After part 2, I thought of mentioning the Tata Nano, and lo, there it was in part 3. I was in Germany at a press event related to printing (heavy-metal and engineering for culture), the day Ratan Tata announced or introduced the Nano — to the huge consternation of my European colleagues (all of whom seem to be car buffs) — “Do the Indian’s really think they can engineer the world’s cheapest car for Rs. 100,000 (US$ 2,000 at the time). . . . and, “Oh no, all the poor Indians will buy a Nano, and there will be no petrol left for the rest of us and now global warming will surely be upon us.”

The irony of course has been the dismal failure of the Nano car (just as it has become a catchword in the digital printing industry). At the same time Tata Motors have somehow sidestepped all their Indian failures (and even their admitted defeat in the muscular SUV categories by Mahindra) with their somewhat deft takeover and handling of Jaguar Land Rover.

What does all this have to do with anything? Well, some of us thought something from the iconic designs of the past from JLR may somehow rub off on Tata Motors, let alone their quality skills in heavy metal manufacturing.

Other perhaps tangential but interesting riffs could come from the discussion of where we are motoring to. Are we really going anywhere or simply brand migrants — aspirational or economic rationalists. I do not want to impose any constraints on wherever Itu is going but one of the most important migrations seems to be to the increased number of features and automation in the smallest (earlier cheapest) cars. It’s a fact that Indians first look for value (or perceived value) products and then as we become wealthier or more comfortable, seem to look for how we can enhance these. We love to decorate our cars and add fancy decals, hubcaps and weird lights. And now we seem to want to buy the smallest cars with the newly available factory-fitted options such as airbags, automatic transmissions, navigation systems and reversing cameras.