Tata ''People''s Car''When Ratan Tata unveiled his
$2,500 "People''s Car" last week, local press gushed that it was
"the
true spiritual successor of the Tin Lizzie" - Henry Ford''s Model T that
made the car affordable for the masses.But if the Tata Group
chairman''s rivals at Japanese car and motorcycle makers Honda and
Suzuki are to be believed, the Tata "Nano" has much to prove before it
will justify such hyperbole.Honda''s chief executive Takeo Fukui told the Financial Times this
week that bad roads and high petrol prices would force many people in
emerging markets to stick with motorcycles rather than switch to cheap
cars such as the Nano.Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director of Maruti Suzuki, India''s biggest carmaker, told Indian newspaper Mint that ultra-basic cars were "not where the market is".Honda disputes cheap car logic''Queen of the dalits'' eyes DelhiHe added that Suzuki could not build a car for the same price as the Nano without sacrificing
quality and standards.Such
talk might be expected from rivals. But it does point to one
critical issue for Tata - just because the Nano is cheap does not mean its
buyers will compromise on quality.In fact, the Nano''s target market could prove even more discerning than the standard customer. Those switching from motorcycles to the Nano will be lower-income people who are acutely aware of value for money.The new Model-T"They will be far more critical customers because they are going to stretch to buy this car," says Mohit Arora of JD Power.Unfortunately, Tata''s car range already routinely ranks at the bottom of quality and consumer satisfaction surveys..