Friday 25 January 2008

Tata Nano and the Socio-Economic Divides


It has been mandatory to have an opinion about Tata Nano and those who do not have one have been marked out of touch with the reality.It is really interesting to observe what kind of emotions it has created among diverse sections of the society.

Starting from landowners of Singur who agitate to give up their lands , competeitors like Suzuki, Bajaj, green environmentalists and those who are worried about the additional consumption of petrol and congestion, every body had a say.

This itself is a great marketing victory for Tata's who have raised every body's eye brow's. Either good or bad, every body talks about it , hate about it ....
But as Ratan Tata mention, they are not a philanthropic society and apart from exhibiting laudable social entrepreneurship , it is a pure bold business step of creating a new market for thier product.

Those who create a new market for themselves have the first mover advantage and if the entry barriers are huge they would definitely enjoy the success before the model gets commoditised by the copycats.

It is every business man's dream to identify a new market and go after it and those who have not identified it always find reasons to bad mouth those who are successful, after all it hurts losers ego.

It is going to be interesting to wait and see what kind of impact it is going to create as claimed by Tata.

Will it improve the lifestyles of millions who are clinging on to their two wheelers to Nano?

How the cheap option of mobility will impact those who are driving auto-rickshaws?

Will people use it as a utility vehicle as well?

What kind of impact it will create in the socio economic environs?

Will cities be thronged with too many Nano's?

Will we have more longer queues in the Petrol pumps?

Will it pave way for road 4 wheeler workshops like what we have for two wheeler workshops?

I think we need to wait to get an answer for all of these, till that time lets keep talking which every argumentative indian do with pride.

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