Luxury Values Meet the Developing World

This morning's Wall Street Journal has one of the most incongruous images I've seen in a long time, here it is:



For those who don't know, this is an auto-rickshaw, in this case, a hybrid auto-rickshaw. Auto-rickshaws are used ubiquitously as taxis in warm countries in the developing world, especially India. Typically, they are pretty beat up, and they have a taxi meter which is "broken." They usually look like this:



At the time I was in India about 10 years ago, you could take a moderate length ride for about 30 cents or so, assuming you rejected the driver's pleas of medicine for his sick mother/wife/daughter.

Will TVS Motors succeed in marketing this higher-end product, or will Indians want windows, radio and air conditioning before doing their part for the environment? Of course, if you have good air quality, you don't need windows. Mmm... smell that cooking.