India's Tata Motors to launch ultra-cheap Nano car

Source: Associated Press

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Tata Motors said it will launch its ultra-cheap Nano car in Mumbai on Monday — a vehicle meant to herald a revolution by making it possible for the world's poor to purchase their first car.

But few predict the snub-nosed Nano will be able to turn around the company, which has been beset by flagging sales and high debt, anytime soon.

The Nano, which is priced starting at about 100,000 rupees ($2,050), is a stripped-down car for stripped-down times: It is 10.2 feet (3.1 meters) long, has one windshield wiper, a 623cc rear engine, and a diminutive trunk, according to the company's Web site.

It does not have air bags or antilock brakes — neither of which is required in India — and if you want air conditioning, a radio, or power steering, you'll have to pay extra.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3BC8EMwuEPU7yKdE1SiURAsWWqQD973173O0

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Just what the planet needs, a $2000 car....

:rofl:

Seems a real threat to the home market.

My bike has a bigger engine than that car.

That impoverished Southern cities like the one I live in could afford to invest in.

...still lives in villages. The density for mass transit isn't there. The cities aren't the target market for this, the countryside -- conurbations of 10,000 to 100,000 is. The big cities are undrivable as it is.

The Citroen 2CV, the Nano of its day, appeared with a suspension specifically designed to be able to cross a plowed field.

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More pix here

Dont tutch the boot.™

This will be a net PLUS for the world's environment!

If they can turn on a dime during World War II and build whole fleets of great ships and weapons and jeeps and tanks and canteens and all the war paraphernalia in record time why can't they get just as serious about wind turbines, solar cells, green cars and revolutionary green industry?

It's not like we haven't done this sort of thing before.

I suspect the answer lies with power and greed. If you can control the world's energy, then you have some measure of control over the world. If truly green, clean renewable energy were available to ALL, then we wouldn't rely on our fossil fuel drug dealers any more and their would be greater economic equality in the world. Can't have that; the power elite need an underclass to rule, one that's desperate to work cheaply for whatever crumbs are thrown their way.

that's their full-size model.

make one that is like a small pick up.

A vast market.

raw materials alone cost more than that

The gas car is much more complex to build and uses more material than an electric.
But I assume you think that because batteries are now expencive...but that is due more to the fact that they do not mass produce them than the cost of material.

1. The Indian car can not meet US safety standards, and is useless for the US market.

2. Electric cars that meet modern US driving needs are considerably more expensive to build than gas-engine cars. The batteries are massive and use exotic materials, and will not become cheap anytime soon.

My guess is that we'll see fuel-cell/battery electric hybrids before too long.

No reason to think they won't be subject to change. "Needs" are often confused with "wants," which can come at the expense of adapting effectively.

As I mentioned downthread, the discussion is usually framed along the lines of "highway safe" EV's. Well, you can hold either end of that stick: what we need even more are "EV safe" highways.

Meanwhile, the hybrids probably have their place in an overall transition process -- it won't be overnight, that's for sure.

Nickel is not exotic nor is cadmium and lead is cheep.
And how can the safety issues be different for a gas car than an electric one? In fact is should be cheaper because there is no fuel system to worry about and hundreds of fewer parts.
Edited to ask:
and what about the exotic material used in catalytic converters...Platanum that will not be necessary in an EV?

Nano will meet Euro IV for vehicles to be launched in India. Nano will also be exported to Europe where it will meet Euro V standards.

And let me also clarify, Nano isn't a $2000 car. The base version of the car is Rs 100,000 ($1800). If you want power steering, Air conditioning, power windows - you need to pay another $2000. My expectation is that Nano with base level comforts from other cars will cost $4500 - that's the current price for India's base car model (Maruti Suzuki 800 & Alto)

The price expectation for the Europe model is about $6000 - not terribly cheap as expected.

