Nikita Arora's Blog

When Tata Motors launched the  “One-Lakh car”,the Tata Nano in March 2009,the common man of India was very happy ! Because now he could afford the luxury of a car for just a meagre $2500,and that too , a stylish car !

The brainchild of Ratan Tata,chairman of Tata Motors,the idea of Nano was conceived when he saw a family of four people commuting on a two-wheeler in heavy rain.In his own words,Ratan Tata said,”I observed families riding on two-wheelers ;the father riding the scooter,his young kid standing in front of him,his wife seated behind him holding a little baby.It led me to wonder for such a car which is safe and affordable to any middle class family.

And,Nano definitely turned out to be the best solution to the quest of affordable transportation,not only because its the cheapest,but also because of numerous other features that make it “cheap and the BEST’.

The following is a SWOT analysis on TATA Nano,which would help us decide what makes Nano the best deal ?

STRENGTHS :

• First Innovation – sets a benchmark
• World’s cheapest car ($2500)
• Eco-friendly;greenhouse effect
• High fuel efficiency and safe mobility
• Good brand image
• Volumetric gear system which magnifies torque
• Tested successfully on crumple zones

WEAKNESSES :

• Manual Steering; no airbag                                                                       
• Less boot space (624 cc 2-cylinder engine)
• Bodywork of Sheet metal and plastic
• Poor traction control
• Poor engine cooling leading to overheating (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-27/tata-nano-catches-fire-in-new-delhi-in-third-case-for-world-s-cheapest-car.html)
• Lack of modern facilities like AC in the standard model

OPPORTUNITIES :

• Created a Niche market
• Job opportunities for 10,000 people
• Diesel and Electric Variant
• Auto-financing
• Recession (comes as a great substitute for high priced cars)

THREATS :

• New Competitors (Bajaj,GM,Honda Siel)
• REVA – An electric car
• Traffic congestion,and higher levels of pollution
• Fuel hike,Increase in taxes by the govt.,and the prices of steel
• Indirect competition from the used car market

In the light of above  facts,it can be said that despite Nano poses few problems due to its physical design and features,but it’s substantially counteracted by its extremely low price and the huge demand for it.Also,in my opinion,the features can be upgraded gradually, based on an individual’s requirements.

But for now,its definitely good to go !

When Thomas Fung, (Chairman and CEO of Fairchild Group),thought of replacing the funeral home located at Cambie and No. 3 road in Richmond by a shopping mall,he was told, “You’ll lose your shirt man ! There’s nothing here”

But who did then know,that this alternative to Chinatown in Vaancouver would rise up to become North America’s largest Asian style retail centre ??!!?

Thomas Fung,definitely didn’t lose his shirt !

Aberdeen Centre first began in 1989 as ashopping mall meant to appeal to Richmond’s growing Asian population.And,with Richmond topping the charts in sheltering the highest proportions of Asians in any Canadian city ( 43.6% -Chinese,7.9%-South Asian,5.5%-Filipino,1.8%-Japanese),the phase 2 of Aberdeen Centre came up in 2003,when the mall tripled in size.Abrdeen Square marks the phase 3 of mall devevlopment,predicting an increase of another 50,000 in the population in the next decade.

Named after Hongkong’s famous tourist harbour – Aberdeen,the Aberdeen Centre is located just about Canada line’s station and is uniquelly positioned to cater to its sophisticated and affluent group of Asian shoppers and enabling them to experience the Asian orient without the expense of an overseas flight.

Although the history and development of Aberdeen Centre is in itself very noteworthy;the recent buzz is its new expansion project- Aberdeen Square.Even though the mall won’t open until 2013,but already 75% of the 1,60,000 sq. ft in new retail and office space has been bought.The sales occured over a three-day period during the last weekend of September (2010),when mostly Metro Vancouver buyers ,and also buyers from China bought space.

Apart from demand for it,another conspicous trend to follow is that majority of the occupants are buying rather than leasing it,unlike other malls.”It is because there is an inclination towards buying property in Asian people.Its a culture thing”, says Thomas Fung.

