Auto Motor Und Sport reports that Toyota boss Katsuaki Watanabe has told German TV that his company will decide by the end of the year whether or not to introduce an entry-level model for the developing world. Watanabe revealed that Toyota has been working for two years now on development of the entry-level model, but that more work has yet to take place. "Success in developing markets like Brazil, Russia, India and China are the keys to growth for the entire industry," says Watanabe-san. He sees developing markets as an issue of decisive importance to the industry on par with the environment, energy and safety. The "interplay of cost and quality" is the major unresolved issue in the proposed entry-level car, meaning we don't yet know if ToMoCo has the Tata Nano in its sights, or if it is aiming higher to protect the brand's reputation for quality. We'll be watching.
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The developing-country entry-level cars I’ve seen all look to be intended for urban use. Isn’t anyone thinking of terms of something like a “civilianized” version of the Marines’ Might Mite or the VW Thing with a flat bed, roll cage and canvas top? In Third World (heck, Fourth World) countries the roads can be bogs and the bridges non-existent. Remember, one reason for the Citroen 2CV’s success was that a farmer could haul three or four sheep in it.
Some third world leader will stumble on the Dr. Peich/Adolf Hitler strategy….build a car of the people and start their own domestic auto industry. Kind of like the Tata….don’t know why we don’t have an american company building cars like that strictly for export…
Macdaddy
Hitler strategy, lets hold off on anything he wanted. He was not mechanically inclined anyway.
He did not let factory make consumer cars. Took peoples’ money and nobody got a car. They got credit after the war against new purchase at after war price.
Early VWs were great. I can see having one as a nice little cheap fun weekend car.
Tata has right approach. I can see SUV/trucklet variant. Would need larger wheels.
You mean the Echo/Yaris/Vitz/Auris isn’t developing world enough?
50merc, you mean like the Hilux and 4Runners that seem to be found just about anywhere?
i always thought that only city cars were made for developing countries because farmers are always poor. the only people in the country with enough money for a car are the UN/NGO and they buy landcruisers
chanman, I have in mind something more like a cross between the Citroen 2CV and this Cushman Haulster:
http://www.cushmanco.com/pages/industrial/haulster.html
For the transition from donkey or ox cart, the vehicle must be very rugged and simple (e.g., an air cooled engine would avoid the complications of water pumps and radiators), and stripped down to the essentials (e.g., wheels large enough for terrible roads, but a hand crank to start the engine to save the cost of a big battery and a starter motor).
It’d be more like a Model T than a Tata Nano.