Why the US auto industry is doomed.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/08/19/ch.howard.nano.car.cnn

The India-based, 4-door, 5-seater "Nano" is selling like hotcakes in India for $2500.

It has just passed European Union safety and crash tests also, and even with the modifications required to pass, is expected to sell for about $3500.

It is likely that such cars will be here in the United States before long. The US auto industry cannot survive in its present form on the profit margins associated with $5000 automobiles.

I need two thousand cubic feet of space in my vehicle!

Their factories aren't operating on a level playing field with ours.

While I'd like to see some pressure on the Big Three to offer more affordable lighter weight yet safe transport, we don't need to give away the farm the way we have with so many other industries.

Globalism, bleachhh.

:puke:

American Workers - American Products.

:patriot:

From what I understand, the US is still a net exporter with regard to cars. Import taxes would kill GM and Chrysler even faster than their crappy quality control has, and it would push Ford right to the edge.

in the JD Power Initial Quality Survey. Ford is up there too. Chrysler doesn't fare as well, with Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge falling near the bottom of the pack.

The JD Power survey is almost completely irrelevant. I, along with most consumers, am not even remotely concerned with the quality of a vehicle as it's rolling off the showroom floor, seeing as just about every problem at that stage would be covered under warranty. What most folks are concerned about is the quality of a car with 100,000 miles on it, and that's where GM and Chrysler have earned their disastrously bad reputations, and where Toyota and Honda have earned their great ones.

:eyes:

We need a manufacturing sector more than we need, uh, them to uh, do our tech call centers?

I suppose you're cool with the fact that people in the UK will be able to buy Windows 7 for half the price that we here in the United States can, or that DVDs that cost $20 here in the US sell for $1 in China?

Why is it fair that I have to pay more than what other people pay for the same thing?

If the car is worth $2500, then that's what I want to pay for it.

I can't imagine buying any new car in the foreseeable future because I can't afford a $300-$500 a month car payment. Now I could afford a $50 a month car payment.

The playing field is not level.

We have a better electrical grid, better telecommunications systems, better roads, a more educated population, more reliable and unbiased court systems, less crime, less bribery among public officials and have manufacturing plants much, much closer to the intended market.

Yeah, I think we need to slap a big fat tariff on those poor brown people to ensure that their ONE AND ONLY advantage--lower labor costs--don't allow them to take any jobs away from rich white people.

:eyes:

the american car industry won`t collapse because TaTa is building a slave waged automobile that won`t last more than a year or two in the usa. by the way us standards are tougher than the eu`s

Those anti-American wankers are annoying, aren't they?

Nano (non US version):



US version:

be picked up by a couple of people and thrown somewhere?

You know that's what will happen. (Not by me, I have enough physical infirmaries to begin with...)

http://forums.motortrend.com/70/6567282/the-general-forum/tata-nano-assembled-with-glue-rather-than-welds/index.html

Anybody knowing how Google works can find out what a real piece that "car" is.

Anybody driving it would be cruisin' for a crushin'.

Clark Howard says the car has already passed EU crash and safety standards, and implies that it may do so in the US also.

Hey, US officials can be bought and sold and that's already known to happen...

Do you have even the slightest inkling of a smidgen of a shadow-of-doubt to support this, or are you pulling shit out of your ass?

Just to make sure that everyone's job gets fucked with.

I'll be one of those who would buy one.

Our total monthly discretionary spending right now is about $200.

I don't think there is a new car on the market that I can buy with monthly payments for $200.

Now a $5000 car, I could afford $50 monthly payments for.

Your state's DMV? NHTSA?

Seeing as we're not even close to filling the H1-B quota for this year. But don't let me get in the way of your tirade.

your job is sacrificed to fill those quotas.

There's no obligation to fill the H-1B quota. H-1B recruitment is down this year because the economy is poor. And considering that the number of H-1B vias issued for the entire year is currently about 40,000 (out of 65,000 total) it's not as if we're being flooded with cheap labor by H-1Bs.

It workers are "special".

I submit that includes all collars of color.

Just add a $2,500 navigation system.

This is not a car that is going to have widespread appeal in the US, provided it even arrives here. This car is only suitable for people who drive in dense urban environments and never travel far from home.

I have suspected for some time that most people will drive a "commuter" car to get to work, and for those who can afford it, they will have a second car for longer trips to grandma's house.

