Nano: Tata’s 1 lakh car

Yesterday, Tata unveiled its 1 lakh car. It comes as great news. It was a much awaited event. Nobody knew if Tata would do it. There were doubts abound – in media, in people and with analysts. And all the details were kept secret till the last day. At last! The car has arrived – in all grandeur and splendor. And keeping all its promises!

Tata, an Indian company, has made world’s cheapest car. It is no ordinary feat! Making the cheapest car is not about being cheap. When you have a car that does everything what others do but yet is very cheap, it is an engineering and business marvel. While making it, one has to go back to the drawing board and relook at every strategy that you knew about car making and then ask yourself, ‘Is there a cheaper way of doing it, and yet retaining its function?’ It’s an ideology that you have to embrace in your thinking – in business and engineering. That is what Ratan Tata and Tata has done. And it’s a great achievement.

Maruti-Suzuki, the biggest car seller in India, conceded that they cannot put together a car for Rs. 1 Lakh, and went onto add that it’s an impossible task. Congratulations to Tata, Ratan Tata, and all the engineers, managers, workmen who made this impossible feat possible!

Promises kept

Yes, it is an engineering feat. Yes, it is a good business execution. But what is more important is that Rata Tata, who promised four years ago that he would give us 1 lakh car, has kept his promise.

“After all a promise is a promise,” Ratan Tata said, clarifying that it was not he but the media that mentioned the Rs.1 lakh price tag. “But I took it as a challenge,” the doyen of Indian industry disclosed.

In a country where most leaders promise and then go back on their promise, Rata Tata stuck to his promise and delivered it on it.

Few years ago, when his promise appeared in the news many people dismissed it. Even I did not think it would be possible. I thought this car may not transpire in the end – who knows, right? We have seen so many empty promises in our life – we don’t know which one to take seriously and which one to ignore.

But then, my wife really believed it. When I asked her to drive our car, she said, it was big for her, and that she was waiting for Tata’s 1 lakh car. Hesitatingly, I said, ‘what if it doesn’t happen?’ She didn’t have any doubts. She was quite confident that it would happen. Innocently, she said, ‘Tata said it himself. He said he would release the car. If he said it, he would do it’. I smiled to myself. I let her believe it.

Yesterday, the minute I saw the news on TV, I called her from the airport. She was quite excited. She told me, ‘Look, I told you so. Ratan Tata said he would do it. He did it’.

Thank you, Mr. Ratan Tata, for holding onto your promise. You have a believer in my wife!

On Business Leadership

That’s what leadership is all about. It’s the ability to keep your promises. The business throws too many ‘realities’ at you, but yet you keep your promise.

Ratan Tata, in another piece of news, has commissioned his team to create a low-cost water purifier. When asked what he would do next, he replied:

“Anything that we can do to reduce disparity.”

I am glad we have such people with us. I am glad we have such accomplishments to take pride in.

[There are personal reasons why I am happy today. Ratan Tata has corroborated some of my beliefs that set me on my own expedition. I hope I am able to write those reasons some day.]