No the Indian built Tata Nano is not Apple’s latest ipod, rather it’s a tiny 623cc powered runabout car designed to get Indians off their “unsafe” scooters and into cars.

It’s cheap, will most likely go nuclear if you bump something with it and probably gives you cancer but is an example of an innovation the Australian automotive industry so desperately needs.

Holy crap. Franklins just called, they want their no frills back.

Now I’m not suggesting somebody start importing Tata Nanos into Australia, for one they’d massively fail our safety standards and two they were built for a specific market in India.

That said there are plans to bring a “safer” version of the Nano to Europe that complies with their safety standards by 2011.

A car specifically built for a local market that fills an existing large demand and can be exported worldwide, just brilliant.

Here in Australia our automotive industry’s latest innovation sees them getting down on their knees and begging the government to provide a financial incentive (read: bribe) to people who throw away their old cars and buy new ones.

The Motor Traders’ Association (MTA) of New South Wales has written to federal Treasurer Wayne Swan with the plan, under which people would receive a $3,000  certificate in return for offering their car for the scrap heap.

Cars more than 10 years old and with a re-sale value of under $3,000 would be eligible for the scheme, which MTA chief executive James McCall says would get unsafe, polluting cars off the road.

So get these old polluting cars off the road and get people into new cars, win for the industry and win for the environment! Well in theory anyway, I don’t know what fantasy world the MTA are living in but generally people driving around in $3000 shitboxes can’t afford brand new dealership cars.

It’s also worth noting that previous government bribes have just raised the price in their respective industries.

Further to that, it is estimated that to manufacture a new car produces 28 tonnes of waste and 499 million cubic litres of polluted air.

The EPA estimates that the average car in the US (the worlds largest polluters) outputs 12721 pounds (5.77 tons) of air pollution a year. I did find a few sites listing an updated figure of 8 tons but was unable to verify the number.

Even if we use the more generous 8 ton figure you can only imagine how long it would take to reach the equivalent output of 499 million cubic litres of polluted air. Unfortunately you need to factor density into the equation or it would be a simple matter of converting 8 tons into kilograms and then dividing 499 million by 8.

Good for the environment? I think not. In fact the Australian government even lists the notion as a myth;

Myth #1 Old cars pollute more than new cars.

Old cars do not necessarily pollute most. Newer cars, which are not properly tuned and maintained, also cause a lot of pollution.

Instead of coming out with innovative cars people want to buy, Australia’s automotive industry has come up with the bandaid fix of throwing money at people in the hope they buy our new “outdated” cars that aren’t selling.

If Car manufacturers in Australia actually looked at what the public (note to car makers: the public aren’t a bunch of chaps at a footy game dressed in holden gear with a slab plastic cups of  VB) are wanting in cars they wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.

One only has to look at the American automotive industry to see where ours is heading.

This recent move from our car makers is a far cry from a history with such automotive innovations as:

• Fitting the first radio into a car in 1929.
• Building the first all steel car body in 1937
• Bishop Steering (whatever that is)
• BHP developing stronger steel for car manufacturing use
• A programmable gearbox that was later exported worldwide

The high court has even recently ruled to protect automotive innovation in Australia from cheap Chinese knock-offs. Simply put there is no excuse as to why they aren’t producing innovative cars specifically tailored to our markets instead of just adding beefier suspension to stock standard sedans and calling them “Australian”.

Australia might not necessarily need a Nano but it is clear our love affair with the six cylinder barges is over.

Hey Australian car makers, how about you stop grovelling and build us something we can get excited about already?


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