On the eve of the launch of the Nano, Ratan Tata looks back on the four-year journey that led up to the most eagerly awaited launch in the history of India’s automobile industry.
Q: Are you feeling more apprehensive now than you felt at the launch of the Indica?
A: Not really. At that time, we did not know if the market, which knew us as a truck manufacturer, would accept us as a carmaker. We took somewhat widely publicised goals at that time. So at that time we were more nervous than we are today.
Q: What sparked off the idea?
A: In this particular case, you could not help but notice there were three-four family members on a scooter with a kid standing in the front, the guy driving and his wife sitting side saddle holding a little kid. When you are driving a car, you say to yourself to be careful, you know they may slip and fall. Add to that slippery roads and night time riding and you have a reasonably dangerous form of transport. That does not mean scooters should not exist—it’s an evolution of bicycles and it’s the path to prosperity. But, scooters as family transport seemed dangerous. I asked myself if we could put two wheels at the back to give the scooter greater stability. Would it make it safe for the occupants if you put a bar over the top? Last year, I was at Bertoni and to my surprise I found that BMW had produced a scooter with the same safety bars that I had thought about with rubber bumpers on the side and a seat which had a seat belt. Apparently it was not successful and BMW withdrew it.
Posted by indianwindow 
Posted by indianwindow 