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Tata Nano, world's cheapest car unveiled in India (Roundup)

Jan 10, 2008, 13:52 GMT

New Delhi - India's Tata Motors at the ninth Auto Expo in Dehli on Thursday unveiled the Tata Nano, the world's cheapest production car expected to cost just 100,000 rupees (2,500 dollars). Ratan Tata, chairman of India's Tata Group unveils Tata Group's

Ratan Tata, chairman of India's Tata Group unveils Tata Group's "People's Car'' at the ninth Auto Expo 2008 in New Delhi, India on 10 January 2008. EPA/MONEY SHARMACompany officials said the Nano is expected to spur a paradigm shift in low-cost transportation by making the car affordable to thousands of families. Ratan Tata, the 70-year-old chairman of the Tata group, India's largest private conglomerate, is the brainchild behind the Nano, which has a 33 horsepower, 623 cc engine at the rear and can reach a maximum speed of over 100 kilometres per hour. The four-door car, which has designed with the family in mind, can seat up to five people but has no radio, air conditioning or passenger-side mirror and only one windscreen wiper. With a length of 3.1 metres, width of 1.5 metres, height of 1.6 metres and adequate ground clearance, the car has been tested on roads across Indian cities and rural areas, the company said. Nano costs less than half the price of India's cheapest car, the Maruti 800, and has attracted worldwide attention as it is expected to give sleepless nights to global car companies. The launch of Nano would prove a landmark in the history of transportation, Tata said at the unveiling function. Nano was 'a safe, affordable and all-weather transport - a people's car designed to meet all safety standards and emissions laws and be accessible to all,' he said. The car, which has touched a speed of up to 105 kilometres per hour, will give 20 kilometres to a litre of petrol and will be easy to manoeuvre on city roads as well as in rural areas. Tata also allayed concerns about the car's safety and emissions standards, saying it had passed the full frontal crash tests and meets Euro-IV emission norms. India's Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, who was present at the unveiling, said 'the car will help people move from two-wheeler to four-wheeler and it will leap-frog the two-wheeler.' Nearly 8 million two-wheelers were sold in India in 2006. According to industry experts, small car sales account for more than two-thirds of India's domestic market, and are expected to nearly double to 2 million units a year by 2010, helped by rising middle-class incomes. India's leading motorcycle maker Bajaj has already announced plans to make a low-cost small car called 'Lite' along with French car marque Renault. Tata, which announced plans for the car at the Geneva Motor Show in 2003, said personal mobility was the inspiration when he first thought of the car. '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,' he said. 'It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family.' 'Today, we indeed have a People's Car, which is affordable and yet built to meet safety requirements and emission norms, to be fuel efficient and low on emissions.' Addressing a press conference later, Tata said the car would come in three variants - the standard and two deluxe air-conditioned models - and would be launched after October 1. The car will be manufactured at the company's facility in the eastern state of West Bengal, which aims to produce 250,000 units a year and ramp up production to 350,000 subsequently. The company will focus on the Indian market in the first two to three years, and later expand to overseas markets including south- east Asia, Africa and Europe. Tata's Nano the main highlight at the eight-day long Delhi auto show which began on Thursday, is expected to place India firmly on the global automotive map and impressed competitors. 'It's a good product but it's still too early to say whether it will overtake the Maruti 800 because it caters to a totally new market segment,' Jagdish Khattar, former official of Indian-Japanese car venture Maruti-Suzuki, which dominates the small car market, told the IANS news agency. Meanwhile, others car manufacturers were worried. 'We definitely see it as impacting our sales,' said an official of Hyundai Motors, which has launched a version of its small car Santro that runs on liquefied petroleum gas. The car would also determine Tata's position in the global automotive arena. The Tata Group has made international headlines on a regular basis since last year when it set itself on the path of becoming a global company. Besides the 11.3-billion-dollar acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus in early 2007 and other buy-outs in the United States, Tata is also set to buy two iconic British car brands - Jaguar and Land Rover - which would expand its presence outside Asia. © 2008 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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akansas driverJan 10th, 2008 - 16:38:42

I like the look and i really like the price so how could i get one in the U S ????? if at all possible let me know my email is bigtimeluck2007@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Ben

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ShellyJan 10th, 2008 - 18:41:57

Arkansa Driver, Tata also signed a deal with www.theaircar.com. No need for fuel.

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George BushJan 10th, 2008 - 18:45:44

swwweeeet!!! We can use this as an excuse to ship more work outside our country! My daddy and all his rich buddies will be very happy because now they make more profit.

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Big CountryJan 11th, 2008 - 23:27:55

Looks promising, but in Texas we need A/C. Would there be a way to convert one. Also, when does it hit the U.S.