Developed at a very strategic location,the shopped and employees of Aberdeen square needn’t drive to their destination.And,with the mainstream population going more global,it gives a significant opportunityto retailers to promote an East meets West approach !

(For more information about the Aberdeen Centre,visit www.aberdeencentre.com )

The opening ceremony of the CWG 2010 finally set all critics aside on Sunday.Previously condemned by the World Media for so many alleged reasons,the glorious opening ceremony of the xix CWG in New Delhi had the whole globe showering praise for it.

From widespread allegations of massive corruption to shoddy building techniques to unfir living conditions,the cloud of controversy had hovered over the games for quite a while and had almost called for its cancellation.Infact,several top Indian CWG administrators were fired from their positions,and quite many to have followed.And,matters were certainly not helped by the recent reports of rank squalor in the Athletes’ village and a pedestrian bridge collapse at Jawahar lal Nehru Stadium.

But as they say,’All is well,that ends well !’ (Although,in India’s case, All is well,that started well !).And,despite the international clamour,the media houses across the world hailed Delhi’s effort and enjoyed the dazzling ceremony.

“India has arrived’ – this summed up the international media comments on the 2 hour cultural extravaganza that unfolded at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. ‘The Guardian’ newspaper said it was a moment of natioanl pride for India,which had drawn flak for the troubled build-up to the games.

‘At exactly 2 minutes past 7 tongiht,a huge inflatable blimp rose slowly and smoothly into the hot air above Delhi’s JLN Stadium to the sound of  hundreds of traditional drums,pipes and conch shells,and the cheers of 65,000 people,’ it added.

‘The Daily Telegraph’ marvelled at how smoothly the ceremony was conducted after all the organisational goof-ups that marred its run up.’No collapsing scenery or malfunctioning sound system.No fluffed lines,bothced choreography or missed cues and not even a single stray dog in sight (!). The preparations for the xix CWG may have been an unmitigated disaster,but India certainly knows how to put up on a show,’ it said.”It even managed to start on time,to the very second,proving that there aresome deadlines that games’ organisers are capable of meeting”,the newspaper said taking a dig at the missed venue-completion deadlines that threatened to derail the games at one stage.

The other newspapers were also effusive in their praise for an indeed superb show that India put up.Infact,it was one perfect combination; perfect timing,perfect match,..and perfect everything ! Even the much hyped criticism,in my opinion, proved to have helped the games as the shame turned out to be a blessing !

 With 50,000 securitymen on duty to celebrate 5,000 years of Indian culture,by a supreme performance by 6,000 artists for 71 commonwealth nations;India delivered an absolutely priceless show !

What are the first thoughts that come across your mind when you hear the words “United Colors of Benetton” ?!?

Good brand..fantastic clothing !?!!?

However,the fact behind such fantastic clothes is not too fantastic.It goes back to the late 80’s when the company adopted United Colors as its logo.And,to publicise this campaign, the head photopgrapher Oliviera Toscani,created ads with shocking images unrelated to any actual products being sold by the company !

One of the ads featured a deathbed scene of a man dying from AIDS.Others included an unwashed newborn baby with umbilical cord still attached-which turned out to be highly controversial.This 1991 ad prompted more than 800 complaints to the British Standard Advertising Authority and was featured in the Guiness Book of World Record 2000 as the “most controverisal campaign” .Others included two horses mating,a cemetry of mainly crosslike tombstones,close up pictures of  tatooes reading HIV +ve on the bodies of men and women,a priest and nun about to engage in a romantic kiss,a collage of genitals of of people from different races, and an ad showing a white girl as a princess with blonde curls and a black girl as a devil with black horns !

Although there is no doubt that the quality of the clothes and other accesssories designed by UCB is relatively very superior to its peer competitors.However,the question is , does that permit them to talk about racism,AIDS,feminism or religion  ?In my opinion,the answer is NO.It is simply very unethical and totally bootleg to advertise and comment on such sensitive issues on a world wide scale.And,just referring to the last example,is small kids were to see that ad,those innocent souls would just grow up to believe that white is better than black !

Think about it !