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World's Cheapest Car

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...atata_Nano.jpg

Quote:

World's cheapest car launched in India, will go on sale in April

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The world's least expensive car, the Tata Nano, has been launched in India. It will go on sale in April, and will start delivery in July. The automobile costs only 100,000 Indian rupees, or just under US$2,000.

"We are at the gates offering a new form of transportation to the people of India, and later I hope other markets as well," said the chairman of the auto firm, Ratan Tata, calling the vehicle a "milestone."

"From the drawing board to its commercial launch, the car has overcome several challenges," Tata said. "I hope it will provide safe, affordable four-wheel transportation to families who till now have not been able to own a car

"This was never conceived as the cheapest car, but as providing transport to those people who never owned a car," Tata said. "Driven mainly by the change in demand that we see elsewhere in the world, we suddenly felt we had a product that could be of considerable interest as a low-cost product in western Europe, eastern Europe, the UK and even the U.S."

The Tata Nano is a four-door vehicle, and is 3 metres long, 1.5 m wide, and 1.5 m tall. It is equipped with a 33 bhp, 624 cc engine at the rear. No radio, airbags, power steering, or air conditioning are available in the basic model, although upgrades are available. The Nano Europa, a slightly larger European version of the car, is expected in 2011.

According to Ravi Kant, the managing director at Tata Motors, the first 100,000 people to receive a Nano would be chosen from the initial orders by a ballot.

An auto analyst for Bombay's Angel Broking, Vaishali Jajoo, predicted that the Nano will add only three percent to Tata's revenues even if it can sell a quarter of a million such cars per annum.

"That doesn't make a significant difference to the top line," Jajoo said. "And for the bottom line, it will take five to six years to break even."

Environmentalists say that the car will exacerbate traffic problems already rife in India, and help increase pollution levels. Tata, however, stated that its vehicle is the least polluting car in the country.

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/World%27...l?curid=123234

Okay, design aesthetics aside (the thing is kinda ugly), this could be a pretty good thing. I don't know how sufficient a 33bhp engine is on the roads of India, but this should make up for a very low footprint for those who are into the the green craze.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoganSnake (Post 2612813)

, but this should make up for a very low footprint for those who are into the the green craze.

If you actually care about that stuff... then this is the nightmare car. It has zero emissions control. It has no catalytic converter in the exhaust and no evaporative catch for the gas fumes. Personally I think that this is how cars should be... but true greenies will hate it. Also it will never pass America's crash standards... no airbags etc.

It is good what it is designed for... a cheap car for a developing country. But those who go around thinking that they will be able to get a new car for 2k in a few months "when this makes it over to America" are not considering emissions, safety, and import costs.

That really is the ugliest thing I've ever seen lol!!!

It is an interesting advance in India where it will replace the major mode of motorized transport currently used... scooters. This is the first time that lots of families will be able to have a sheltered transport that can move more than 1 or 2 people around at a time.

It is going to be huge in its intended market. Worldwide use is going to be non-existent IMO.

It is also going to be a huge problem for the congestion of metropolitan India. Ask anyone who has traveled to Dehli, Mumbia, or other larger Indian cities. The streets are positively choked with scooters, pedestrians, bicycles, commercial vehicles, livestocks, wagons, carts, and on and on. Add to that mix, these Nano cars, many of which will be driven by people who have never before driven a car... ever. Yeah, it is going to be messy.

When we were in Delhi there was some traffic. Okay it was the most ridiculous amount of traffic I have ever seen. Most cars don't have side mirrors because they get knocked off easily since if there are 3 painted lanes, there must be 5 lanes for traffic.

If you saw how many people that rode on the tricycles it was amazing. This limits a great number of things like how many people can actually latch onto the vehicle and ride it.

There was one intersection where we encountered an extreme amount of traffic, it turned out there was an accident a car hit a donkey cart and turned it over.

Smart cars haven't taken off here in the US, so i doubt there's a market for it here, more fear mongering by the greenies. In Europe tho, this is a great entrance for them. It makes sense why Tata motors wanted LandRover and Jaguar. It gives them an easy distribution arm for this car and other Tata models.

And I shall call it, "Pikachu."

I don't see any car smaller than a Versa getting picked up here. Not as long as we have massive SUVs and trucks on the roads. That's a deterrent right there. I mean, what chance does a car of that size stand against a 6,000+ pound truck?

They clearly saved a lot of money on wheel estate. Get it? Wheel estate? Nothing?

Anyway, not all environmentalists are thinking the same thing about the Nano. I like the idea that one uses less resources on it and it's pretty efficient (a hair over 50 mpg). If more cars were like this, we'd probably have less pollution. Admittedly, it does keep heading in a petrol direction, but we won't be getting of gas for some time still, and I don't see these cars lasting more than 15-20 years or about 130,000 miles (whichever comes first).

Wheel estate.

I think it would be fun to drive.
I enjoy small cars.
I think it will do well in India. I don't think it will take off in the American market. It probably won't take off in the European market either.
I don't consider it ugly.

Hmmmm, is it disposable?

Quote:

Originally Posted by hunnychile (Post 2613067)

Hmmmm, is it disposable?

Aren't all cars? (Well, North American makes, anyway. ;))

I don't think this is a step in the right direction. This invites more cars on the road and the side effects of pollution, smog, etc.

It looks encephalitic. Seriously. It's swollen on four tiny wheels.

I don't see this as being a particularly GOOD THING. The developing world needs less pollution, not more, and this thing isn't going to solve any problems except someone's vanity.