My friend who is aware of the project told me that a US export model priced at $9000 was under consideration.

safety standards. That's why it is very costly to import a car made for the European market and drive it in the US. It takes a ton of modifications to make it street safe.

The car doesn't have BASIC safety features that have been standard on even the cheapest POS cars sold in the US for twenty years. I would guess the emissions controls are similarly primitive to non-existent.

From here: http://business.rediff.com/money/2009/mar/23/tata-nano-launch-history-set-to-be-created.htm

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While critics had been sceptical about the car meeting safety and emission norms, Tata had said during the unveiling of Nano on January 10, 2008, in Auto Expo in Delhi that the car would meet Bharat Stage-III emission norms and could also meet the stringent Euro 4 norms. The car has also gone through a full frontal crash test as per standard norms, he said.

Besides, the European version of the car was unveiled in the first week of this month at the Geneva Motor Show. The company plans to roll out the car by 2011, complying with Euro V emission norms and some added features.
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This had better be true, because if it just as (or more) polluting than the scooters and auto-rickshaws it is intended to replace, there will be absolutely no point in making it.

I'd say there's definitely a lot of pent-up demand for an electric car at a particular price-point, which may indeed be around $2000. That vast market might even be available at a somewhat higher price-point, making it that much more likely that the things will get built.

My own "now we're getting serious" point is probably around $5,000. Another way to look for the sweet spot, perhaps, is to note the average minimum price of a used car that's in acceptable running condition. A quick, unscientific scan of Craig's List would seem to put it at around $3,000. That figure would represent a very broad-based opportunity cost for acquiring another vehicle.

I think there's a larger point here that's worth keeping in mind, though. Part of the challenge of transitioning to electric vehicles has to do with what we think of as "a car."

A "car" is a two-ton, mile-a-minute lounge on wheels that can accommodate an entire nuclear family and X amount of stuff. It's extravagant in many ways, its evolution shaped by a temporary abundance of cheap fossil energy. An EV isn't a direct substitute for a car, nor is it likely to be. Arguably, the very point of EV's is to be more modest in the use of energy.

I think it's very unlikely, once the transition is widespread, that the EV's in use will fully meet the criteria we have in mind right now when we demand a "car" that happens to be electric.

You sometimes hear discussion about the need for "highway safe" EV's. I suggest that it would be at least as productive to start considering "EV safe" highways.

show rooms.

more here:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4251491.html

We need CHEAP public transport --- or ANY public transport -- in India's cities and towns!

Should Europeans?

I went to Bangalore a year ago, and the traffic is absolutely awful. It's a lot worse than it was when I had last been there, about five years before. Apparently they are building a light rail there. I have no idea when it will be completed. I believe other major cities in India like Mumbai and Delhi have some mass transit such as light rail or subways. I can't comment on them myself. India definitely needs to invest a lot in basic infrastructure as well. The roads in the cities definitely aren't keeping up with the population growth.

But at the same time, considering I saw a family of three or four people on a scooter or motorcycle (usually a man, his wife, and a child or two), I think the Nano would be a good alternative. It's certainly not suitable for US roads though, considering our speeds are much faster. The Nano would not meet any basic crash test standards here.

Carry on.

Tatas are going to launch Nano in US: http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/mar/23/tata-nano-may-go-to-us-in-3-years.htm

In brief:

"The US has certain additional requirements particularly in terms of rear crash. No other country presently has, so there will be some redesign necessary, but we believe that within the next three or so years, we could develop a version of the Nano with options the US market might want to have," Tata added.

Tata said: ". . . obviously (Nano) would not be a Rs 1-lakh or a $2,500 car (in Europe), it will have all the airbags and all the safety features that would be demanded by the European customers."

So, in summary - NANO MIGHT BE POTENTIALLY AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN US - BUT NOT FOR $2500. My guess is that the base model will be around $6000

he said ta-tas.

Heh heh heh.

If it doesn't sell, is it ta ta to Tata?