Everything comes to an end.. everything has to..

The idea of Tata Nano was born out of the compassion Shri Ratan Tata (or Tata Sa’ab, as we Tata employees fondly call him) he felt for the middle class Indian family riding two wheelers in Indian roads, often in dangerous conditions. In his words, ‘ the father sitting on the scooter, his son standing in the front, his wife behind him with a baby in her arms on slippery roads where there is rain, or in the night..’, the Nano was conceived as the solution for a safer form of transport that could replace the two wheeler as their family vehicle for these families.

Facing difficulties right from the beginning, with initial attempts to set up the plant in West Bengal, the car was not a commercial success. A lot has been written and spoken about why the idea did not work and I do not intend to harp on it, by many, from self proclaimed ‘experts’ to Harvard Business School experts

But, that the car was nothing short of an engineering marvel is not something that needs a debate. Some 31 design and 37 technology patents were generated and filed in its development. There wouldn’t be many other cars that were ever produced which was subjected to the kind of benchmarking Tata Nano underwent. Every other carmaker in India and abroad studied the car to understand how the feat was achieved. This led to a slew of further innovations inspired by the Nano. The setting up of Tata Nano plant at Sanand Gujarat marked the beginning of the automotive hub in Gujarat. With the automotive industry ecosystem gaining strong roots, other passenger car OEM’s like Maruti, Ford followed suit.? It is said that the product has made massive loses in the scale of thousands of crores. Born in 2008, the car survived about a decade when it was decided to discontinue in 2018.

The idea behind the car was noble, the efforts that went into the design and development, innovations that were created were large. The challenges faced and problems solved were huge. This is what prompted Tata Motors to try continue making the vehicle, even when facing huge losses.?

But, everything has to come to end, inspite of the efforts that went in, however noble were the intentions. Sometimes, we have to put an end to things, when we realise that things are not really working the way it was expected. Yes, it hurts, but it will hurt even more if we don’t end it. Pulling the plug is not easy. Sometimes it is even harder, because, ending it may not be as simple as pulling the plug. You will have to dismantle it brick by brick. But it still needs to be done, for a better tomorrow, for something even better to emerge. This, requires courage, most importantly, the courage to accept that the show simply cannot go on any more.?

Today, the same team that were behind the creation of Nano have created an impressive product line up, with products across a broad spectrum of the market segment. Yes, it was all for the right reasons that Nano was created. But it was also the right to put it down, however painful it was.?

Tata Sa’ab may be no more, but the goodness, the humility, the compassion for fellow human beings, the ethics he displayed, the resilience to go through tough times, the way he listened and valued people and their opinions; these qualities are not going anywhere. These values will always stay, in the DNA of Tata family.?