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God must love crazy People…… he makes so many of them

Excerpt from the movie The Gods Must be Crazy

Spoiler alert: for those of you looking for a well-researched article on India’s Tata Nano and a long history of their flawed vehicle design and how the Tata Nano 1st Generation was cheap and tacky blah, blah blah, please make an about-face from this blog article and go to another website, like Wikipedia.

Please leave de page, rasta! Cut! Left….please! Cho man!!

This article is purely speculation on its future in Jamaica; folks, I take leave of my physical senses and  allow myself into the Astral Plane to wax imaginative, as the news is still fresh like the bagel biscuits at a Total Gas Station in Jamaica! Slightly stale but still edible!

Not that the Dominican Spaniard Joe Ferreira, representative from Metis Motors is crazy or anything; it’s just that he may be too smart for his own good, like the KFC commercial with Foxhorn Leghorn and Junior (my nickname by the way!). The importation and introduction of the Indian “born an’ grow” 2nd Generation Tata Nano to Jamaica (yes not the 1st Generation, rasta…all dem problems sort out, Tata Nano bashers!!) for the crazy low-low price of JA$893,000.

This, gentle dear reader who has tolerated your angst against the Tata Nano to read thus far, is a  price that can go lower by the way……more on that later in the article! The 2nd Generation Tata Nano is not just going to be affordable to Jamaicans looking for a sub-JA$1 million ride.

Jamaicans are going to bomb-rush Metis Motors, whom I predict, like Oregon Based Porteon and their All-Electric Vehicles soon to set up shop in Jamaica and St. Lucia by December 2012AD as noted in Oregon-based Porteon to assemble All-Electric Vehicles in Jamaica – One By One. Both of these start-ups may end up wearing the dubious sash of “Digicel of Motor Vehicles” via their introduction of a truly Fuel Efficient vehicle to Jamaica.

With the unwittingly and unintentional yet interesting parallel and similarity to the act of America Movil coming to Jamaica as Claro aside, Dominican Spaniard Joe Ferreira, if he succeeds (speculation on my part people!) will end up to saving the millions of Jamaican perishing at the hands of PetroJam from an uncaring GOJ that allows the JGRA (Jamaica Gas Retailers Association) to punish Motorists with higher and higher Gas prices every month for owning their expensive SUV Gas Guzzlers…er, I mean High-End motor Vehicles!

The company that he represents, Metis Motors, is revving up its promotional engines with plans to set up shop and sell the amazing little Indian vehicles themselves in Jamaica. No partnerships, suggesting that the Dominican Republic is coming to compete against Stewart Auto Sales and ATL Automotive directly via a brand new, low cost, fuel efficient and luxurious vehicle for under JA$1 million.

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Curiously, the news of this plucky debutante broke in the Jamaica Observer, which is owned by director and CEO of Sandals Group Gordon “Butch” Stewart, very silent in the media of late and run by his ATL Automotive and Jamaica Observer CEO son Adam Stewart. Sizing up the competition, perhaps, may have been the reason for this article even reaching the light of day?

Quotes do work so nicely here from Joe Ferreira which suggests the above: “It will be the cheapest car in Jamaica by a significant margin. You can buy two Nanos, have them insured and you’ll be driving for the price of a brand new Suzuki Swift. It will be the most fuel efficient, and the most environmentally friendly as well.”

Definitely, that a sub JA$1 million for a new vehicle the 2nd Generation Tata Nano is gonna shake up the Jamaican Motor vehicles Scene, especially among younger first-time drivers (read 18 to 25 years old) who want a quick about town ride without all the complications of a really big vehicles.

Metis Motors Representative Joe Ferreira seems to realize this, knowing full well that despite the Tata Nano’s cut-rate price, it does appeal to a generation that want to be cute, chic, environmentally conscious and mobile on a shoe-string budget.

After all, many young bloods on the hunt for a ride may reason with their youth bravado playing upon their egos, bigger motor vehicles are more expensive both in cost, monthly payments for a loan (groan…!) as well as insurance (offica’ me soon get di paper dem….). Tally ho lads, The Fox hunt is afoot!

Among most Jamaican males, having a ride, no matter how large or small is the “in” thing; the detailing you can fix with a good body kit (TRD for the trim, Year One for the Seats, etc…), duco job and some Racing stripes and you have your own chic magnet.

So from a cultural point of view, this vehicle is already sold: the only possible issue, with such a low price, affordably perfect for a Vehicle Loan, is:

  • Specs please, such as driving range and tank capacity would be nice
  • Parts and servicing
  • It is comfortable? An’ it look so small?
  • Is financing available?
  • Most importantly: “Dat likkle sometin’ can drive pon Jamaica road, rasta?”

Again more quotable quotes from the clever salesman, blowing off this obvious concern with a quick effaceable explanation: “I’ve been to India and their conditions in terms of road network and climate are far worse than Jamaica. If it can survive there, from my own local testing, Jamaica will be a piece of cake”.

The issue of Parts and Servicing apparently will be done by Metis Motors, which is soon to set up shop in Jamaica to sell and Service the vehicles. A model no different from that of Stewart Auto Sales and ATL Automotive, prompting many like myself to wonder if this signals coming competition in the manufacturing of Motor Vehicles in Jamaica.

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I say this as with such a small size, the vehicles can be imported in bulk. But thanks to the fact it’s constructed from off-the-shelf components, for the DIY hobbyist, it presents the possibility of being not only modifiable, but a vehicle that can be easily imported in parts and then re-assembles in Jamaica, thereby avoiding hefty Import duties as it would enter the country as parts to be fitted together by qualified Jamaican mechanics.

This alone is the reason why I concluded that the price can go lower, even as low as JA$500,000 for the vehicle. A follow-on of the business model of a startup from Oregon, USA, Porteon Electric Vehicles, whose debut at the Stewart Auto Sales Wealth Auto Show on Saturday November 26th 2011AD and Sunday November 27th 2011AD signaled the possible emergence of All-Electric Vehicles in Jamaica as prognosticated in Oregon-based Porteon to assemble All-Electric Vehicles in Jamaica – One By One.

But here’s what has auto buffs such as myself excited. This modifiability of the Vehicle’s drive Train due to its diminutive size and lower weight and lower torque needed to get it moving means that it may be possible to make this vehicle into an All-Electric Vehicle!

An easy modification to add Li-Ion Batteries and change the vehicle to a Range Extender Technology, one of several types of All-Electric Vehicles as explained in Lithium-Ion Batteries and Electric Vehicles – Alternatives as 2012 Supply Crunch Nears, thereby extending its driving range. This as even in its gas-only configuration, its range would be very limited and defeat its fuel-sipping properties that Joe Ferreira touts.

More details on when, where and some specifics to better flesh out the Tata Nano potential and why I’d want to have an Indian fuel efficient version of a Mini Cooper that’s named after the Apple iPod Nano needs to be forthcoming.

If all’s well and the price is as promised, then look forward to the much anticipated bomb-rush and long likes, amusingly akin to an Apple event. This vehicles debut in Jamaica, believe it or not, will pave the way for acceptance of All-Electric Vehicles, as by virtue of its size alone, it is beset by the same challenges that face All-Electric Vehicle introduction in Jamaica.

Until then, I’ll dream with more rambling speculations of Fuel Competition and All-Electric Vehicles coming to Jamaica. Push to start and Press the gas once and make the Floor Shake, Wiz Khalifa Black and Yellow Style.

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