Tata wants supplier to develop $10 airbags for the Nano
It's nothing new to have automakers pushing suppliers to cut their component costs. For the past decade and a half, many companies have demanded suppliers provide price reductions of 3 to 5 percent a year, every year, with varying degrees of success. India's Tata Motors is taking these efforts to a whole new level. In order for Tata to build a new car with a retail price of only $2,500 they need component prices an order of magnitude cheaper than other cars. One example is airbags. While Tata wants the Nano to be a very basic car, it wants it to still meet safety standards. The problem is that frontal airbags cost about $150 each. At that level, a pair of airbags would account for more than 10 percent of the cost of the car, clearly a non-starter. As a result, Tata has asked occupant safety systems supplier Autoliv to develop airbags that cost only $10 each. How or if Autoliv will get down to that price point remains unclear. It seems that features like two-stage airbags and systems that detect the presence of a passenger to disable the bag if there is no one there will have to be left out. In any case, it'll be interesting to see if Autoliv and Tata can pull this one off. Thanks to Asif and Yash for the tip!
[Source: The Economic Times, The Earth Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
why not the LS2LS7? 11:44AM (5/26/2008)
The MEMS sensor that sets it off alone costs at least $3, and that's to the supplier, they have to mark it up to make some profit.
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sledge 11:52AM (5/26/2008)
If they can pull this of (and that's a big if) it will definitely force other cheap cars such as the renault logan to follow suit. So I really hope they are successful.
On a side note, note to Editor (Sam in this case): RSS feed says, "Tato wants supplier to develop $10 airbags for the Nano". Please fix.
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andy 11:58AM (5/26/2008)
problem for Autoliv, is if they can do this.....then all the other manufactures will want a big cut. Autoliv supplies airbags to countless car companies, chances are your being a Autoliv airbag system
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Tagg 11:58AM (5/26/2008)
I would rather take my chances without any airbag vs. a $10 airbag. Airbags are too complex and too many things can go wrong to spending just $10 on.
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Mat_the_frog 2:47PM (5/26/2008)
The cost argument is ridiculous. Microprocessors are incredibly complex things to produce yet they cost pennies, maybe dollars in the steep part of the technological curve.
Airbags have been mass-produced for at least 15 years now. Time for some innovation and massive cost reduction. I'd take a 1st-gen, fast deploying airbag to an argument with a steering wheel anyday.
Tagg 10:59PM (5/26/2008)
When it shoots $2 steering wheel shrapnel everywhere give me a call. If you wear a seatbelt your face should be fine. Besides, these cars will be sharing a road mostly with mopeds and bicycles, the very vehicles they are meant to replace.
So why cut corners on safety? They probably could have gotten away with two or three lugnuts on the car but they put four on to be safe.
Besides, most steering wheels bend like taffy now with collapsing steering columns with modest force.
GDUB 12:02PM (5/26/2008)
This is a easy one.
1# Can of compressed air.
2# Two Mylar balloons from the grocery store.
3# Clear tubing from a aquarium store to tie it all together.
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SPG 1:14PM (5/26/2008)
Impressive, but now the sensor and the new steering wheel?
Rocketboy 2:37PM (5/26/2008)
Better yet, have a pre-inflated bag on the outside of the car connected to an un-inflated bag with a check valve inbetween the two. So, when you get in an accident, the air is forced out the external bag, and into the airbag. Screw two-stage, how about infinatly variable?
icetraxx 12:06PM (5/26/2008)
Kinda shows us how much they actually care about safety, and their customers...
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Ryan 5:11PM (5/26/2008)
I think you're missing the point. The fact that Tata is even pushing for airbags in a $2500 car says a lot about their goals for the Nano. They could easily have delivered a car without airbags for the Indian market, but they instead are trying to develop a safer car at an incredibly cheap price target.
The Indian automotive market is not the same as that of the developed American/Asian/European markets. For many drivers there the choice is between having a car or not. Fact is, you don't see any other auto manufacturers pushing for this kind of safety at this price point.
Jason Bird 12:07PM (5/26/2008)
It's not the material that costs money, it's the engineering time and testing...I certainly wouldn't be comfortable behind a $10 airbag!
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Alan 7:06PM (5/26/2008)
Hopefully no one, in North America at least ever buys one of these pieces of $hat, so it won't really matter if the $10 airbag works. Unfortunately they will sell some of these and no doubt others like it.
why not the LS2LS7? 12:16PM (5/26/2008)
In general I would agree, that it's more about the engineering costs than the materials costs. But by the time you get to $10, the materials costs do matter.
p5power 1:58PM (5/26/2008)
Actually, the engineering costs are mostly refunded by the OEM. It really is just the material+markup that is charged to the car maker. However, don't let the cost fool you -- it appears Tata wants to meet the safety standards (of which country, I don't know...) and that should stand out as a clear statement that they want a REAL airbag. And despite this being the cheapest car in the world, the moral, ethical, and not to mention LEGAL, reprocussions of selling a crap airbag will prevent such a thing from happening.
I work for a competitor of Autoliv, and as much as I don't want to say this, they are the top auto safety company for a reason. They do great work.
Still...it sucks to be those engineers. Making a profitable airbag at $10 is pretty much impossible in today's world. The inflators alone cost $10.
tankd0g 12:23PM (5/26/2008)
Somehow I don't think they are going to be able to make a working airbag that's cheaper than the seatbelt. Might be time to invent something else like the crash foam from "Demolition Man" or a Nerf dashboard.
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Thedevil 12:26PM (5/26/2008)
Kinda like the ones Hyundai uses.
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icu812ru469 12:47PM (5/26/2008)
$10 Airbag? How are they going to get Rosie O'Donnell into every car? Maybe some models will have Donald Trump in them instead...
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Fatima 1:13PM (5/26/2008)
Indians are not fat. People keep forgetting this car is made for the indian market.
KAD 1:27PM (5/26/2008)
Well Fatima didn't get the "airbag" reference with Rosie and the Donald but, when she says that Indians are not fat people I beg to differ. In general obesity has been a western phenomenon, but with economic globalization so has the pudge factor traversed all borders and oceans. A middle class indian family that would be the target market for this vehicle will most certainly be (on average) on the portly side. The middle-class lifestyle means mom and dad work and more often than not the meals will be comprised of Maggie noodles, prepared foods, take out, restaurant/fast food and don't forget the additional ladoos/sweets that prosperity can buy. Also free time and excercise time are much reduced because mom and dad have to work, even on Saturdays (that is the norm) and the kids are off to after school tuitions (need to get into the right IT school or go abroad) so no time for free play. So it is not entirely true that the people riding in this car will be at or under the perfect BMI. The world is just getting lazier and fatter.