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In redeeming his promise to deliver a car at Rs 1, 00,000 or $2,500, the Tata Group chairman has disproved all his critics, including rivals in the Indian auto industry, who claimed he would have to renege on his promise. Though he had to post-pone the launch by several months, he finally made available his dream car that will displace Maruti 800 from its lofty position as the cheapest car in the world.

Nano’s price is only half of Maruti’s entry-level model. It will take a few months for it to hit the roads and it is too early to ‘ comment on how good the car is. Going by the looks, which are contemporary, and the specifications, which show Nano has 21 per cent more space inside than the Maruti 800, the Euro IV-compliant Nano is bound to catch the imagination of the motorists.

It was the sight of a small family of four struggling on a scooter to reach their destination that kindled the idea of a “people’s car” (Volkswagen) in Tata’s mind. For millions who commute on their two-wheelers, Nano is an alternative, affordable and comfortable mode of personal transport. Critics will carp at the environmental damage it will cause- clogging the roads and parking spaces, increasing the pollution levels in cities and making a deleterious effect on the import of fuel- but the common man will simply lap it up.

For comfort, here is a description of the scene in Paris soon after automobiles arrived in large numbers: “Streets filled with cars day and night; vehicles could be seen parked outside farms that, even after the war, had still relied on horses. Rush hour traffic became a pain and worse, and Paris began to measure air pollution and warn the citizens of unavoidable poisons. No one really cared; the freedom that came with mobility trumped all the rest”.

which enabled him to shift to a new and bigger house in the outskirts of the city where he lived, before graduating to a new Bajaj Chetak, and so on knows how aspirational a car is for the average middle class Indian.

Nano marks a milestone in the annals of Indian auto industry, dominated at one time by gas-guzzling Ambassador, Fiat and Standard until the arrival of Maruti 24 years ago. The new car transformed the vehicle scenario in the country. Maruti became a status symbol as proud owners like writer Khushwant Singh wrote about its sleek looks. The large crowd that assembled to see the first Maruti is still etched in my memory.

In due course, it became a cash cow for Maruti Udyog. The company refused to make innovations in the car because of the monopoly it enjoyed. Suzuki refused point-blank to indigenise the car beyond a point. It continued to import from Japan for instance, the fuel injection pump on the specious plea that Indian vendors could not guarantee quality. For the rich and the status-conscious, it offered Maruti 1000, an underpowered sedan that was difficult to drive in both city and countryside.

In other words, Maruti did not allow indigenization and entre to flourish. Of course, all this changed with the liberalization ushered in by the Narshimha Rao government. When Maruti’s monopoly was ended with the arrival of new cars like Hyundai’s Santro and Daewoo’s Matiz, it was compelled to go in for newer models like Alto, Zen, Wagon R, Esteem and Baleno to protect its market share.