SMALL WONDER - The making of the NANO

 Authors : Philip Chacko, Christabelle Noronha, Sujata Agrawal,

Publisher : Westland Ltd, year 2010; Pages 149 + 8 pages of coloured photographs.

 

Review by Indra Mani Lal

Excerpts :

( ) Ratan Tata thought up the Nano one day when he was caught in traffic in Bangalore and noticed a single scooter carrying an entire family.  The two-wheeler image is what got him thinking that we needed to create a safer form of transport.He talked about the car as early as 2000, an year after the company had launched the Indica, the first indigenous car to be made in India. Getting in touch with an industry association, suggesting a joint effort with Tata Motors for an Asian car, large volumes, the response was tepid. The company’s chairman had his goal set at a Rs 1 lakh car, and his team a cost cast in concrete.

( ) Everyone at Tata Motors knew their small car would have to stand comparison with the Maruti-600, that had changed middle India’s impression of a car. The Nano would have to be an improvement on factors such as acceleration, drive comfort, space and looks, and had to be managed at less than half the cost of the competitor. Ratan Tata was from day one the force behind the small car project.

( ) The first mule had an 8.5 horsepower engine and had inputs on styling from the Italian design house. The cheaper frame-construction method was chosen instead of the robotics heavy monocoque technique. The second mule by Justyne Norek; Jadhav and others creating a new style language.

( ) By the summer of 2005, Ratan Tata had become convinced that the project needed a fillip. The time for a decisive shifting of gears had come. The die was cast. Kant the new Managing Director would drive the project, Wagh would lead it and Ratan Tata would oversee it all. The styling of the car was not yet final, but Wagh and his engineers went ahead and started making a prototype, and by December 2005 they had a car for Ratan Tata to try out. The Chairman thought the car lacked in acceleration. Out went the 543cc engine to be replaced with a 586cc capacity. The prototype was a gearless one, which did not satisfy the stickler in Tata, so a regular four-speed manual transmission was put in. The “getting better” was about living up to the expected demands of the Indian customer.

( ) Ratan Tata thought the front portion of the car was too abrupt, so 50mm were added to the Nano’s nose, which entailed adjusting the lamps, its wheel base, its entire structure. This was in July 2006, and a computer-aided design was completed and the actual engineering began in right earnest. This is when, typically, discoveries are made about what is possible and what isn’t. Air-conditioning was added, bumper altered to integrate fog lamps into it. The physical crafting of the car started in early 2007 and continued right up to the time it was unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo in January 2008.

( ) Cost was a constant consideration. The dashboard designed by Tata Motor’s team was discarded in favour of IDEA’s integrated console. Head rests, all inside trims, plastic design elements had to serve a purpose. Nothing for fancy’s sake anywhere. Seven show cars were made for the unveiling at the Auto Expo at the Engineering Research Centre at Pune. Secrecy was paramount. Mobile phones and cameras were not allowed. Entry only after signing a ledger and proving you were a part of the development team. Often working through the night, coming back at 6am.

( ) The entire concept of what would become the Nano got transformed over the course of its development, the forced shift from Singur to Sanand, the political and other controversies – increased the degree of difficulties. Cost was less of a concern than performance, quality; integrating two, maybe three functions into one, a single casting for the engine, combination switches, three bolts instead for four for each tyre  and the like. The rear engine placement meant it was too close for comfort for those sitting in the back. The team struggled for two years. Instead of adding more insulation to reduce the heat and noise, which would increase costs, we changed the orientation of the cylinder heads by 180 degree and other improvements.  Costing played a factor at every step- for example the cost of transporting a car is almost six times that of a two-wheeler. A minor miracle was achieved by bringing the cost down to about twice that of a two-wheeler. There would be people out there just waiting to pounce on the smallest issue – once the Nano was released.. We could not afford it.

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My Take : There was a dream – born of the vision of Ratan Tata – to enable middle-class Indians to have a safe and affordable means of personal mobility, to create a motor car that would be more than just another automobile. This book tells the story of how that dream was realised. The story of the Nano, and how it came to be.

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Subject type : Reminisces of a Consumer Product in making

Narrative Style : Excellent

Readability : Excellent

Reader’s Interest : Maintained

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