$2500 Tata Nano Revealed at Auto Expo (IN)
Launch later in 2008
Mr Ratan Tata's personal quest has taken a huge step forward today at the New Delhi Auto Expo in India with the unveiling of the Tata Nano, otherwise known as the people's car or Rs 1-Lakh car. Later this year the Tata Nano will be available in Indian showrooms for purchase, pricing is aimed at 1 Lakh (1 lakh is 100,000 rupees; Euro 1,740; USD 2,550)
Mr Tata said at the show: “I observed families riding on two-wheelers – the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby. It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family. We are happy to present the People’s Car to India and we hope it brings the joy, pride and utility of owning a car to many families who need personal mobility.”
The Tata Nano measures 3.1 meters in length, 1.5 meters wide and 1.6 meters high, has plenty of ground clearance and is a little bigger than a smart car. The US is not likely to ever see the Tata Nano on the roads, nor is Western Europe, instead the people's car is most likely to be marketed in bottom-of-the-pyramid countries, ie Africa, South East Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
The Tata Nano is powered by a two-cylinder, all-aluminium 623cc multi-point injection engine producing 33 hp and runs on gasoline. The car is rear-engined and has rear-wheel-drive and will be available as either a standard or luxury model with plenty accessories and body colour options.
The Tata Nano was designed by Italy's Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering but Mr Ratan Tata, a trained architect with a penchant for designing consumer goods, stayed in the loop during the process.
Read on for further details.
Wow Suckio, you really don't know what you are talking about! Cars don't get any better than this at $2500. And anyway who is talking about western car makers.. This car is primarily for those families in 'India'to get from a two wheels to four wheels. It isn't bad looking either, quiAnd its amazing how TATA achieved this feat even with increasing input prices. Plus it complies to EURO 4 standards, pollutes less than a scooter and has passed safety tests. Quite an attractive package
It would be more environmentally friendly if there were less cars on the roads- but who's to say we westerns deserve them more than those in the Third World? We need to cut back on our own cars to compensate. This is an impressive feat of car building- and it looks pretty modern too.
OMG It passes the INDIAN security standards, and it looks like a Renault Clio anyway. Well, now many people more can pollute the envirement and the stupid western kids they "we must cut back"... omg! OMG! And something like that died our grandfathers, for capitulating for other people to drive cars...you really don't deserve wealth
OK Suckio you made your point, who knew that a purpose built decent affordable car that has lower income families in mind would offend you so much. and wolff is right when he says "get a life" have you ever heard the saying "if you don't have something nice to say don't say anything at all." i would say that it applies here. i personally think this car looks ok and you can't beat it for the price.
uuuuh, sorry, of course this looks nothing like the clio except the interior, the exterior is standard-asian design. The pure evil in the eyes of a European. Freaky!
The cars not for you guys...so stop critising it. It is built for India and other emerging countries as per their standards... so chuck it. Its still AMAZING at $2500.
This is a great achievement for a so-called 3rd world country! The TATA NANO puts India on the frontline for affordable vehicles. No other country with their larger brand name vehicle manufacturers have come with a car that is affordable to the people. USA, Germany, UK, France, Japan and all the large producers of cars seem to have forgotten about the people and affordability. The NANO looks fantastic and Iââ¬â¢m certain it will quickly cripple the high prices that are charged for vehicles by their manufacturers. Two thumbs up for TATA and the NANO!
so responsabilty died with our grandfathers? That's the real shame. What I mean is we should drive economical cars rather than deliberately polluting cars- swopping a Supercharged Range Rover for a VW Polo Bluemotion would slash that persons emissions to a 3rd of what it was- and what can a Range Rover (and don't say go off-road cos they don't) do that a Polo can't?
well.. lets go back in history.. Europe surely had a much better 1900's than what India had.. we were under the British, n there were a lot of sanctions against us building cars!!! n to be very frank, ours is a new n growing n evolving market!! how humble did the giant Volkswagen have?? :O it started with the Bettle, how small cars were Fiat producing? the Fiat 500 was a snuggle to fit in.. oh.. lets not forget the British Mini..... all these cars were meant to be small light n were built to be people's vehicle.. for Tata, it is one step forward to becoming big!!
n suckio..
u dont have to get so racial!! if u dont like the design forget it, its not meant for u anyways!!:O lol!! after u Europeans suck in all our wealth n build beautiful European cities, u dont want us to make wealth eh??:D lol!! get a life! u r just like ur name... 'suck''io!!'
well.. lets go back in history.. Europe surely had a much better 1900's than what India had.. we were under the British, n there were a lot of sanctions against us building cars!!! n to be very frank, ours is a new n growing n evolving market!! how humble did the giant Volkswagen have?? :O it started with the Bettle, how small cars were Fiat producing? the Fiat 500 was a snuggle to fit in.. oh.. lets not forget the British Mini..... all these cars were meant to be small light n were built to be people's vehicle.. for Tata, it is one step forward to becoming big!!
n suckio..
u dont have to get so racial!! if u dont like the design forget it, its not meant for u anyways!!:O lol!! after u Europeans suck in all our wealth n build beautiful European cities, u dont want us to make wealth eh??:D lol!! get a life! u r just like ur name... 'suck''io!!'
