the already chaotic traffic on Indian roads. However apart from the intial euphoria, it remains to be seen how many would actually purchase the car with fuel prices rocketing globally and with increase in demand, government will be forced to raise the prices which till now are administered.
Nihar,
Mumbai
India
I think that cheap cars are a good idea for a economically less developed country like India. This means more people will have better means of transport. I don’t think that the traffic is a problem. If theres too many cars then the government will be bound to build more roads as there is now a higher demand for the use of roads.
Also all the talk about the environment is a complete lie. There is no problem with the environment as pollution doesn’t actually affect the world that much. Its just under educated and city deweller that think worry about the environment cause they have nothing else to do.
A-Bag,
Ad Dammam,
Saudi Arabia
I think it is not a good idea to provide so cheap a price. It will surely double the bad situation. Our environment has been broken seriouly. We, all people on the world should be awear of this point. We should protect it from now on. Air polution has become a very big problem, we should pay much more attention on it. We can walk if our destination is not so far. If we want to have a travel, you can ride a horse instead of car. That will be more intersting。
It’s all depending on the petrol price in future. Low cost cars in India create a huge traffic. In fast growing India most of people are buying a car for their status. Low cost cars will speed up this race.
Metro cities like New Delhi, people park their cars on the government land (road) in front of their house or apartment. They don’t have car parking space in their building.
India’s automobile sector should enforce a rule; “You can’t buy a car until you have a proof of proper car parking system in your house.”
There is nothing bad in producing cheap cars.
But the point is that the automobiles need to have high fuel efficiency and very low emissions.
But that requires sophisticated technology which comes at high price.So the question is whether that can be achieved at low prices.
Whether the $2500 car revolutionizes world auto industry or not, it will be a significant achivement for resurgent India. There used to be a time when we used to tease that India can only copy others car model but know not how to design its own. No longer. Tata took a bold step starting with the first original Indian car design – Indica and now for this car it tries to break all barriers. Just the thinking of this would have been unimaginable a decade ago – ‘an Indian trying to bring a car revolution, no way’.
But, the whole world is now waiting for a car made by an Indian company. Wow… India seems to have come a long way.
What is often forgotten in the West is that Automobile is the first step to a modern industrial revolution. US, Germany, Japan have all used it as a springboard. Its time for India to use this bring the long awaited Industrial revolution.
Philosophically, car is a fundamental component of modern civilization. It defines individuality and confidence for a new middle class and also brings geneder equality. No longer, one has to look into bus schedules, have to make their life dependent on mass interests. Women who are often abused while walking or even in buses, were till now afraid to take odd jobs in India, because they didnt have a safe-reliable transporation. That could change now.
It is almost look like Smart car but much much cheaper. Tata don,t have much capacity to produce 2 million car per year to worry about the traffic jams and it will always be a entry level car. compare to the 750 cc motorbike it will transport four people with much comfort and safety for the same engine capacity and the engine is one fifth of the huge luxury cars and four wheel drives so will emit less fumes than that all we can own five of Nanos that one big ones but transport 5 times more people, it passed all Euro 1V standards so it is going to be like Indian cell phone very cheap but huge market for the companies. Two other car manufacturer also designing new cheap car for India and it is healthy competition It will also reduce number of used car and old cars already on the road (junks) and easy to park like Japan levying less tax for small cars
For India and potentially other countries this is great to get onto the vehicle ladder from either public transport, on foot or motor bike carrying multiple passengers. As always there are for and against factors.
For:
- Safer for passengers when compared to 3 passengers on a motor bike.
- Opens up the car market to the poorer community even if they adopt a sharing ethos on buying and using the car.
- Small engine cheaper to run than big cars
- A sense of pride having a car in the family and a new one even better
- An increase in the motor trade industry for India specially if imports of these cars are on the pipeline.
- An increase in the number of garages for maintenance, repairs, servicing etc means more business will be set up to provide these services.
