Renowned automotive designer and engineer Gordon Murray was in town recently, and our sister publication Autocar Professional got a chance to sit down with him and talk about a number of things. One of these was India’s engineering capabilities, and Murray was quick to name Tata Motors as a company that’s impressed him with its work over the last decade.
He highlighted what he thinks are Tata’s two biggest achievements, at opposite ends of the spectrum – conceiving a new vision for a low-cost car, namely the Nano, and resurrecting luxury car brands Jaguar and Land Rover with tremendous success. “I don’t think I could see something like that happening in England,” he said.
With regards to Jaguar-Land Rover at one end of the scale, Murray says what Tata achieved was nothing short of a massive turnaround. “It’s difficult to think of another brand they could have picked – it was a prestigious brand that needed saving. BMW and Mercedes didn’t need saving.”
As for the Nano on the other end of the spectrum, he felt it was a complete rethink on low-cost motoring in India, adding that although it didn’t quite achieve its Rs 1 lakh price point when it went on sale, it was the vision behind it that was more important than the result. “You can point a finger at me and say I made 100 cars for rich people,” he said of the legendary McLaren F1. “But it’s inspired a lot of people to think with its engineering and vision, and you can say the same thing about the Nano.” High praise indeed.
Dipan Sur
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Suraj Viswanathan
Uday Singh
Hormazd Sorabjee
Kiran Murali