I would always be on the lookout for a strippee, a basic no-frills version of a low end car. I didn't care about air-conditioning, fancy stereos, plush carpeting (rubber matting is fine with me), fancy side-molding, and all the extras that car dealers like in order to pump up the price of the manufacturer's suggested retail price. I'd see advertisements in the newspapers for these cars (saying "only one at this price") but they'd always be sold or otherwise unavailable every time I visited the lot. Over the years, I only managed to find one Honda Accord like this and I bought it for a significant savings back in 1988. I'd love to see a basic transportion type of tool-car offered to the public with no extras at an affordable price for the common man where you don't have to get into extreme financing and debt situations over several years. Unfortunately, the auto industry doesn't like this and the dealers seem to hate them. That's why I own four very old vintage cars and will never buy a new one again, at least not as a person living in the United States.

Please apply Occam's Razor to some of these outlandish economic claims before posting them here. If it was possible to market a US, street legal car at $2500, why isn't the most efficient car maker in the world, Toyota not doing so?

A: It is not possible.

The vehicle has met the EU crash and safety tests at a price of about $3500.

and a long list of shit that will make it about as useful as a Yugo. My lawn mower has 2 cylinders,

and I've seen Merceds and Citroens with single wipers.

I do feel the need in a heavy german car in a parking garage. I have driven an A class mercedes. Small but very well built, safe. This thing exudes cheap death.

You do need 4 cylinders and or a turbo.

http://www.rri.se/popup/performancegraphs.php?ChartsID=415

1091kg, 80hp for the 1.4L engine. So the power to weight (unladen) ratio wasn't that much different.

And for the steering - this is a rear-engined car, so the need for power steering is even less.

However, life is not a drag race. Everyone agrees this is for city driving, not high speed highway driving. It's passed EU tests, and you seemed to have been claiming it was dangerous before you even saw any videos of it. Perhaps the designers have better vision than you.

again this car unusable on any us interstate, it would be a great city or island car. If you want a shitbox. This is a golf cart.
I just like cars with side curtain airbags, and a bit more mass. The OP claimed it will kill US auto industry, that is not even close to reality.

Small, lightweight cars do not need power steering.
Small windshields may work fine with a single wiper.
I used to have a 3 cylinder Subaru.

2 cylinders may be fine for a small vehicle.

this may be the car for you. If you ever plan to drive on a road with other vehicles, drive it more than 30 miles at a time, or just plain dont like cheap shit, not going to do it.

I am tired of shit, shit is why the camry outsells the chevy models. Americans are tired of shitty cars. Kia sells plenty of small cars that are shitty already, we have choices.

Sorry just giving my reaction to this vehicle.

With sensible trade policies that protect American labor, a little enforcement of anti-trust laws, universal health care, and we would be building them here and shipping them to India.

and pay cash for it:) They could be new 21st century "Beetle"..

That is a sub compact shitbox that promises instant death. Want a cool small car, buy an A class mercedes.

from a gunshot to the head than being hit in your drivers door by an S550 in that shit box. 1300lb pounds vs 4000, good bye. Oh it has a 2 cylinder motor smaller than a motorcycle and can't pull a hair out of a cat's ass.

I will never drive that trash. You expect people to go from a honda civic to that?

The Nano's trunk does not open. Instead, the rear seats can be folded down to access the trunk space.<42><43>
It has a single windscreen wiper instead of the usual pair.<44>
It has no power steering.<45>
Its door opening lever was simplified.<46>
It has three nuts on the wheels instead of the customary four.<47>
It only has one side view mirror.<48>

No. What made you think that?

I see normal people driving. Sure you can go smaller but most US drivers do not. The 600cc motor will be a joy. This is an expensive golf cart.

I wonder if it sounds like a 2 stroke weed wacker

I guess all those Mini, Toyota Yaris, and Nissan Versa owners must be pretty abnormal. :eyes:

the wife does not see to many people bleeding into their brain who were driving small vehicles. Large safe cars like the 5 and 7 series, 300 and 500 class mercedes tend to win.

Those cars are also expensive (compared to this shitbox) and have extensive safety features.

Mini: 3.05m x 1.4m x 1.35m, 617 to 686 kg, 10 inch wheels, 848 cc 34hp
Nano: 3.1m x 1.5m x 1.6m, 580 to 600 kg, 12 inch wheels, 624cc 33hp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC_A-Series_engine#848
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Nano

A quick test drive by a British journalist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQBFFEPW-Lo&NR=1

trust me you DO NOT want to drive a car in traffic with 4 adults in it that makes 34 HP

14 seconds to get to 45mph, a up armored hummvee would smoke that. Old 240D will pass it easily (and kill everyone inside if they were to collide).

We can make our own 35hp shit car just as easily as India.

Puhlease...
:eyes:

That just reeks of utter failure