- The car insurance sector will increase, providing more employment.
- More jobs in the traffic warden sector
- Better to travel by car than by bike in the monsoon season.
Against:
- Increase in the number of cars leads to an increase in congestion, specially at peak times
- Increase in cars, specially such as these will increase pollution
- Car parking space is going to be a problem in a lot of areas, as some areas have barely enough rome just to get traffic moving.
- The cars may not be robust enough for the varying terrain they may be driven on.
- An increase in the number of road related accidents is inevitable seeing the way they drive cars out there
- The villages or small towns will suffer where close proximity housing has little room for parking more than a traditional bike in the street.
- No power steering could be a problem for some people, specially if roads are not of a driving on standard
Planning:
- They must plan and build public car parking spaces to accomodate the increase in cars
- They must find a solution to householders switching from bikes to cars being able to park their cars near their homes
- The infrastructure (roads, signs, lighting etc) needs to be improved and standardised across the whole country.
- An inevitable increase in the car scrap heap as they complete their lifecycle and head for the scrap heap – are they prepared for say recycling
The lists could be added to and its all a trade off at the end of the day, so one must decide really what the priority is.
This car is too cheap even cheaper than an Auto rickshaw. It’s creating a fear for auto bike (two wheeler) market in India. This car will boost the bribe business in fast growing India to obtain a driving license. This car will create more unsafe drivers on the Indian roads.
Please read this article “Does Corruption Produce Unsafe Drivers?” from the following link.
http://www.princeton.edu/~rpds/downloads /bertrand_Driving+tables_022006.pdf
I can’t believe the nay – sayers… This is good news, if anything people will be exporting it to use less fuel elsewhere. This will provide money for India which means jobs and future growth and prosperity. Why is it that most modern hippies immediately turn against progress, and in the next breath determine that people shouldn’t have freedom to choose? Socialism is alive and well amongst those who question human technical progress… for sake of control over the masses. “let the mother country provide for you… not the free market.”
The problem isn’t cheap cars. It’s too many drivers. Get rid of people and the alleged problem of too many cheap cars will solve itself in a nano-second.
I think this line questioning springs from a racist bigoted view of the wealthy, it implies that the rich have more right to the earth and that being rich prioritizes over being human.
It’s funny how the rich who are addicted to oil think they can dictate whether the poor have access to it, it boggles the mind.
The question really asks why hasn’t the west addressed our oil cravings and modified our cultures so that every human being has equal access to the same opportunities whether it be education, transportation, health, clean drinking water. Just because someone has money doesn’t mean they can pollute more!
We the west need to figure out how we can live, so that everyone can live. It isn’t as if our planet doesn’t have enough resources, it just can’t afford our greed. Individuals need to pressure governments to amend legislation so that our greedy way of living is changed.
If a person in India is not allowed to have an affordable car, perhaps the family in the West who has 4 cars should be required to give up their extra three!
i think intoduction of Nano on roads will definitly increase the traffic problems.we are already having traffic and parking problems,and with nano’s introductin it will become more pathetic.as our roads are already so much conjested and because of bad transport infrastucture accidents are also increasing day by day which is a big problem now adays.we must first try to improve our roads,transport infrastructure.parking problems and then later think about such introductions.
Overall, I think the new cheap model will be a good thing. The cited problems, under a free market, will all be self-resolving. As numbers increase, there will be demand created for adequate parking and infrastructure to accomodate them. Prospective urban buyers who find the streets too narrow or congested to get to their destinations in a reasonable time, or who are unable to find a place to park them will either reject them in favour of two-wheel vehicles or public transportation, or simply buy them for occasional and weekend use. I suspect they will be sold in great numbers in less urban areas, and as second cars. Kudos to Tata!
TATA is getting free land and electricity from the government. Why world media not highlighted this fact?
10:46 pm GMT
I think that cheap cars are a good idea for a economically less developed country like India. This means more people will have better means of transport.