Idea Generation

I observed families riding on two-wheelers the father driving the scooter, his young kid
standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby . This could be very
dangerous in night travel or in stormy weather. [Problem]
It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of
transport for such a family [Dream]
Tata Motors engineers and designers gave their all for about four years to realize this goal.
Today, we indeed have a Peoples Car, which is affordable and yet built to meet safety
requirements and emission norms, to be fuel efficient and low on emissions [Criteria]
We are happy to present the Peoples Car to India and we hope it brings the joy, pride and utility
of owning a car to many families who need personal mobility.[Success]

To create safe, affordable, all weather form of transport for a family

To create an option for people who want to move from 2 wheeler to 4 wheeler in
affordable price (As little as 2 Wheelers)

Idea Screening

A scooter with 2 extra wheels at the back for extra stability?

An Auto-Rickshaw with 4 wheels?

4 Wheeler car made of Engineering Plastics?

4 wheeled rural car?

But Market Wanted a Car and It should be like a Car

Not something that people will say, Ah! Thats just a Scooter with 4 wheels and not really a
car!
Concept testing and Developing
Concept testing And Developing Mr. Girish Wagh talked with customers 3 Wheeler men
inevitably insisted on cheap and dependable truck But he still kept asking Why do u want a 4
wheeler? Finally he got the answer, If I had a 4 wheeler, I would have better marriage
prospects in my village. 4 wheels have emotional appeal, not just practical.
Car to cost Rs. 1 lakh on road Car to be built on different platform than conventional ones It
must meet all the safety and regulatory requirements It has to be built on a scale which is double
than the earlier launches A Truly Peoples car: Low cost, Safe, Fuel Efficient.
1|Page

Product Design & Development

Product Design & Development Design Inputs from Institute of Development in Automotive
Engineering, Italy Constant Design changes Design adaptations from Daewoo Matiz and Tata
Indica 37 patents associated with the design of Nano Modular Design Revolution: The Nano is
constructed of components that can be built and shipped separately to be assembled in a variety
of locations.
More from less for more and more people Much spacious than Maruti 800 (20 % more) Use of
Aluminum Engine to reduce weight and cost Use of light weight steel wherever possible.
Market Testing
Prototype Development First Prototype: Vehicle which had bars instead of doors and plastic flaps
to keep out the monsoon rains. It was closer to a Quadricycle than a car, and the first prototype
Engine Issue: 540 CC engine when fitted on the prototype, lacked the necessary power. So its
capacity was increased by 9%, then by another 9%, finally settled to a 623 CC engine.
Foot pedal had to be realigned to create more legroom.
The body had to be changed because Ratan Tata, over six feet tall himself, wanted it to be easy
for tall people to get in and out of the car.
"Imagine the pain of the body designer -- he went through hundreds of iterations, then at the last
minute the car length was increased by 100 millimeters!"
Launch
Tata Motors basically Segmented and targeted the following groups of Indian population:
1. The Middle class
Mainly the lower middle class
Upper lower class
2. Usually the two-wheeler users
3. Family with 3-4 members who have troubles while travelling on a 2-wheeler.
Tata Motors positioned the car as per the following catch lines and slogans:
1 lakh car to fulfill all your dreams!
Cars are not just for the rich

2|Page

Tata Nano was launched in the segment of being a cost leader in the broad market to attract
maximum number of the population. We can place it in the quadrant as shown in the picture
below at the point of time of its launch.
The struggling India class who had a monthly salary of less than Rs.6000 per month and
constituted more than 110 million households also got the encouragement to dream of buying a
car.
Mr. Ramesh Mangaleswaran, the partner of McKinsey and co predicted that in Mumbai alone the
2 million people who rode a motorcycle everyday would now try to lift themselves up to buy a
Tata Nano.
It was also expected that Tata Nano would create a revolutionary change in the lifestyle,
specially with respect to commutation of the common man and would become a face of the
Indian lower class just like Bajaj Scooter once became for the middle class

3|Page