Reactions on Tata Nano : Comments :"The world is jealous" !!

REACTIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD ON THE PEOPLE'S CAR

It Costs Just $2,500. It's Cute as a Bug. And It Could Mean Global Disaster. ........

The most hotly anticipated auto show of 2008 isn't the one set to begin in Detroit next week. It's the New Delhi Auto Expo, which opened in India three days ago and managed to beat Detroit to the punch by a week -- and $2,500.
That's the sticker price of the most eagerly awaited new car in decades: the Indian-made "people's car," dubbed the Nano. It's the brainchild of Ratan Tata, scion of the massive Indian conglomerate known as the Tata Group. He had long dreamed of giving middle-class Indian families a safer alternative to piling mom, dad and the kids onto the only motorized transportation they could afford: a motorcycle. True, the car doesn't meet U.S. safety standards. Still, by putting distribution in the hands of its dealers, taking advantage of cheap Indian labor and using lower-cost materials, Tata Motors has driven the price of a car down to levels never seen before.
This is good news for the millions of people in the developing world who never imagined that they could own their own car. But it's a problem for the rest of us.
It's a problem for Detroit, which is racing to enter India's booming small-car market but will now have to completely revolutionize its production and distribution to compete. It's a problem for America's beleaguered auto workers, who will become even more expendable as Detroit moves its manufacturing efforts to India and other Asian countries. And it's a potentially gigantic problem for the environment. India's urban roadways are already choked with traffic, and the air quality of its major cities is ghastly. If millions of Indians and Chinese get to have their own cars, the planet is doomed. Suddenly, the cute little Nano starts to look a lot less winning.

See what Washingotn post says further :
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/11/AR2008011101998.html


And this one comes from NewYorkTimes
.....
So while we admire Mr. Tata’s business and engineering acumen in creating the Nano, we ardently wish that he would focus his talents elsewhere: creating transportation that is both affordable and doesn’t emit ever more greenhouse gases. That would be something for the whole world to celebrate and buy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/opinion/16wed4.html?ref=opinion


ABC news
The $2,500 Car: An Environmental Nightmare?

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/GadgetGuide/wireStory?id=4113059



And here ToI summarizes it all

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2693551,prtpage-1.cms

Snippy sarcasm and grudging admiration greeted the Indian debut of the Tata Nano in the world's most mobile society, where there are nearly twice as many cars as families. It seemed that American reporters were present in droves at the event, judging by the coverage the buggy received here. It made news on almost every media outlet, including the evening network news watched by more than 30 million viewers, causing one wag to remark that the US was hit by the "El Nano" effect. "It can seat five people...if no one breathes," ABC News anchor Charlie Gibson said sardonically against the footage of the event. Time dubbed it an "upstart econobox." And Popular Mechanics headlined its story "Nano Is the $2500 Car That Might Change the World," before the reporter hits the brakes.


My comments : Let me research on it... Till then, Its cool, its compact, its dream come true, its affordable (well, wait till you get to hold the keys..),it is ENGINEERING, INDIAN ENGINEERING