Word: nano
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...near term, the Nano will have little effect on Tata Motors' revenue, adding just 3% to sales, analysts estimate. It will have even less impact on the company's ailing bottom line, because the Nano's profit margin is tiny, says Vaishali Jajoo, a senior automotive-research analyst at Angel Broking, an investment firm in Mumbai. "It will take at least four to five years to break even" and recoup the company's development costs, she says. There's more profit to be made from fully equipped Nanos with air-conditioning, power windows and upholstered seats, which cost about...
...rollout plan for the rest of the world set. Tata Motors sells cars, trucks and buses in 16 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South America and South Asia. For now, the company only has firm plans to export the Nano to Europe starting in 2011. While the possibility of selling Nanos in the SUV-loving U.S. were once considered remote, Tata executives now say the recession is changing the buying habits of American consumers, offering an opening for economical vehicles. They have plans to develop a Nano for the U.S. in the next three years...
...Nano sales won't do much in the short run to ease the burden. But Tata Motors' efforts to pioneer cost-saving business processes during the Nano's development could translate into a healthier bottom line down the road. One of these innovations is "distributed manufacturing." Instead of investing in expensive factories and hiring additional workers as sales volumes increase, Tata Motors plans to limit Nano production at its central plant to 500,000 cars every year. Beyond that, it will use satellite plants to build the car's components and distribute these in Nano "kits" to independent entrepreneurs - trained...
...This bold idea may take years to realize, but the Nano is a first step. Tata hopes the car's launch will encourage similar innovations throughout the Tata Group. Others envision the Nano as something even more: a way to connect and mobilize India's declining rural economy, creating new jobs, new infrastructure and a culture of innovation far outside the big cities. "It's kind of like the iPod," says Tarun Khanna, a Harvard Business School professor who has studied the Tata Group for years. The Nano is a blank slate, he explains, that makes people think, What...
...unhappier scenario, the Nano ends up not as a tool to empower the rural poor but as another urban burden. If middle-class mobility comes to millions of people in the developing world, their shiny new Nanos could greatly add to traffic congestion and air pollution in major cities. Tata doesn't see it that way, calling complaints about the potential environmental impact of widespread Nano adoption "somewhat ironic." "It's almost like a car is O.K. for some people, but don't spread it to the larger base of the population," he says. "Why are we denying the masses...