Cheap Cars in India, Part I and II, by Mssrs. Michael and Tripp
February 27th, 2008
[Combined two posts into this single post as Pierre and Kyle submitted on the same topic. - Prof. Carr]
Submitted By: Pierre Michael
Traffic, you think you have it bad!? Check this out, watch the video. As the rate of car manufacturing in India steadily increases, traffic is noticeably worsening in crowded cities like Mumbai. Consequentially, motorized two-wheelers account for 80 percent of all vehicles. Is this safe?
Making it by on their meager salaries, many families purchase motorcycles or scooters instead of cars because that’s all they can afford. These two-wheelers become the family vehicle, not one that they take turns on, but one they all ride at the same time. These transportation woes have many families worried about their safety; but what are they to do?
With an average wage of $1,740 USD a year and $4,020 USD a year for white collar jobs, it’s easy to see why cars are out of reach for so many. A 2007 report said that 77% of Indians live on less than 20 rupees (50cents) a day.
Tata Motors, also known as Telco, made a promise to sell cars for 100,000 rupees or $2,500 USD making it the cheapest car in the world, half the price of the current cheapest. The promise however, may have been made a little hastily. Reminiscent to the $100 One Laptop per Child, the company is running into increasing costs of raw materials and facing heavy competition, but they are determined to hold to their original promised price.
There are 7.7 road accidents for every 1,000 vehicles and the Accident Risk Index is forecasted to increase fourfold by 2025 making injury almost inevitable on two-wheeled vehicles. The Nano that Tata is proposing, although light and seemingly fragile, provides a protective shielding that could be instrumental in saving lives. This poses lots of questions though. With poverty rates quickly decreasing and more people able to purchase automobiles what will the roads look like? What will happen when the roads saturate with cars? Will everything come to a standstill? What about the environmental risks that millions of new cars will pose, how should the companies and the country handle this? Isn’t there a better way?
Submitted By: Kyle Tripp
I recently watch a clip on YouTube about the unveiling of the world’s cheapest car. An Indian company named TATA makes it. The car goes for about $2500 USD. The goal behind this car is to appeal to India’s middle class citizens and families who as of now can only afford a motorcycle. This car has raised controversy with environmentalists, who say that this will just increase pollution and add to the crowding of India’s overcrowded streets. I can see where it would benefit lower to middle class families, but will this car just be bad news for the environment? In the clip it showed people in India on motorcycles with their little kids and no helmets. With the craziness of the streets in India that can’t be safe. While this new car is as cheap as they get TATA says that it meets or exceeds all safety and emission standards. I feel that this car will be better for the safety of the lower to middle class families that currently get around on a motorcycle. Though, is the safety of the environment in India currently a more important issue? Look at the clip and let me know what you think.
Entry Filed under: India, Misc., Pre-Departure
9 Comments Add your own
1. Alex Thornton | December 21st, 2009 at 8:57 am
One of the commentors on the Youtube video indicated that the footage was sped up, so the cars might be moving slower than they appear.
—
As people enter the middle class, they focus on previously unimportant things like environment and safety. Hence, as poverty rates decrease and more Indians buy cars like the TATA, there will be increasing calls for safer roads. One of the better solutions to traffic accidents and congestion is improved road design, including a reduction of the number of access points to highways and the construction of roundabouts and timed stop lights. All this will cost money and take time, but should not be an insurmountable task.
2. Emily Schaapveld | December 28th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Environmental nightmare is right! We are at an age that cities need to be designed to move the masses, efficiently and effectively. The world’s cheapest car may only cost $2500, but it is going to cost the government and tax payers a heck of a lot more to re-design the country’s cities entire transportation infrastructure to meet the demands for the number of cars on the road. India, China, and the U.S. all need to consider long-term sustainability regarding transportation. Sometimes meeting the demands of consumers is not necessarily in the best interest of society, even if it down mean bigger profits for big businesses.
3. Matthew Perez | January 3rd, 2010 at 12:16 pm
In order for economic growth to continue in India, businesses need to grow and flourish. The growth of an auto industry in India means that more Indians will be employed, new businesses will emerge to satisfy the needs of the employed, which will lead to more people being employed. This increasing wealth will also bring about improvements in infrastructure within the country since governments benefit from greater economic activity. As sad as it is to say, money does make the world go round.
