[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by carcoll

To put things in perspective,
Kudos to Mr. Tata, for the engineering and cost effective marvel and all that!,... But really?!
Lets take the Nana LX BSIII, Ex-showroomprice here in Goa is Rs.183,699/-, add road tax/regn./insurance, ie. approx 10%, or Rs. 19,000/-, total on-road price, approx. Rs.203,000/-.
Now take the Maruti AltoLX BSIII, ex-showroom price in Goa Rs. 260,033/-, effective on road price.. Rs.255,000/- ( due to discounts like free insurance/ exchange bonus/loyaltydisc./etc/etc...)
{P.N.: all the prices taken from respective websites, and schemes verified with the maruti dealer}
Now Rs.52,000/- more for a tried and tested product..over 10 years !
Does a first time car buyer still want to buy the Nano LX!?!, not me!
and the final clincher: Maruti highly likely to reduce Alto prices by 30-40K in the next few months!!
And if the Nano prices are increased by 10k as Mr Tata says...(price protection is only for the first 100,000 cars)...thre will be no price difference at all between the Nano and a similarly specced Alto!
Now do you still want to go out there and buy the NANO LX ??

well, if the fuel prices increase again (they are bound to do so, once the world recession lifts), and say petrol is Rs 75/litre. What would you buy, a Nano giving you say 25kmpl or an alto giving 15kmpl? And when the Nano (D) gets launched, what will you buy?
If you need a proper 'car', then its def an alto, but as a useful city runabout, the Nano rocks

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by shortbread

The M800 is not a 'Scaled down proper car' its an Outdated small car. No offense to the M800, but its useless comparing a car that's nearly three decades old to something that was launched yesterday. The Nano beats the 800 easily in the three main factors for small car buyers in India.

1. Space(heck, its got more space than the Alto)
2. Price
3. Fuel Efficiency

This is without taking factors like safety, looks etc. into consideration. By nitpicking the Nano's shortcomings from our perspective, we are loosing the plot. Its easy to do the same with more expensive cars like the 800 and Alto.
Of course reliability is not something that can be taken for granted with a new Tata vehicle. But its unfair to write it off without even giving it a chance.

I find this debate very interesting. Actually most of us are reacting like this because we are accustomed to new cars being launched with 'some more' features and a lil extra price over existing competition. Then we do a price vs feature comparision and judge if the new car is good or not. Example Alto/800. Santro/alto Indica/santro and so on. Now Nano is a new car which is actually cheaper than the competition and has got fewer features. So how can we evaluate it is the dilema.

If we for a moment stop comparing Nano with any other car and look at what is available for the price, then we might judge this car fully.

[psp62in]

While comparing Nano with M-800 and others, and guessing how it is going to be accepted by the market, note the news reports that SBI sees tremendous response from Nano buyers. They say they have distributed lakhs of application forms.

I wonder if this is also going the boost the economy and help in turning the recession tide.

[qaqa]

What are the chances of the nano replacing the ubiquitous bajaj rickshaws?

1) The base model's price tag is pretty close to that of an autorickshaw. (with probably better finance options)

2) Nano has much more carrying capacity (although it may not be possible to cram in as many schoolchildren!)

3) Nano is much more safer and comfortable

4) Much more class!! (Imagine arriving at a client meet in an auto v/s a nano-taxi!)

The one thing which may work against the nano is the lower FE. While nano claims around 23 kmpl, I beleive most ricks have an FE of around 30 kmpl.

Another point may be maintenance costs - servicing a nano would be substantially more expensive when compared to a rick for sure

However, higher fares could offset this to a larget extent - and create a slot between a basic rick and full taxi. Nano-on-call anyone?!

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by qaqa

What are the chances of the nano replacing the ubiquitous bajaj rickshaws?

1) The base model's price tag is pretty close to that of an autorickshaw. (with probably better finance options)

2) Nano has much more carrying capacity (although it may not be possible to cram in as many schoolchildren!)

3) Nano is much more safer and comfortable

4) Much more class!!(Imagine arriving at a client meet in an auto v/s a nano-taxi!

The one thing which may work against the nano is the lower FE. While nano claims around 23 kmpl, I beleive most ricks have an FE of around 30 kmpl.

Another point may be maintenance costs - servicing a nano would be substantially more expensive when compared to a rick for sure

However, higher fares could offset this to a larget extent - and create a slot between a basic rick and full taxi. Nano-on-call anyone?!

May not be so straight forward. Bajaj auto will quickly reduce their prices from a current 1.75 lac to 70k.. they have monopolistic pricing now. Tata motors doesnt want to target the cab market. Auto unions/taxi unions will oppose any such moves which will involve a loss of business for their rattletraps.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

What would you buy, a Nano giving you say 25kmpl or an alto giving 15kmpl? And when the Nano (D) gets launched, what will you buy?

