Bodacious Tatas not very appealing to this woman
April 21, 2008 by PiedType
Is it just me, or is Tata a terribly unfortunate name for a car company? Unfortunate if they want to sell cars in the U.S., anyway. Don’t companies consider these things when branding their products? (Apologies to Mr. Tata, but marketing is marketing.) Remember the Chevy Nova (”No va” is Spanish for “it doesn’t go”)? Not a big seller south of the border.
Tata Motors is Indian and one of its cars, the Nano, is supposed the be the cheapest production car in the world (US $2500). (I hope cheap is not the word being used by their marketing department.) Small, inexpensive cars make a lot of sense in a poor, overcrowded country like India, and Tata has plans to sell their cars worldwide. They may do very well, but I wouldn’t bet on their success in English-speaking countries.
For starters, I would be absolutely terrified driving a car that size in the Denver metro. SUVs and trucks make up a large percentage of the traffic here, and I’m fearful enough already of being run over by someone who doesn’t see my low-profile coupe.
That’s only part of the problem, of course. If the car got 100 mpg, was the size of a Sherman tank, and had the ratings of a Toyota Camry, I still wouldn’t buy it. No way, no how would I be caught driving something called a Tata. (I’ve always wanted a pair of bodacious tatas, but not in my garage!)
I had NO idea of the Chevy Nova and what it meant in Spanish, how funny! And,… “just not in my garage” OMG, you are hilarious!
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That’s me. Just here for the amusement of others.
The Nano will only increase the pressure on our already overstressed infrastructure. Ask me, I am Indian.
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I do wonder how crowded nations like yours can support a rapid increase in automobile traffic. And yet, won’t it bring manufacturing jobs and income to India? Admittedly it’s difficult for me to imagine more cars in China when I see pictures of the horribly polluted air in Beijing.