Tatas Gearing Up for the Launch of One Lakh Car

Tata Motors, one of the prominent players in Indian car market has already started testing the much awaited 1 Lakh rupee car.

Mid 2008 was the target season Ratan Tata had set in mind when he released the plans of making a low cost car. It seems they have already reached the phase of prototype testing!

Even though India is a country of too many media, there has been nothing coming to the media world about this proposed 1 lakh car. Follows is an exclusive sneak peek to the Tatas yet-to be launched compact car.

The fact that echoed among industry experts is that Tata has never compromised customer satisfaction to the cost. The one lakh car is going to be a real car with the basic features. The motto behind the project was to build a common man’s car. And now Tata motors is pouring in luxuries in this proposed small car. This car is aimed to rank between high end motor cycles and the compact car segment.

Unlike other low cost Indian cars, this one is going to have a variomatic gear system. Instead of manual gear box in conventional cars the 1 lac car is coming up as gear less or rather with an automatic gear transmission. This helps to improve the efficiency & mileage by magnifying the torque output.

As in international markets, the compact car from Tata will have back mounted engine, pushing the luggage space to the front. Making the engine closer to the fuel tank has another advantage of increased fuel efficiency. Rear mounted engine also help in reducing the power loss during transmission.

By adhering to the fact that less weight requires less power, the 1 lakh car is made of light weighing steel. This has made the Tatas come up with a cheap alternative with out compromising on safety and performance. The car is expected to meet the international safety (crash test requirements [PDF]) and emission standards.

The base model will feature glass windows that can be cranked up. The tail lights are expected to appear like as in Tata Indica. This four seated, four doored car with light weight body is expected to come with a 2 cylinder 600cc petrol engine with a power rating of 34bhp.

Higher versions will have the comforts of power steering, power windows, air-conditioning and much more. Aimed at common man’s desire to enjoy the luxury of being a car owner, this $2000 tagged car will have cute looks.

Instead of researching on low cost components by themselves, Tata has delegated the task to various vendors. The fuel-injection system is being developed by MICO while Brakes India and Bosch Chassis Systems will be supplying low cost braking system. The variomatic gears will be from Kinetic Engineering whereas the steering will be from Sona Koya Steering systems. Vendors say that they have cut down the profit margin hoping that huge volumes of sale will compensate it.

Around 55 prototypes have been tested on Indian roads under varied conditions. It has been reported that the final model will make its debut in September 2008. Seeing that Tatas are fast progressing, the rivals Suzuki and Bajaj has also taken up the challenge of building their own cars with in price range of 1 lakh.

Tatas are aiming to manufacture half a million units of this cheapest car on earth per year. Tata Motor also has plan of exporting this car to other emerging markets. If it can live up the expectation, it’s absolutely certain that this low-cost car will be a massive hit to the global car market.