Seldom do we see cars that rewrite the history books even before they are seen running

around on the roads. And hardly ever do we see cars that vow to put the nation on four
wheels. The Tata Nano is one such car – a car that has been in the news for quite a few years,
for reasons good and evil. Nano is a car which has breathed into life due to one man. Give
credit to Mr. Ratan Tata for his determination to build a low cost family car that has come true,
finally! Took long it did, but the Nano came in a beautiful form. Touted as world’s cheapest car
by a far cry, Nano has been the talk of the town around the globe. Head honchos of big
organizations have been pouring in by numbers to have a look at this engineering
masterpiece. We bring you some interesting bits.

Looks:

Numbers first.
Length – 3100mm
Width – 1500mm
Height – 1600mm
Wheelbase – 2230mm.
Ground Clearance – 180mm

You will be wondering why I am talking about the dimensions of the Nano, since all of you
know that it is a rather compact and tiny machine. It is because I have good reason to talk
about the dimensions. You see, the Nano is going to be faced with Maruti 800 as its main rival.
But you could throw in the Alto and Zen Estilo to mark out some design and packaging
aspects. Just to get things in perspective, Nano is over 230mm shorter than 800 in overall
length but the wheelbase advantage of 155mm over the offering from Maruti makes sure that
the Nano is more accommodating than the 800. Tata has managed to squeeze out a 60mm
advantage in width and Maruti 800 falls short of about 100mm in height. So in essence, you
get more legroom, better shoulder room and room more than enough for a turban, if you wear
one! But before you enter inside, you are bound to gape in admiration at the beautifully
crafted curves of this micro car. I personally feel that the front has a lot of Zen Estilo written
on it, but manages to look really funky and cool.

The mono-volume design establishes a sea of change from the two-box layout of the 800.
What it ensures the Nano with is extremely short overhangs and tight packaging. For a car of
this size and image, the Nano is an extremely sexy looking car with futuristic design cues. The
bonnet line is steep and unites together with the bumper in a seamless way. Though there is
no ‘grille’ per se, the front has a smiling look which accentuates the ‘happy’ feeling. The fog
lamps are incorporated in the bumper which has a distinct air dam running across in between
them. In profile, the Nano resembles Mitsubishi’s latest small car ‘i’. The rear of the Nano is
somewhat recognizable. The tail lamps are inspired from elder sister, Indica. So this is a very
compact hatchback, yes? No my friend, you are massively wrong. Even I was dumbfounded
when I discovered that the Nano cannot be called a hatchback – a word so true to the way the
small cars are. The reason for this is because it does not have a hatch! The tail gate cannot be
opened owing to it being joined together with the boot sill. This makes accessing the engine a
pain in the bottom. But a hatchback it will be called still. The back side of the Nano is made
attractive by the mid mounted exhaust pipe which peeps out of the aggressively designed
bumper.
Tata Nano: World’s Cheapest Car from Tata Motors

World’s cheapest car, Tata Nano has been unveiled in the 9th annual New Delhi Auto
Expo today. With lots of hypes and expectations, this four-door car was made public in a
festive mode. Lots of public interests created for this much-awaited Rs one lakh car,
which many think, to be instrumental in people’s dream to shift from a two wheeler to a
four wheeler. Tata Motors has dubbed it as ‘People’s Car’, indicating its involvement to
the people of root level.

Nano is a supermini car which has some advantages over its competitor Maruti 800,
which brought out a revolution in the Indian car industry about two decades ago. Nano
has 21% more interior space with 8 % less in its exterior from Maruti 800. Moreover, the
price is deemed to give the biggest market advantage to Nano compared to other
automakers in India’s price sensitive market. Tata Motors has already selected a place for
the manufacturing plant of Nano in Singur, a backward area of Hoogly district in West
Bengal.

Actually, Tata Nano is going to create new market segment in Indian market. It is
expected to lessen the difference in price level between two wheelers and four wheelers.
So, industry analysts are thinking that the market of two wheelers will be affected with
the advent of Nano. Industry analyst Deepak Jain has said in an interview that about 10%
of two-wheeler market will be taken away by Nano.

