Mumbai: Pawan Goenka, managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra, said on Saturday that Indian people prefer big cars even for the use of singles. He said that this thinking of people is a major reason for the ‘unfortunate’ failure of Tata Nano.
Goenka said in a program of former students of IIT Kanpur here that the automobile industry has a significant contribution in pollution and all possible methods should be adopted to reduce it. Tata Motors has stopped production of the Nano, known as the Lakhtakia car. Many experts believe that Indian consumers buy cars for pride, this is the main reason for the failure of the Nano.
“It is unfortunate for the Nano not to perform well,” said Goenka. He said that average Indians of 65-70 kg buy a 1,500 kg car for just one person’s commute. Goenka said that we need such personal vehicles, which are sufficient for the movement of one person. He said, “Keeping this in mind, Mahindra is also preparing a small car, which will be available in the market soon.”
He said that vehicles currently account for seven percent of carbon dioxide emissions and 20 percent in PM 2.5. Every effort should be made to reduce it. Goenka said that India can take the lead in connected cars, as India has made considerable progress on the information technology front. He said that a lot of work is also being done on electric vehicles.
