NEW DELHI — India's Tata Motors on Thursday unveiled its much anticipated $2,500 car, an ultracheap price tag that suddenly brings car ownership into the reach of tens of millions of people across the world.

While the price has created a buzz, critics say the vehicle, called the Tata Nano, will lead to millions more cars hitting already clogged Indian roads, adding to mounting air and noise pollution problems. Others have said Tata will have to sacrifice quality and safety standards to meet the target price.

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Company Chairman Ratan Tata has said the car will be the least polluting car on the Indian roads and meet necessary safety standards.

Chief U.N. climate scientist Rajendra Pachauri, who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize, said last month that "I am having nightmares" about the prospect of the low-cost car.

While introducing the car at an auto show in New Delhi, Tata said the Nano had passed emission standards and would average about 50 miles per gallon.

"Dr. Pachauri need not have nightmares," Tata said.

Dealers will sell the car for 100,000 rupees — $2,500 — but customers will pay slightly more than that due to taxes and other charges.

source

From the picture. that car seems to be smaller (or about the same) size as the Toyota Yaris.

What did they NOT include in this car to sell it for $2,500? No radio, no A/C, no spare tire, .... ??

My God, the metal work on the car must be paper thin.... I can't imagine someone surviving in a crash....

It's still better than a scooter.

Could be but not guaranteed. I see them both as unsafe and this is a car, therefore it can go faster. Crashing at higher speeds then again causes more damage.

The car's materials won't be satisfying I guess, they can't be. If you hit a wall with this car you're just "buried alive" under a coat of metal. This whole car will fold up like a can of tuna.

Ah well, I'm waiting to see the footage and results of the dummy crash tests.

Have you been to India? not a lot of speed on the roads since its so congested.

Yes I have and I know but does that mean that there won't be no crashes? And even if there are no crashes, if this car is succesful you can be assured it will go international.

Well, they better sell it under another brand name here in Quebec (anywhere that speak French!), because here, "Tata" is French for "Stupid" or something like that....

Then again, with all the monster SUV here, and the speeding.... You would have to be "Tata" to buy this car...


Only the little Smart can live here, and it cost ALOT more than $2K....

It actually looks surprisingly like a Yaris (I own one). I would buy one of these, though. Haha. I like it.

here is another pic of the car.

and the interiors

12"/13" rims?

Instead of fog lights and rims... maybe they could have put in a radio or a/c instead.

dont know.


there are 2 variants with ac

Tata nano? How about the iTata.

lol -- its only got 33 BHP... 0-60 ~ sorry 60 cant be reached

http://www.tatapeoplescar.com/tatamotors/

the cars totally customizable. click the design your car link.

Looks like a cross between one of those push cars for babies and a lawnmower

Bio

is it really better to get a new cheap ass car like that or getting a used car that at least not look like a $10 toy.

Thanks for the pic guru.

It looks like a squashed Ford Focus.

It is a good car and there's certainly a market for it in Asia and Africa, possibly South America too. I doubt we will ever see it in Europe or North America thou.

As for safety, most of the time if you drive in New Dehli or Mumbai, you are stuck in traffic. It is definitely a lot safer than a scooter or a bike. When I was in China, I used to see 3-5 people riding on the same bike without helments! Totally unsafe.

My only concern is the emission. With this car becoming available and affordable to so many people, I'm sure Tata will produce it in large quantities.

Yeah that's what i was thinking. Now that cars can be easily available it will cause more congestion and pollution.

lol
wow, its like a three wheeler with an extra wheel!
soon these guys will buy jag and land rover....
tata range rover lol.........lets see what the southern asians bring to the table in a lux market full of germans and lexus

How does it even manage not to topple over with those wheels?

Why woudl it? Look at how long the wheel base is.

I wouldn't turn faster than 10mph though.

I heard about this last night, while watching the news.
They said it could never be sold in Europe because it didn't had airbags and other stuff.

Do you mean, "teteux"?

I'd think English would be more of a problem.

"Do you like the Tatas, or do you prefer bodacious Tatas?"

