
Test Driving the Tata Nano - robg
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/tata-nano-test-drive/?hp
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vaksel
people in those comments are missing the point of the car, they are comparing
this thing to other cars, instead they should compare it to the motorcycles
that populate India's roadways.

Is it safer than a civic? Obviously not. But its leaps and bounds safer, than
having a family with kids riding around on a motorcycle

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wyclif
Yes, if these become affordable in countries such as the Philippines (where
emissions choke the air and it's not uncommon to see 3+ people sharing a
motorbike or trike), I can imagine it would improve quality of life to a
noticeable degree.

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lkozma
Could you elaborate on how moving from (motor)bikes into cars would improve
quality of life (if air quality is a component of that) ? Don't cars emit more
exhaust gas?

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mattmichielsen
A lot of the motorbikes used in countries like India and the Philippines are
two-stroke engines, which pollute far more than the more modern four-stroke
engine used in the Nano and most other cars and newer motorcycles.

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lkozma
Ok, this makes sense. However, one also needs to factor in the pollution/
energy-usage in manufacturing a new car to the total product lifetime cost.

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visitor4rmindia
For those interested in a peek at the Nano this is an interesting set of
photos:

[http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887087,00.htm...](http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1887087,00.html)

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ajju
Woohooo...great review. These cars are now built at a factory near my hometown
(Ahmedabad). Believe it or not, that's one of the main things keeping the real
estate prices there up when they are plummeting across the rest of the country
(and the world).

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jayp
your claim about real estate prices is surely in jest.

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jayp
WTF, why am I getting moderated down?

To be clear: I was referring to the "fact" that real estate prices are not
being affected in Ahmedabad due to a car plant being built in a location about
50km away from the city. That is simply not true -- my parents are in the
market to sell their house in Ahmedabad, and the price is nowhere close to
what they would have gotten a year ago.

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ajju
The fact that the Gujarat govt. managed to convince Tata to bring the Nano
plant to Gujarat is just the most noticeable example of how, for all the chief
minister's flaws, he has done well at attracting commerce to the state. And
that is what has kept the prices there up (relatively speaking).

The city infrastructure development [3] has been happening at an incredible
pace (for India anyway). This (along with Ahmedabad's property prices being
low compared to Bangalore or Mumbai) has attracted a bunch of companies to
move there. For example just last week Vodafone moved their service hub to
Ahmedabad and relocated 1500 employees there [2].

In the area near the nano plant (which is less than 15 KMs from the posh
residential areas in West Ahmedabad like Satellite Rd) prices have definitely
gone up very very substantially [1] because of the plant itself and how
quickly builders have latched onto the opportunity to develop the area: for
e.g. the Gulmohar greens golf club is coming up pretty close to the place and
Goyal just launched another development there. I know because my parents have
owned land in that area for almost 10 years that was worth almost nothing and
is now suddenly worth a lot!

Within Ahmedabad proper, in the western areas prices haven't gone down
anywhere close to they have in Bangalore, for example and in some cases have
gone up. I don't know what kind of house your parents are looking to sell or
where (the eastern end - the old city is not very attractive to outsiders who
move to the city). Also, an incredible amount of new/modern construction has
happened in the past few years.

Also, FWIW, I did not mod you down.

1:
[http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN2008...](http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080069466)

2: [http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ahmedabad-set-
to...](http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ahmedabad-set-to-become-
vodafones-services-hub/352206/)

3: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmedabad_BRTS>

Edit: FWIW here's an article about a builder that cut prices by 30% (and 40%
of his houses got booked on the first day). Note though that his project is in
Paldi which is still central Ahd.
[http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/ganesh-
housi...](http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/ganesh-housing-cuts-
prices-by-30-gets-good-response/390282)

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vinutheraj
is it just me or did any of you feel that the reporting on this a bit mediocre
... seriously ... did you ?!

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cubicle67
Yeah, I did. For a car review, I was expecting, obviously unrealistically, a
review of a car.

