Filed under: Coupes, Economy, India, Tata
Tata ready to move Nano plant away from contentious region
Click above for high-res gallery of the Tata Nano
The Tata Nano may be the most expensive vehicle ever to be the cheapest new car on earth. Violent protests at one of the car's planned assembly sites have gotten so rampant that the Indian automaker is near a deal to exit the nearly completed West Bengal facility all together. Just a few days after a supplier CEO was killed by a mob of protesters, two body guards were also assaulted at the contentious facility. The controversy in West Bengal centers around the land that local farmers lost to the $200 million Euro facility, and with the building nearly complete, it's hard to believe that land will be returned any time soon even if Tata did abandon the region.
Word out of India is that the state of Karnataka has offered Tata Motors 1,000 acres plus incentives to move Nano production there, and the local media is reporting that Tata is going to announce plans as early as next week. We're not in the micro car business, but if we were, we'd avoid building them where there is the constant threat of being beaten or killed by an angry mob. Moving Nano production to a region that actually wants the Tata there seems like a foregone conclusion at this point.
Gallery: Tata Nano
[Source: Motor Trend]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ken_aisin 8:46AM (10/01/2008)
I promised my wife that I'll never ever do business in India.
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VP 8:58AM (10/01/2008)
Well Kenny, good for you. I am sure you any sort of violence has never occurred in the advanced world where you live.
Coming to the actual topic at hand, good for Tata. Bengal had their shot and the blew it and i don't think Tata can wait any longer if they want to retain any of the buzz.
Toledo Guy 11:47AM (10/01/2008)
Based on what? Your statement seems ignorant, since you don't back it up with any facts. A good friend of mine keeps tryingt oget me to come to India to work with her at a startup company. She has nothing but good things to say about her experience over the past 2 years in India.
Avinash machado 8:53AM (10/01/2008)
Maybe they should move the plant to Michigan. It certainly needs the jobs.
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Mikeeeee 8:54AM (10/01/2008)
Sounds like the UAW has set up shop in India!!!!!!!
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bilbo baggins 11:14AM (10/01/2008)
dude there's uaw's and their likes all over the world man. its the same old story. btw this land was bought by tata more than 5 years ago and it was only recently revealed that Mr.Tata planned to build the Nano here. The politician (not saying any names here) involved in all this mess , for her its merely a publicity stunt and getting her vote bank to get back into business. With the way its gone she's only found the entire country ridiculing her for all these wrong doings. F'ng retards. Not only has West Bengal lost its chance but in the future - other companies are less likely to set up shop there.
LDMAN 9:10AM (10/01/2008)
Funny thing is that the UAE or Saudi Arabia will bend over backwards to get Tata to set up shop in their country. Wages could be as low as India and with all the Free Zones popping up in the Region the cost of sourcing components and shipping them will be more than offset by the stable political and economical environment provided. I won't even mention the lavish incentives that these oil rich countries will lay on Tata just to provide some Jobs, technical know-how and professional exposure to a growing disgruntled young unemployed native population.
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Andrew 9:52AM (10/01/2008)
Are you seriously calling Saudi Arabia stable? The UAE(s) I can understand, but not the regime that barely controls Saudi Arabia. And it's just waiting to explode!
LDMAN 8:10AM (10/04/2008)
Unstable to a certain extent, it is. Saudi might be a time bomb waiting to explode with unequal wealth distribution, totalitarian theocratic monarchy, etc... but with oil hovering at $100 the Ibn Saud have enough money to buy social peace for the time being. Moreover, the last thing that the world superpowers would allow is a scenario à la Pahlavi/Iran that would send oil into four digit prices (remember that Iraq will be pumping below full capacity for the next five to ten years at least).
I had suggested Saudi because of its easy access to Africa, Turkey and "deep sea" ports.
Granted Qatar is more stable, but the economic boom it is experiencing resources are at a premium. Oman is too poor, and lacks the logistic power of UAE. Bahrain is even less stable than Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait too tiny and too close to Iraq.
BILL 10:58AM (10/01/2008)
The more I look at the Tata Nano the more I think it looks like Barney Frank. Let us hope that Indians will know better than to buy more car than they can afford.
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fixitfixitstop 11:14AM (10/01/2008)
I usually refrain from calling small cars golf carts (because they're usually far from them), but this thing....is a golf cart.
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Wobbly_ears 1:19PM (10/01/2008)
I'm from India & I'm from the same town in Karnataka state where Tata might move their factory. My father is the Civil Engineer who has designed some Tata heavy vehicles plants there. Although you may not have heard of the Karnataka state, you might have heard about it's state capital-Bangalore!
The people of Dharwad region are extremely excited about the probability of Tata setting up another plant there. Unlike West Bengal, Karnataka has a very educated population and a very friendly business environment.
West Bengal is very much like Detroit ; militant & gangster unions, bitter & short sighted population & a spineless government.
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Patrick 2:24PM (10/01/2008)
Tata Nano = Prius that got smooshed in a front and rear end collision
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gslippy 5:40PM (10/01/2008)
Maybe they should build it in the perpetually doomed Chrysler/Volkswagen/Sony plant in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The only riot there will be the UAW trying to regain its glory.
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mr.ed 7:49PM (10/01/2008)
Maybe they should have talked with Bengalabama in the first place instead of the abbreviated one.
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