That would depend on the height of the centre of gravity, the longitude of the wheel base, and the width. I don't see a problem with that looking at the car.

I'm not to sure but 10mph is low, you're right.

Cars in India historically have been pretty pricey - new and used, and a large amount of them are derived from other manufacturer's old models. There is not a large readily available amount of used cars. If you had no car at all, or this, somehow, I suspect you'd choose this.

For the target audience, its perfect. What do you guys expect from a $2,500 car?

better off buying a used car for $2,500 that has a/c /radio and nothing wrong with it (just high mileage) than buying this thing, its so terrible looking. I'd rather ride a scooter than drive that thing.

We're talking personal opinion here.

it won't come to the west. It is for only middle class in india. I think this great for families but not good for roads in india.

The design is good and the mileage is great. Small and great to park here in India. Will be a hit in some places in Asia and Europe.

The crazy thing is, the Indians would have to still "think about it" before buying.

You don't think when making a $2,500 purchase... or do you? Why are you making a racial issue out of this?

Everyone does, it isn't a racial issue. Maybe I should get one of these since it only has 33 HP.

Why not? I'm sure that $2,500 can still be a high price for some and there is no racial pun intented.

The roads are so rough in india that I hate being in a car. I prefer it when I'm a jeep/land rover variant, trust me you would feel the same way when see all the potholes and 30cm high speed humps (this isn't how all of india is like just the parts the government doesn't bother developing)

I don't know how they build cars in india but they sure can go through alot of abuse such as late gear shifts or shifting into high gears too early, going through deep potholes upto 3inches deep and general long journeys.

Don't pay attention to him, he just wants to pick at my posts because of the little disagreement we had a few days back.

no offense, but that did seem like you're making it a racial issue with your first post. If everyone has to think about a purchase that size, then what was the point in even posting the first post anyways?

None taken. Do you have any Indian friends? The reason I ask is because it is a joke with my friend and I, well associate I should say. He is Indian and told me that it is a cultural thing and they need to consult with the entire family before making a decision. They are very very family oriented and don't buy things just to say they have it, they only buy it if it makes financial sense which is why they take time to purcahse. I have been in sales for a while and I realize that there are different types of buyers.

Blacks and Hispanics buy on emotion, Asains and Indians buy on logic. I learned all of this the hard way while books are being written as we speak on the subject. Another thing about the mentality of sales which I find very disturbing but has nothing to do with this point or post, blacks don't trust each other when it comes to sales. (Blacks hardly buy from blacks)

You can either wait for me to look it up tomorrow for you, or you can google it. I am going to sleep.

Oh and I didnt respond to the other guy because he was waiting to start a flame war which I am not up for.

You see, if I was an Indian, I would be offended at what you said in post #35 because you made fun of my culture.



Sorry to disappoint you, but I have more important things to do than get myself involved into forum drama. I'm not a forum stalker.

Good luck!

one thing with this car is that it has no AC..so imagine getting stuck on a hot summer day in some long traffic jam like they are in india.

Don't worry, I don't even look at the poster. I was just explaining my point of view.

I went to the Auto Expo the other day, and once the base model does well, they'll release an AC version as well (it was being showcased at the expo).
Will post some pics later.

What was the price of the version you saw? The whole "special" point here is the $ 2,500. It will still be cheap, that's for sure, but the price will raise making it harder to buy for people who can just buy the $ 2,500 version.

Its around INR 1,25,000 I think, not that bad.
Here are some more pics (sorry for the blurs, novice shooter here)

So basically, this is to India in 2008 what the Yugo was to the US 20 years ago, a cheap car that very few people (other than poor students and others with very little money) will buy. As much as I hate to admit it, I had a Yugo back then, and it was at least kind of fun to drive.

Hey cmon , im an Indian livin in India ......... the dude is right.

He aint racist or anything, actually its more like the poor mans vehicle, but it sure will f*** up our already f****** up Indian roads.

Ive heard that the company TATA is making just 100$ as profit per car.



dude does a scooter have an AC ? so why bother