Looks like a baby toy, not a real transportation item
i find it rather cute!! :D:D well, it is really fine for 4 people.. healthy ones!! :)
n i also saw a big hue n cry about many of these cars being on the road, should be polluting enough!! :O well, lets see then, when an American or a West European buys a car..n then goes on n buys another.. then it doesnt pollute?? :O i mean, a million of these r going to be more polluting than those huge, chunky, gas guzzling American n West Eurpoean cars right?? way to go.. i know where u guys were left of at evolution!! :D
I have no idea what Suckio is saying, as much as I try to see past the puerile text talk. This car is quite an achievement and Tata has done what lots of other better established car maunfacturers have only ever managed to talk about. I would never drive one, but then I don't live in Goa and don't have to survive on $10 a week. And cars at this end of the market will never be environmentally friendly - they take enery to be made and energy to move. Somewhere you have to trade the interests of the planet against the need to move people and a country forward to a level taken for granted by the Western world.
I had the same wheels on my wagon when i was a kid. As to the car you get for $2500, it's alright... nothing really to compete against so it will do good.
This is likely to come to the UK featuring high spec and a diesel engine I certainly wouldn't buy this because it doesn't look appealing. I guess, you get what you pay for Will this even meet EU safety requirements?
i really doubt its ever gonna come knocking on UK's doors!!! so, u wouldn't be able to buy it anyways!!
@ wolff, I was only typing what I read from another car site so there is no need for this: (!!)
Wow are you the only people in the world allowed to OWN a car? who are you god? I bet majority of you own cars that do 25 mpg or less! thank god no american company has released a cheap car in India. The nano does 50+mpg!! so if you are really THAT! worried about pollution i suggest you change what you drive before pointing fingers! sorry its funny all people talk about is how pollution is gonna increase! 50mpg i dont think you could ask for much better! the nano is an amazing feat! and my hats of to TATA for making such an efficient car in terms of design and engineering for such a price, it truly is the peoples car!
IF anything other companies should learn from this little car and design and engineer more fuel efficient cars for not only third world countries but the rest of the world.
Well it is an amazing car and i hope that they release it in the US because it will help a lot of peaple
I'm sure it will do soon when its sold outside of India.
This is a kind of nostalgy for me. I was excited when I saw fully domestic-made cars like Nano in Japan 50 years ago. Subaru 360 is one of these models, 4-seater but much smaller size driven by 2stroke air-cooled parallel-twin burning gasoline-oil mixed fuel. Compareing with the Subaru, Nano is a super car with electronically contrlolled fuel injection even with a balancer shaft!! Tata will grow much quicker than Japanese manufacturers because starting point is much advanced and even utilizing Jaguar/Land-Rover technologies, if they want to do!?
blah The exterior design is ok given the price, eventhough they have clearly cloned the Mitsubishi "I" but why not an electric version Ligier style? People? read sheople instead.
Suckio an airbag would cost as much as the car, so quit raising such stupid arguements.
I agree. Here in Brazil the majority of cars don't have airbag and the cheaper car starts at 14,000 dollars. I think Nano is great for its purpose.
For the critics:
1. Looks ââ¬â Beauty lies in the yes of the beholder. For me, it is cute!
2. Fuel Efficiency ââ¬â Much better than the scooters and motorcycles it is supposed to replace ââ¬â 30 mpg!
3. Pollution ââ¬â Meets Euro IV standards. ----Europe: Emission will never be an issue. It conforms to the latest EU standards. ----USA: NY Times reported it will not be able to enter USA due to its strict emissions control. What a scream. The reporters at NY Times are really ignorant. Emission standards in India are far stricter than that in USA. That is the reason why Harley-Davidson cannot enter India. Does a car exist anywhere in the world that runs on petrol, carries 4 people and produces less pollution than this one?
4. Safety ââ¬â Yes, it is not as safe as most standard American or Western European cars. However, it has passed the frontal crash tests and has a crumple zone. Also, it is aimed at the people using their scooters and motorcycles for transporting their families. This car is way much safer than these 2-wheelers.
Greenpeace and Environmentalists: They just want to keep their gas-guzzling vehicles and do not want the poorer people to own a car. They are plain elitist and suffer from mean superiority complex. It could be that they are funded by the CEOs of the American Companies to create a negative propaganda about such an achievement.
This is what the Western Critics are thinking: ââ¬ÅIf we cannot match the Indians in their technological feat, let us belittle them with false accusations!ââ¬Â
i think Tata motors could have done better..... after all the hype... about this car.. they've kind of screwed it up big time.... it'll be the first car to break its suspension on indian pot hole ridden rodes.. the tyre size is a absolute disaster.. .. i understand its cost cutting etc etc... but i dont see anythign innovative about it... its just going backward when it comes to design.......and wolf!!! mini... fiat 500 ... beetle were a pleasure to look at, they were very flawlessly designed... and i dont need to prove that... doing something small and saying that its one big step forward...!!! i think ur going overboard.. wait and watch what happens.. i know tata motors and i've driven most of their cars... which are absoulte disasters.. no where close to what a mini is or a fiat 500 is...
It is defeintely not "envirement-friendly". This is a shame.
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