4. Phil Hamer | January 23rd, 2010 at 3:30 pm
The video is definitely sped up. Just look at the pedestrians walking. No one walks that fast. But the point is still taken.
____________
One of the reasons that China was able to have such huge economic growth in 90s and India was left in the dust, was because the Chinese government realized the importance of infrastructure. Building a safe and convenient infrastructure attracted foreign companies who knew they could quickly move goods cross country from factories to docks. This is why China is the world’s factory and India is the world’s call center.
If India wants to put out so many cheap cars I hope they are willing to expand their emergency rooms, their morgues, and their infrastructure.
5. William Ary | February 21st, 2010 at 9:02 pm
I think the big issue is not the cars but the infrastructure necessary to support them. India is not investing heavily in this the way China is, and I think this will ultimately limit the utility of cars for most people in India. The government needs to recognize the need to provide the roads, sewers, lights, power plants and cables if it wants to beat out China in the race for economic growth and increasing standard of living. One of the reasons for the growth and success of the USA was the creation of cross-country railroads, canals, telephone and power wires and eventually interstate highways. This allows transport costs to come down enough that jobs could be outsourced to different parts of the country instead of being done locally. If India takes the infrastructure step, we will see its growth skyrocket.
6. Catherine Kristensen | March 12th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
This video is from 2006 - how many cars and motorcycles have been added to India’s roads since then? I suspect roads are at more of a standstill (a la 405 in LA) nowadays. To combat the volume, India has already started to make changes. In 2007, the government increased the speed limit from 80kmph to 100kmph. I am sure this increased accidents and fatalities, but at least it got people moving through the roads faster!
A recent article from the Economic Times (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/NHAIs-new-bid-norms-may-speed-up-road-projects/articleshow/5678094.cms) highlights the increased highway projects currently pursued in India. The government has “set a target of 7,000 km of new roads per year.” Contracts are in constant negotiation and competition to build India’s infrastructure. Roads impact agriculture, trade and industry. We are likely to see each great increases in each of these realms as the infrastructure of India improves.
7. Chase Janvrin | March 13th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
What stands out to me in this ad are the words “big luxury car”, “status symbol”, and “show off”. The car has long been considered one of the primary ways to show off ones wealth, and India has caught the bug. It’s funny to me that while in the US there is a strong pro-bike movement in the major metro areas where smog and commute times choke peoples lungs and lives, developing countries do everything they can to get off their bikes and into cars. Instead of more cars and the upgraded infrastructure to support them, the infrastructure should be designed around more and better public transportation and bike lanes. What will India do in 20 years when gas is unaffordable and smog is so bad they can’t get back on their bikes?
8. Leslie Mann | March 18th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Hopefully in 20 years, cars in India will be more environmentally friendly than those presently running on gas alone. That being said, I think the affordable car should be seen in a positive light, even though many don’t believe it will have a positive impact over the long run. I do agree that India needs to follow in China’s footsteps of understanding the importance of infrastructure. It is unfortunate that India falls behind China in this respect, and many others, but there is one thing India does lead China in: more road accident deaths per year. At over 130,000 deaths a year, India should be looking into safety on the road by way of changes to the infrastructure itself. The safety of India’s environment is important, but so too is the safety of its pedestrians, bikers, motorcyclists, etc.
The video is sped up but even after watching the video in actual time, it is amazing that more deaths do not occur. The environment should always be in consideration but reports from TATA state that the car pollutes less than the two-wheelers and get about the same gas mileage. If the car has the potential to reduce traffic deaths, pollute less and also bring a sense of pride to its driver, how can it be a serious threat?
9. Yuxiang Gao | March 19th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
I have read a similar article about the automotive industry in China. I can find a lot of common places about this kind of industry in developing country.
There is no double that the growth of automotive industry is an indication of India’s economic growth, but I do think the Indian automakers affect the world automotive industry a lot.
Tata is definitely putting out eye popping numbers when it comes to sales in the last year or so. As of right now, they are only appealing to the low end customers.
William mentioned in his post that India is not investing heavily in this the way China is, and he think this will ultimately limit the utility of cars for most people in India.
In my opinion, for both two countries, there is no way that every people can has a car, because of the huge number of population. It could cause social problems for just half people own cars.
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed