The 'Italian' connection (LPG/CNG etc.)

India has had a fascination for all things Italian since long... We drool over Italian marble, jewellry, suits, haute couture, foodstuff, Monica Belucci, and God knows what else... I have also heard wierd terms like Italian SAREEs!!

But what's so special about Italian gas conversion kits? Why is it that 'only genuine good quality Italian gas conversion kits' are recommended? Did the rest of the world sleep when Italians perfected gas conversion kits?

We have gas kits available and used in India for over 10 years now. So why is a country so huge like India importing kits from Italy of all places, and there seems to be monopoly of Italian companies in the gas kit market...

I sincerely seek answer to this puzzle, with background and history as well, if someone (Vidhur?) is kind to explain me this. I agree, this question may make me seem to be a dumba$$, but I better be one and ask so I don't remain one!

i always admire and salute people who ask and seek answers to their confusion .. in contrast to those who just assume ..besides, krishna threw the challenge at me directly which to me seems like a bait

well, as i see it, the world is fascinated by things of beauty, of art and creativity, of skills and workmanship, of innovations .. etc

italy is naturally endowed with the most fascinating designs in marble, which is cherished world over just the way onyx from afghanistan or jade from chine is .. i have never seen anything more beautiful and fascinating than some of the smooth designs of the italian marble especially those in the rare hues of pink and blue ! some of these sell for as much as a thousand rupees a foot !!

italians are famed lovers of art .. they are reputed to be perfectionists much more than any other community in the world . painting, marble architecture, carvings, fashion, music etc are just some of the subjects for which they are renowned world over since centuries .. they make some of the finest wools on their mountainside with which they make some of the lovliest suitings .. also they make some of the finest artificial silk, which are used for making some of the prettiest sarees which our women wear .. italy along with france are known as the fashion capitals of the world but what many perhaps might not know .. is that italy alone is the trend capital of the world ! italians forcast fashion trends and colours  2 years in advance based on which the entire world designs their fashions .. in italy, jewellery is an extension of fashion . imagine, a country which makes the finest woolen fabrics, silk fabrics, and is the creator of trends and fashion in the world .. would not their products naturally be the most fascinating !

as connosseurs of the good things in life .. italian also the finest tasting pasta, pizza, cookies, chocolates etc. to pamper the most demanding tastebuds

so, it is not just we indians, but the entire world which has been fascinated by all these things italians since much before we started drooling over them

as for gas kits .. there is a saying .. necessity is the mother of all inventions .. and gaskits are the positive fallout of worldwar2 .. in 1939 mussolini of italy and hitler of germany joined hands to take over the whole of europe and thus started the big war .. money and petrol both became scarce .. and thus started the hunt for better vehicles and alternate fuels .. the result .. italy became the master of alternate fuel technology and germany of vehicle making technology

the pioneers of gas technology was a company established in italy in 1941 by the name TARTARINI and 68 years later it is still one of the bigest names in gaskit industry and has the rare distinction of powering the queen of england's rolls royce on lpg!

other big names like lovato are also over 5 decades old and invariably all italian brands which are recommended are at least over 2 decades old with proven performance in over 80 countries spread across all 5 continents, which use gas powered cars

by contrast, i have yet to come across any indian brand which has claimed to be selling gaskits since over 5 years in any respectable quantity .. also i have yet to come across any respectable number of users speak praisingly about any indian brand .. i am myself a staunch nationalist at heart but here at these forums our first religion is consumerism

and from the consumers point of view, whose objectives are maximum savings .. smooth and troublefree performance .. minimum recurring expense .. and not to forget the highest level of safety .. what would you rather choose my friend krishna ..  a tried and tested 50 year old world renowned company .. or a novice under 5 year old company, yet to prove its mettle ?

Thanks, Vidhur, for your lucid explanation! When buying gas kits, use 'only genuine good quality Italian gas conversion kits' and for gas conversion queries, ask 'only genuine expert on the forum, Vidhur' - it's only a matter of history and reputation ! (by striking 'only' I acknowledge there are others as well - don't want flames!).

That apart, I think the Italian connection is kinda stretched too much - Ten years, and no quality substitute....?

We, as a nation, were riding bullock carts ten years ago, figuratively speaking. In these ten years, we not only have mastered computers/IT/Software, we have almost forced the USA (having history, reputation, background on their side) to start riding bullock carts in that department. Similar is the condition in Medicine, Metals (Mittals and Tatas), Automobiles, Auto components (Bharat Forge single handedly provides innards of maybe, 30-40% of the world's Autos)... So why is it that we cannot better these Italians in this department...?

Maybe it's something to do with how economic is it to beat them... In case of US and SW, it was the the difference in profitability that actively nourished an alternate solution, fueled partly by Indian hunger and partly by the US greed. Here, probably there is not enough of that pricing diffferential to get this activity kickstarted with the seriousness with which we approached software/IT. Maybe we will reach that point sometime soon, maybe we won't..

Italians being very similar to temperament and culture to Indians (could call them Indians of the Europe), maybe we can eventually get a hang of their trade and then make a name for ourselves, like we have done in Automobiles field.

Any comments?

How many Indian Auto makers are available? Tata, Maruti(Cannot be called Indian because of 54% stock held by Suzuki)..Thats it. Indian market is considered as a very potential market, but it is still considered a sellers market. The cars available to Indians are very poor in quality and in quantity. Not much of research is done here. Even done is exported to other countries.

Whereas see the Italian market. Juggernauts like Ferrari, Lamborgini, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Pagani Zonda, Fiat, Abarth etc., are from Italy. The amount of research they conduct is enormous and sophiticated. Even our Tata introduced the Indica Electric version in bologna auto show. We Indians are now changing but will take a decade to catch up with them.

Thanks Krishna for giving a wonderful thread & Vidhur for great explanation, and thanks to Vasanth too.

I hope the thread GROWS interestingly & meaningfully (I've renamed it suitably & shifted to section Thinking Pad). 

I too hope to contrubute. Thanks.

nationalist sentiments appreciated, krishna

the IT dominance was primarily a gradual byproduct of 2 original evils .. the legacy of english left behind by the british .. and .. our overflowing population . nevertheless we all have a legitimate right to feel proud at the achievement

as for cars - the truth

inspite of all our back-patting, in all of 60 years we have not been able to produce a decent worldclass car .. for 40-50 years we drove our ambassadors and fiats and now a whole host of american,european and japanese korean brands including our desi maruti suzuki, as vasanth rightly pointed out .. the only 2 indian car makers are HM and tata .. sorry to say but none of their models are anywhere close to worldclass

so why blame the poor kit manufacturers, in all of their 5-10 years of existence, confronted by international giants of 5 decades of experience and most important from the consumers point of view - absolute credibility on issues as grave as proven performance and safety

your intent appreciated pankaj, but i feel that in the process, we have deprived regular patrons of the lpg/cng section of this very interesting debate on the very strong italian connection visavis the indian genius .. i was myself quite shocked to discover this thread missing .. thought it might have been deleted for references to hitler  .. then thought it might have been suspended for verification of historical facts  .. well finally after a hunt of close to half an hour, i discovered it here ..

while the decision obviously would be as per the forum's policy, i personally feel, it would be better off in the lpg/cng section so as to reach out to a far wider patronage especially interested in this subject

LoLss

@ Vidhur, the fact, as known to Krishna, is that the thread was created (by Krishna) in the section Thinking Pad.  But in order to draw your attention quickly & to ensure you do not miss it (just a possibility), I shifted it temporarily to LPG/CNG Section (your favourite section).

I shifted the thread back here so that we can discuss other aspects too (Italian of course); there are already a few such references by you & others - and, therefore, posted a comment (quoted by you) without actually 'contributing'

Anyway, as you all suggest.

By the way, speaking in general, you won't miss any thread (even if moved/renamed) if you follow the email alerts sent by CarWale for all the participations that take place in the threads participated/subscribed by you.

your intent appreciated pankaj, but in the process, are we not depriving most regular patrons of the lpg/cng section of this very interesting debate specifically on lpg/cng kits ?

by the way , your sense of humour appreciated pankaj .. even i had a hearty laugh once again ..

Guys, so if the thread has found an asylum in some forum, now can we turn back to the core topic?

@Vasanth: Thanks for pointing to the other side of the picture. Also Vidhur.

Can we know what areas of the gas kit are critical to its operation/qualiry, and we are not able to come up to the qualiry that Italians manage? Specific parameters, if any can be found?