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JohnJan 12th, 2008 - 09:04:40

They do have a Nano with ac it's an upgrade I read it in another article.I would also love to own one of these Nano's!I simpy want it because it's cheap!I can use it just to get around plus it gets 50 mpg!!!This car is amazing!I want to buy one today!Where can I get one besides india?I hope they can import some of these bad boys I would pay an extra $1,000 for the shipment!I hate going to the gas station so often!It is the money but at the same time it's not just about the money!It's the feeling of helplessness & dependability on these idiot crooked oil companies!I know gas prices normaly should'nt be the presidents responsiblity but at over $3.25 per gallon like it is now which is over 3 times the cost of gas just 6 years ago!I do think it is the Prsidents responsiblity because this has now become a national state of emergancy!Driving in most places in America where there is no public transportaion means that driving is not just a privlage it is needed to survive day by day!I know that most Americans can agree that Christmas was a little more less joyful this year & that part of this reason is the huge expence in gas for commuting to & from work day by day!This leaves less money for travels,vactions,gifts!They say slavery ended but now i'm not so sure!I think that we are all just little hamsters turning the wheels of our economy at the expence of are lives!I love America!I love my country to death!But I miss what it use to stand for.Freedom!Why does over 90 percent of Brazils cars run off 100 percent pure ethonal?Which is made from sugar cane!Sugar cane grows like grass in feilds & they just mow it & it grows back fast!They even extract the sugar & use the sugar just as sugar to sell to the people & they use the oils in the cane as fuel for the cars plus the stems are then burned to run the whole factory!They are completly self efficiant!Why can't we do this?Because of crooked politics!I hope Al Gore runs for Prsident again & that he wins for the second time & this time Bush won't be able to steal Al Gores presidentcy!Al Gore would be great as President!Because he will straighten some of these thing out!I hope we as Americans can voice are opinions more often & hopfuly someone will hear us!!!

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Cycling CommuterJan 12th, 2008 - 14:58:52

The best vehicle for reducing oil company profits has a battery-powered electric motor with pedals for assisting and regenerative braking that recharges the battery when you go downhill. See twike.com

A large, thin, light, high-efficiency, curved photovoltaic panel can be placed on the roof for partially recharging the battery while the vehicle is moving or parked. This is very cost effective and it has already been done with a Prius hybrid. See PV Prius; 8: Terrestrial PV Systems 8.1 Stand Alone Systems, Including Hybrid Systems. Simburger, J.T.; Simburger, E.J.; Johanson, G.; Bagnall, M. Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Conference Record of the 2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on Volume 2, Issue , May 2006 Page(s):2404 - 2406. Some modern, multi-layer photovoltaic panels can produce over 360 Watts per square meter.

For driving through a strong crosswind or following wind, a smart designer could add a lightweight, foldup wind-turbine that can be automatically deployed on the roof with profile narrow enough such that extra electricity generated far more than compensates for extra frontal wind drag. Even direct frontal winds would help when the vehicle battery is charging via combined photovoltaic and wind power while parked or driving directly into the wind at a speed that is substantially slower than the wind itself.

A small Stirling Cycle generator can be added to help recharge the battery by burning ethanol, methane, natural gas, propane, butane, gasoline, kerosine, diesel - any liquid or gaseous fuel. Stirlings are external combustion engines that can run on any source of heat. In a pinch, they can even burn straw, dried twigs, dried horse manure, scrap wood, coal, old newspapers, candlewax, you name it. But burning fuels should always be a last resort when there's not enough sunlight or wind to recharge the battery. And only the cleanest fuels should be burned in cities and towns.

Instead of buying the cheapest vehicle, it's better to pay a bit more for an efficient, reliable vehicle and amortize the payments over more years so the total monthly cost of vehicle payments plus fuel costs and maintenance is minimized.

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MacafferyJan 13th, 2008 - 21:31:06

I ride a motorcycle in NY state. USA... A car like this would help the lower middle class people like myself who can't afford a car that cost anyhing over 4000 dollars. ( pre owned ) or brand new 10,000 and up.
Sadly this NANO car will not pass the US's crash test safety standard rating. It will never be sold in the USA. It is a great thing for the industry and other countries will enjoy the savings. But this countries HI- END favoritism will not allow the poor to get on their feet in any medium.

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Steven WalkerApr 25th, 2008 - 10:34:24

im a homosexual

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steven walkerApr 25th, 2008 - 10:35:13

any hot men out there looking for a bit off hot man to man action?

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rehan bhuttaApr 25th, 2008 - 10:36:13

stevens well phit

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