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Back Seat Driver: All Tata all the time

India's Tata Motors unveiled its $2,500 Nano car at the Auto Show in New Delhi on Thursday and the company expects to sell millions of the four-door, 625 cc rear-wheel drive cars in a country with a population of 1.1 billion but where only about seven in 1,000 have cars.

(At the other end of the scale, Tata, India's largest conglomerate with sales of $29 billion last year, is also currently in the midst of negotiations to acquire luxury marques Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.)

But back to the modest Nano which is certainly very elemental indeed. Indeed, Americans might be excused for wondering why anyone would want to buy such an simple car. But when you've been balancing your family on a scooter everyday or moving along at less than five mph while looking up the ass of a donkey, the Nano must look like a real nice alternative.

Indeed, this is truly a Phase 2 of the people's car, with Phase 1 having taken place in Europe following WWII with the introduction of the Volkswagen Beetle in Germany, the Fiat 500 in Italy, the Citroen 2CV in France and Morris Minor and Mini in England.

(Come to think of it, maybe the introduction of the Ford Model T in the U.S. 100 years ago was the first people's car.)

But in Europe following the devestation of WWII, millions of people who had formerly been limited to walking, bicycling or riding in horse- or donkey-drawn carts, finally had access to the freedom of the internal combusion engine.

Of course, any potential increase in the number of cars has enormous implications in terms of congestion and pollution. Consider that one billion cars are expected to be on the world's roads by 2010, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal in 2006, which is about 25 percent more than are on the roads today.

But for the time being, the little Tata Nano offers millions of Indians the kind of freedoms and opportunities we in the developed world take for granted, and that is a very good thing indeed.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:33 AM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 1

NBA wheels in Kia as an awards sponsor

NEW YORK — The NBA announced a marketing partnership with Kia Thursday that will enable the Korean automaker to hitch its name to four on-court performance awards selected by NBA writers and broadcasters: the Most Valuable Player Award; Defensive Player of the Year; Sixth Man Award; and Most Improved Player, according to USA Today.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:25 AM to Kia | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil Falls on Growing Economy Concerns

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices extended their slide on a growing sentiment that the United States might be headed for a recession that would depress demand for oil, according to the Associated Press.

Energy investors remained focused on recent government jobs reports that suggest the economy is struggling to make headway against the challenges posed by a troubled housing market and high oil prices.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery slipped 29 cents to $93.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:16 AM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0