Dawn of the $2,000 Car – Tata Nano

Tata Motors announced that it will begin accepting orders for its $1,980 Nano “people’s car” on April 9th. (No relation to the Apple iPod Nano.) The ultra-affordable Nano promises to make automobile ownership more widespread in native India and likely beyond, and it serves as an interesting bookend in a corporate portfolio that also includes Jaguar and Land Rover.

Much like the XO laptop designed for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) mission, the Nano represents a creative initiative to produce a low-cost car that can reach an expansive market. Tata expects significant demand and will be using a lottery system to handle the initial orders. (Today, the Nano section of the tatamotors.com site was down for hours, perhaps reflecting initial interest with the announcement.) Production is expected to reach 350,000 vehicles a year.

The Nano is a 10-foot-long four-seat car powered by 624cc, two-cylinder engine with a four-speed transmission. It will be offered in three trim levels. The base Standard model is barebones enough to make the Flintstonemobile seem luxurious, but it does feature a fold-down rear seat and an 18-month/24,000-kilometer warranty. The midlevel CX boasts heating and air conditioning, power brakes, two-tone seats, and a parcel shelf. The relatively premium LX adds fabric seats, central locking, front power windows, fog lamps, electronic trip meter, a cup holder in the front console, and power point outlet. The LX is also distinguished by unique colors and rear spoiler.

While there are no plans for the Nano to arrive on American shores, we will have an opportunity to check out the company’s two entries for the Progressive Automotive X Prize. Tata is expected to enter an electric microcar in the Alternative class, which requires a minimum range of 100 miles and two-passenger capacity. Tata is designing a hybrid to compete in the Mainstream class, which requires a 200-mile range and four-passenger capacity.

—Jeff Bartlett

Comments

[vastrightwing]

This sounds great until you begin to contemplate the cascading effects of this cheap car. Imagine the roads, the driveways, the parking lots, the accidents, the congestion, the roadside litter/junk yards, the gas consumption, the encouragement of over consumption. I'm impressed by the engineering feat. This is the beginning of the era of the Nano and we will see these cars all over the world everywhere. Welcome to our world.

[SycamoreGrill]

Maybe we can have it shipped to the US?

Any thoughts or comments?

[Bill Dooley]

The price on the Nano seems so low that it probably brings to the minds of most Americans cheap built which will break down
soon. But that is not necessarily true. If a car can be built in India for this price why can't Americans build a dependable commuter car for in the $5000 to $6000 range? What are the chances the Nano could be imported to America? Slim or none?

[Brendan P Bartholomew]

Don't count on the Nano to be imported to the US any time soon, or ever. For a car to be legally sold in the US, it must meet very high federal standards for safety equipment, crash-worthiness, and emissions.

That thing really doesn't look like it would do well in the required crash tests; Tata or some enterprising third party could conceivably bring the car up to the point where it meets the bare minimum US standards, but factor in the air bags, soon-to-be-mandatory electronic traction control, 5-mph bumpers, and other necessary changes, and your simple, $2000 car will suddenly be a much costlier, more complex automobile.

If you're thinking about bringing one over here on an individual basis for your personal use, you can forget it, unless you're prepared to spend a small fortune to add the required safety and pollution-control equipment and then another fortune fighting with US Customs and the Department of Transportation to prove that you should be allowed to operate the thing on US highways.

[david]

It would be interesting to see how the Nano compares against the Smart. Smart is about 6x the price of Nano.

[lacornya moore]

hey nice cheap car really hot i luv it it the new lol of the year

[Bill]

Nice death trap!

[Paul]

The Nano is better than the first Honda car.

Tesla Motors needs to build an electric Nano.

[Paul]

Look how far Hyundai has come, look at the Hyundai Genesis http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/models/new/hyundai/genesis/overview.htm

[charity]

I come from a poor family in the United States. I don't have a car so I take the bus. It's okay in the summer time, but really sucks in the winter time. I think Americans need to realize that we're not all RICH, and that some of us would like to have a nice little cheap (but reliable) car. We can't all afford a new car every couple of years with all the bells and whistles.