Money Control reported:

Q: Do you think there would be a very conscious shift with the launch of this
product from the two-wheelers space to an upgraded product choice by the
consumers?
A: If we look at, who can buy this product? With a Rs 30,000 down payment, you can
take a loan of around Rs 1 lakh and EMI works out to be around Rs 3,716 per month.
With just Rs 3,700 per month on an EMI, I believe anybody can afford this product. As
far as the shift is concerned, initial estimates is around 10% of the two-wheeler market
can actually shift towards the small car.
There are many others who think Nano will bring out a big change in the auto industry of
Indian. Some even see it as a revolutionary car to hit the costs of car in India. However,
there are many who are not satisfied with Nano in relation to safety and environmental
concerns. They fear that the car will increase the number of cars in Indian roads
significantly and thus the amount of emission will be increased as well- accelerating the
global warming. Tata’s competitors are not that much satisfied with the launch of their
new product indicating its safety concern.

However, Tata’s Chief patron Ratan Tata has denied all those speculations. Terming Nano
‘People’s Car’, the 70-year-old business tycoon has expressed that the car meets all the
safety standards and Nano will have lower pollution level.

AFP reported:

Tata, likened by India's media to US automobile pioneer Henry Ford, also dismissed fears
the Nano -- so-called to appear both high-tech and small -- would herald more congestion
and pollution.

He said he wanted to make "a safe, affordable and all-weather transport -- a people's car,
designed to meet all safety standards and emissions laws and accessible to all."

"Let me assure you and also assure our critics the car we have designed will meet all the
current safety requirements ... and will have a lower pollution level than even a two-
wheeler being manufactured in India today," Tata said.

Established in 1945, Tata Motors is now one of the leading automakers in India. From
2001- 2006, Tata Motors flourished more and was listed in the list of top ten wealth
creators in India. About five years ago, Ratan Tata first declared to introduce a car with a
price level of Rs. 100,000. From then on, the one lakh car was one of the most talking
points in India’s auto market.

The car includes some alluring features despite its cheap price. With 623 cc engine, the
car has a mileage of 22 kmpl in the city roads and 26 kmpl in highways. So, it is
obviously something special for the Indian people. The car will be available in different
variants in which one will be standard and two other deluxe variants with air
conditioning.
Reuters reported:

* Engine: Rear-wheel drive, 2-cylinder, 623 cc, multi-point fuel-injection petrol engine.
Engine is rear mounted. Tata said it was the first time a 2-cylinder gasoline engine was
being used in a car with single balancer shaft.

* Safety: Tata said the Nano has an all sheet-metal body, with safety features such as
crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat-belts, strong seats and anchorages, and the
rear tailgate glass bonded to the body. Tyres are tubeless.

* Environment: Tata said tailpipe emission performance exceeded current regulatory

requirements, and the Nano had a lower overall pollution level than two-wheelers made
in India. It said high fuel efficiency (20 km/litre) ensured low carbon dioxide emissions.

Tata Nano was the center of all attention today in the Delhi Auto Expo. There were some
other cars from other companies. However, Nano took away all the media and public
attention. Nano had lots of admirers today following its launch. Commerce Minister
Kamal Nath has dubbed the launching of Nano as a proud moment for India. According
to Mr. Nath, Nano will fulfill the common man’s dream.

Economic Times reported:

"It is a proud moment for India. It demonstrates India's technological and

entrepreneurial ability. The car will help people move from two-wheeler to four-
wheeler and it will leap-frog the two-wheeler," he said at the Auto Expo today.
"It fulfills the need of the common Indian who aspires to move from a two-
wheeler to a four-wheeler," he added.