25kmpl under what conditions ? This is just a manufacturer given figure, like MSIL saying A-Star gives 19kmpl or Bajaj claiming 100kmpl for their bikes. What is important is real-world figures and for that we need to wait a bit more till the Nano is actually on the road.

And BTW, just because diesel is cheaper than petrol, not everyone gets himself a diesel car - there are other factors that go into making that decision.

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

The above senario is a great tempt to a lot of first time bike buyers. The bike enthusiasts will still buy bikes, but the splendor/dawn/caliber brigade who would want a vehicle to commute would most certianly shift to the nano or a second hand cheaper car.

Well, a car purchase is not just about EMIs. Fuel, maintenance, spares etc would be significantly higher for a car. Any of the bikes you mentioned would easily return 60kmpl in city, while the max you can expect from the Nano is 1/3rd of that - makes a lot of difference in the long run.

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

In all ways this is a boon, switching from bikes to cars, it would make the traffic more disiplined.

Huh? How so ? Traffic discipline is about us, it is not about the vehicles - they just go as directed.

[johnda]

I tried to get a few images of the Engine and the Boot but couldn't find em. All the reports and pictures are of the exteriors and the interiors, No pics of the engine. not even on the Nano website.

[Car-Agey]

Originally Posted by johnda

I tried to get a few images of the Engine and the Boot but couldn't find em. All the reports and pictures are of the exteriors and the interiors, No pics of the engine. not even on the Nano website.

These are some pics from the Autocar UK website. Including that of engine and boot.

[extreme_torque]

The quality atleast in the pictures looks very decent indeed.

[Dry Ice]

And where do you keep your bags?

I thought maybe if the engine was shifted at the back, the boot would have been shifted to the front, but looks like the entire engine was not shifted aftetall!!
What are the two containers there?? and the scoop kinda thing just behind the spare wheel??

pardon me

[johnda]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

And where do you keep your bags?...the boot would have been shifted to the front

the answer to that is the first pic in the second row.
That is the extended boot that can accommodate your box as well.

[muneemmk]

Wow. Those front seats look funny they seem to be paper thin, lets forget about lateral support and all.Guess they cold have made the bonnet a little more roomy to accommodate some kind of baggage.

[rohan_fonseca]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

I thought maybe if the engine was shifted at the back, the boot would have been shifted to the front, but looks like the entire engine was not shifted aftetall!!
What are the two containers there?? and the scoop kinda thing just behind the spare wheel??

pardon me

The two containers seem to be for power steering fluid and the wiper washer. Vent for AC fresh air intake.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

25kmpl under what conditions ? This is just a manufacturer given figure, like MSIL saying A-Star gives 19kmpl or Bajaj claiming 100kmpl for their bikes. What is important is real-world figures and for that we need to wait a bit more till the Nano is actually on the road.

And BTW, just because diesel is cheaper than petrol, not everyone gets himself a diesel car - there are other factors that go into making that decision.

Well, a car purchase is not just about EMIs. Fuel, maintenance, spares etc would be significantly higher for a car. Any of the bikes you mentioned would easily return 60kmpl in city, while the max you can expect from the Nano is 1/3rd of that - makes a lot of difference in the long run.

Huh? How so ? Traffic discipline is about us, it is not about the vehicles - they just go as directed.

Manufacturer given figures are quite close to actual fuel efficency. Apart from 100kmpl claims most 100cc mopeds do give 70-80kmpl and the smaller maruti cars anything between 15-20kmpl. However we can wait and watch!

The Nano is targetted at first time car buyers/upgrades from 2-4 wheels. Here anything which will save a few bucks (cheaper fuel) will matter greatly. Also a Nano (D) would give a better average than a Nano (P)

A bike carries 2 ppl legally at max 3. Any person aspires to take his family more decently than loading 4 on a bike. That is the USP of a Nano. Besides someone who needs to commute alone will still go for a bike, although a car is a huge help in rains, dust, sun, pollution, typically almost all year round

Denting a new car to which you have recently upgraded (say from a bike), is far more painful than scraping your leg guard against other ppls cars and scooting off. Also a car cant drive zig-zag in traffic. So a majority of bike-nano upgraders would drive more sensibly. And I am not talking of the few whose dad has sponsored a Nano for school. They would continue being the pests that they are. No offence to anyone intended!!

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

The quality atleast in the pictures looks very decent indeed.

I agree. This looks like the top of the line Lx. Any pics of the most basic version?