At last, the Tata Motors' $2000 Nano tells that Tata Motors finally announced availability of the ultra-cheap five-seater automobile. India consumers purchased 1.2 million cars last year. Tata thinks it can sell 350,000 a year soon, and perhaps a million a year later. In comparison, the U.S. market is down to 9.1 million per year, although it did peak at 15.4 million in February of 2008, according to U.S. Auto Sales plunged 41% in February. We might also add that the U.S. automobile market is largely a replacement market - it is not an expanding market, much to the chagrin of automakers, even prior to the global recession.
The Volkswagon Beetle, originally a counter-culture car in the U.S., changed the automobile industry and even vocabulary. In popular speak, a Volkswagon came to represent something simple if not elegant, practical, and utiltarian. The early reviews of the Nano suggest that Tata Motors has recaptured the out-of-the-box engineering of the original Beetle in a 21st century product. As I applaud the engineering, something bothers me.
Data from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center shows India produces 27% of the CO2 of the United States. What happens when India does ramp up production of the Nano? First, we have the increased petroleum demand that must thrill Russia and the Middle East, but what happens with CO2 emissions? Half of all the fossil fuels consumed by mankind have been burned in the last 20 years.
I do not begrudge the Indian people the American and European thrill of automobile ownership. But the clever engineering we are expending on products should quickly be turned toward solving the greenhouse gas problem.
Comments