So, it seems that Tata Nano is going to rock the Indian roads in the days to come. If the
car maintains its promised services, then Nano will definitely surge the streets of India
with lots of people’s dream come true. Well, it will be interesting to see how other Indian
auto makers respond to the launch of Nano. As it is expected that two-wheeler market is
going to be affected most by the car creating a new market segment, it is high time other
car makers should come up with their innovative products to grab the share of new
segment. However, till then, it is Nano to be dominating the local car market.
Structure of Tata nano as per technical
aspect
TATA’s Wonder car NANO was designed at Italy’s Institute of Development in
Automotive Engineering and has Follwing Specification
THe Team behind NANO
Design Team
Siva S Aittili and Nikhil A Jadhav

Some NANO team Members

Santosh Bannur, Umesh Abhyankar, Abhay Dandekar, Sanjay Patil, C Awate, V
Katkar, Swapnil Gosavi, Girish Wagh, Mangesh Nimbalkar.
Kedar Joshi, Sundar Palani, Abhay Dandekar, Umesh Nalawade , Nikhil Butala ,
Rahul Dangi, Vivek Lakhera, Rajesh A T

Rear mounted engine

The use of a rear mounted engine to help maximize interior space makes the Nano
similar to the original Fiat 500, another technically innovative “people’s car”. A
concept vehicle similar in styling to the Nano, also with rear engined layout was
proposed by the UK Rover Group in the 1990s to succeed the original Mini but was
not put into production.The eventual new Mini was much larger and technically
conservative. The independent, and now-defunct, MG Rover Group later based
their Rover CityRover on the Tata Indica.
Tata is also reported to be contemplating offering a compressed air engine as an
option

Technical specifications

According to Tata Group’s Chairman Ratan Tata, the Nano is a 33 PS (33 hp/24
kW) car with a 623 cc rear engine and rear wheel drive, and has a fuel economy of
4.55 L/100 km (21.97 km/L, 51.7 mpg (US), 62 mpg (UK)) under city road
conditions, and 3.85 L/100 km on highways (25.97 km/L, 61.1 mpg (US), 73.3 mpg
(UK)). It is the first time a two-cylinder non-opposed petrol engine will be used in a
car with a single balancer shaft.Tata Motors has reportedly filed 34 patents related
to the innovations in the design of Nano, with powertrain accounting for over half of
them. The head of Tata Motors’ Engineering Research Centre, Girish Wagh has
been credited with being one of the brains behind Nano’s design.

According to Tata, the Nano complies with Bharat Stage-III and Euro-IV emission
standards. Ratan Tata also said, ‘The car has passed the full-frontal crash and the
side impact crash’.
Powertrain

* Engine:
o 2 cylinder petrol with Bosch multi-point fuel injection (single injector) all
aluminium 33 horsepower (25 kW) 624 cc (38 cu in)
o Value Motronic engine management platform from Bosch
o 2 valves per cylinder overhead camshaft
o Compression ratio: 9.5:1
o bore × stroke: 73.5 × 73.5 mm
o Power: 33 PS (33 hp/24 kW) @ 5500 rpm
o Torque: 48 N·m (35 ft·lbf) @ 2500 rpm

* Rear wheel drive, 4-speed manual transmission

* Steering: mechanical rack and pinion

Performance

* Acceleration: 0-70 km/h (43 mph): 14 seconds

* Maximum speed: 105 km/h (65 mph)
* Fuel economy (combined City + Highway): 20 kilometres per litre (5 L/100 km (47
mpg–U.S. / 56 mpg–imp))

Body and dimensions

Wheelbase 2,230 mm (87.8 in)

Length 3100 mm (122 in)
Width 1500 mm (59.1 in)
Height 1600 mm (63 in)

Suspension, tires and brakes

* Front brake: disc
* Rear brake: drum
* Front track: 1,325 mm (52.2 in)
* Rear track: 1,315 mm (51.8 in)
* Ground clearance: 180 mm (7.1 in)
* Front suspension: McPherson strut with lower A arm
* Rear suspension: Independent coil spring
* 12-inch wheels

Suppliers to the Tata Nano

Supplier Product
Bosch Gasoline injection system (diesel will follow), starter, alternator, brake
systems
Caparo Inner structural panels
Continental Gasoline fuel supply system, fuel level sensor
Delphi Instrument cluster
Denso Windshield wiper system (single motor and arm)
FAG Rear-wheel bearing
Ficosa Rear-view mirrors, interior mirrors, manual and CVT shifters, washer
system

Freudenberg Engine sealing

GKN Driveshafts
INA Shifting elements
ITW Deltar Outside and inside door handles
Johnson Controls Seating
Mahle Camshafts, spin-on oil filters, fuel filters and air cleaners
Saint-Gobain Glazing
TRW Brake system
Valeo Clutch sets
Vibracoustic Engine mounts
Visteon Air induction system
ZF Friedrichshafen AG Chassis components, including tie rods
Behr HVAC for the luxury version

NANO FAST FACTS

- Designed with a family in mind, the Nano has a roomy passenger compartment
with generous leg space and head room.

