The Future is Here

But can Indian car makers progress from being more than just the local dadas? Can Tata and Mahindra step up to the plate and compete head-to-head,like Hyundai,Kia and Daewoo now Chevrolet do today? This is a question that the Indian car industry will need to answer if it is to become a global force.

Indias only small car maker,Tata,has for the past decade tried to play catch-up with the global car industry. And it has come far,very far,from the days of its first cars. Its engineering skills have taken a big leap and some of its processes are now world class,but its still a long way from the engineering finesse and sophistication needed to take on the best.

Sure,the gutsy Nano may redefine how car companies around the world make cars,especially when you consider how well Tata has managed to take the cost out of expensive systems. Engineers around the world were willing to bet their last dollar against the Nano; they thought it would never amount to more than a slightly more sophisticated quad.

But the Pune-based company still has a lot of ground to cover where traditional small cars are concerned. The upside: Tata now has the good counsel and vast technical skills of Fiat after its partnership with the latter and its rate of progress is bound to accelerate. Fiat is a storehouse of small-car know-how and Tata absolutely must make the effort to get the best out of this alliance.

And this is true of Mahindra to a certain extent too. Their bestseller is still Bolero,a utility vehicle that occupies the important Rs 5-6 lakh segment of the market where credible competition is as sparse as the hair on Anupam Khers pate. And for years,they had precious little that was genuinely new.

The Scorpio and the recent Xylo has changed that. The Scorpio especially,a vehicle that Mahindra has successfully marketed in the impressive Rs 9-12 lakh bracket,has been well accepted. But measure these cars against international competition and the gulf is clearly visible.

Hindsight is always 20:20,but Tata should have started off by borrowing or sharing a platform with any of the worlds successful car makers. It could have bought the rights to a generation-old platform or shared costs for a new one. This could have been the step forward and put it on the same page as international car makers when it comes to ability.

This is exactly what Fiat did when the Italian small car maker was being surrounded by sharks and about to go bankrupt. It built its Grande Punto on an Opel Corsa platform and saved large amounts in development cost. And the car turned out to be a stunner; it sold in massive numbers,supplemented by solid Opel engineering. Then Fiat sold the new 500 platform to Ford for its new Ka. Rivals sharing platforms is nothing new. Its how the Koreans got up to speed. And how GM,Toyota and Volkswagen have raked in the billions over the years by sharing few platforms between multiple models.

The latest such agreement is the recent pact between Daimler and Renault Nissan, which,if it comes to fruition,will throw up a raft of very exciting cars. This could be an ideal way for Mahindra and Bajaj to drive into the small car market on their own steam.

Another massive opportunity not to be missed out on is the global electric car market. The government of Indias sloth aside,electric cars will be the diesels of tomorrow,with a majority of small cars going electric or using the internal combustion engines as range extenders. And Indian companies could play a pivotal role in making these cars more affordable for the rest of the world.

Companies like the Reva Electric Car Company,now part of Mahindra,and Tata are ideally poised to take advantage of this,but need the support of the government. Else,yet again,we could find ourselves 15 years behind the Chinese.

The Indian-designed and globally-engineered competitive small car,if there is one in the future,could be a small or micro car powered by a hybrid or electric motor. Now that doesnt sound impossible,

does it?

wheeldealexpressindia.com

The writer is deputy editor,Autocar India.