No, I'm not channeling Mork. It's the new $2200 car going on sale in India. PT's Ops Director Andy mentioned this critter the other day. His comment was something like "They are going to sell millions of these in India, and they will have to find a place to park them."
It looks like a "Smart Car" but very down market. The car's creator, billionaire Indian industrialist Ratan Tata says that he asked a journalist at a trade show how much a car should cost to reach the vast undermarket in India. The response: "100,000 rupees, about $2000."
They set a price, and then told their engineers to build a car they could sell profitably for that price. It's about one third the cost of the next cheapest model in India. Its basic transportation but for a person whose experience is four on a motorbike, a bicycle, or a cow, it would seem like a Lincoln Navigator.
The $2200 model won't export to north America or Europe due to its very lack of any amenities (no AC, radio, passenger side mirror, one windshield wiper, rubber floor covering, bus style seat covers) and can't meet the strict safety standards, but for the third world, it seems a winner. – Don't worry, Tata says that there will be a US and European model, but you can rest assured that it will cost more than two grand.
Oh, and it get 56 miles per gallon and puts out less pollution than a typical motorcycle in India.
As for those of us in the parking industry, formal parking will be needed for this egalitarian mode of transportation for the great masses in India. Our next great parking marketplace?
JVH
I know, I know… Mork spelled it Nanoo Nanoo. And – Robin Williams is recovering this month from heart surgery very similar to the one I had 18 months ago. I understand that 4 hours after the surgery he had the hospital staff in stitches. A better man than I am, Gunga Din.
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