- Can comfortably seat four persons. Four doors with high seating position make
ingress and egress easy.

- With a length of 3.1 metres, width of 1.5 metres and height of 1.6 metres, with
adequate ground clearance, it can effortlessly manoeuvre on busy roads in cities as
well as in rural areas.

- Its mono-volume design, with wheels at the corners and the powertrain at the rear,
enables it to uniquely combine both space and manoeuvrability, which will set a new
benchmark among small cars.

- The Nano has a rear-wheel drive, all-aluminium, two-cylinder, 623 cc, 33 PS, multi
point fuel injection petrol engine. This is the first time that a two-cylinder gasoline
engine is being used in a car with single balancer shaft.

- The lean design strategy has helped minimise weight, which helps maximise
performance per unit of energy consumed and delivers high fuel efficiency.

- Performance is controlled by a specially designed electronic engine management

system.
- The Nano’s safety performance exceeds current regulatory requirements. With an
all sheet-metal body, it has a strong passenger compartment, with safety features
such as crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat belts, strong seats and
anchorages, and the rear tailgate glass bonded to the body.

- Tubeless tyres further enhance safety.

- The Nano’s tailpipe emission performance exceeds regulatory requirements. In

terms of overall pollutants, it has a lower pollution level than two-wheelers being
manufactured in India today.

- The high fuel efficiency also ensures that the car has low carbon dioxide emissions,
thereby providing the twin benefits of an affordable transportation solution with a low
carbon footprint.
Tata nano and the birth of a middle class
Cambridge, MA–It’s been a pretty stellar decade so far in the world’s largest democracy.
The economy is growing at nearly 9% a year, GDP per capita has nearly doubled, and its
largest multinationals are on a global feeding frenzy, gobbling up anything they can get
their rupees on.

From steel makers and aluminum manufacturers to fabled liquor empires and Britain’s
beloved Tetley Tea, corporate India is expanding aggressively in its quest to unseat Japan
and China, Asia’s two incumbent economic powers. Perhaps not surprisingly, capitalism
suits the former British colony well — at least in the aggregate — and with the birth of
the world’s cheapest car and a play for Ford’s premium European business, Tata looks set
to usher in a new era of Indian industrial leadership.

It isn’t just that the Nano will cost a symbolic 1 lakh (US$2500) , or that its 33
horsepower engine will reach speeds of 65 miles an hour, or that transportation in India
will be revolutionized in ways that inventors of the Segway only dreamed. More
important than the car itself is its underlying raison d’etre: the emergence of India’s
swelling middle class, set to grow from 50 million today to nearly 600 million by 2025.
Following similar demographic and economic trends in China, these first-generation
middle class consumers will fuel the next cycle of global economic growth for
automobiles, electronics, mass media, food, and pretty much everything else we’ve come
to take for granted over the last fifty years.
The story isn’t all roses, but the challenges of sustainable and responsible economic
development are slowly being addressed. Technological advances in agriculture,
structural advances in micro-finance and micro-capitalism, infrastructural developments
within and between major urban centres, and demographic trends will continue to fuel
investment and innovation across the continent.

That said, for those of us living in the peaceful economic bosom of the G8, India’s latest
foray into industrial design and manufacturing could spell the beginning of the end of
heavy industry in Western markets, and fuel the push to reinvent the economies of the
developed world. Traditionally, systemic shifts of this magnitude involved sizeable labour
migrations and ultimately some measure of political instability.

One can only hope that Canadian policymakers — particularly in auto-dependent Ontario
— are students of economic history and move to educate and innovate away from their
20th century manufacturing addictions before the knowledge-based industries of the
future are too far out of reach.