This reminds me of a skit on Saturday Night Live about the Adobe car. The body was made of clay. Their motto was "you could buy a cheaper car, but we would not recommend it".

This car is not very different from the Fiat 500, Citroen 2cv and VW Beetle that got the European middle class into cars not so long ago. The main difference being that it is more fuel efficient, safer, more powerful, more affordable and environmentally friendlier. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be much more reliable as well.

If only Western Europeans and North Americans purchased cars with their heads instead of their egos...

I think they should make a US version. At $2500 and 40 mpg, it would give us a chance to invest the saved money in things other than all the extra steel and gas -- i.e. keep us from financing terrorists and Chinese imports. The reverse SUV. I like it!

"Tata is really on to something that I think most of us are missing. It's similar to the concept of the Grameen Bank. Give the poor the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty. Make those tools affordable to them."

I agree wholeheartedly. Very well said.

@ Max Reid and Patrick,

The NASA pressurized Space Pen had another use that proved very valuable, as well as writing checklists in Space.

It was used to jam across a pair of contacts and "hotwire" the Eagle to fire the rocket, and lift off Tranquility Base to return to Earth...

A pencil would not have served; as the metal body of the pen is electrically conductive and served as a great electrical jumper. It helped by bypass the wrecked firing switch.

And now you know... The Rest of the Story. It is only now that NASA is declassifying the problems that nearly stranded Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the Moon.

@ Max Reid and Patrick,

The NASA pressurized Space Pen had another use that proved very valuable, as well as writing checklists in Space.

It was used to jam across a pair of contacts and "hotwire" the Eagle to fire the rocket, and lift off Tranquility Base to return to Earth...

A pencil would not have served; as the metal body of the pen is electrically conductive and served as a great electrical jumper. It helped by bypass the wrecked firing switch.

And now you know... The Rest of the Story. It is only now that NASA is declassifying the problems that nearly stranded Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the Moon.

By putting a new car firmly into the price point of used cars, Tata is probably doing more to improve air quality in Indian cities than any other player.

How many old dirty polluting clunkers will get scrapped and recycled into something better because people are buying these instead? Especially in say, five years when the first of them start hitting the used vehicle market?

How many 2-stroke 3-wheelers, scooters and motorcycles will be retired because the owners can "move up" to a Nano?

I think the ramifications of this car on net emissions (maybe not CO2, but at least VOCs, NOx, SOx, particulates) in India are being seriously discounted by so-called "enviromentalists."

I wish Tata every success.

I hear so much envy here.. the fact is that this car would be very popular even in the States.. but the airbags and stability control stuff would probably double the price :)

I would love to have one.

Bodacious Tatas!! that was a good one.

This is absolutely frightening. Not that I think it is right to deny other countries their right to enjoy car freedom. The timing is just so off...

http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com

David:

"Bodacious Tatas"---now that's funny! That comment still brings a smile to my face!

I'm surprised at how much people miss when analyzing this. Basically you have a replacement for the scooter that is safer and less polluting. Factors such as resale value are unimportant here, do you really think that scooter a family of four is going to have much if any resale value? As to mileage, it doesn't really surprise me. About 20 years ago Four Wheeler magazine did an interesting test, they compared a I6 full sized GM pickup to a V8, both equipped identically (in fact they were even the same colour). Now, common wisdom would tell you that the 6 would win for fuel mileage, right? Nope, except when unloaded, the V8 got better gas mileage. Why? Because the engine was just loping along making no effort to move the vehicle, while the 6 had to work hard, particularly when loaded, so there was never that significant a difference. Likewise in this case, the engine is prolly working very hard to move this car, hence the lower mileage, it would prolly get better mileage with a 3 cylinder version of the same engine. Its important to size the engine to what it does, here we too often have too big a vehicle with an engine that's too big for the vehicle, which is a waste, but just as much as too small an engine. I'll be more interested in seeing what mileage the diesel gets, that'll bring a more durable engine with an inherently better fuel economy, and I'd happily buy one as a courier, if it was both diesel and a little stronger, as some of the roads here have 75MPH speed limits, and I don't care about my acceleration, just my fuel mileage.

Warning: Avoid other objects at all times. Not responsible for fatalities.

Think of this as a Yugo with 40% less durability, reliability and safety, WOW, I scarred myself. The secondary market will be the recycling piles. If these cars last more than 3 years or 30K miles, it will be a miracle.

Yes Joseph, your SUV is superior in every way and would literally crush a Nano! I really have no idea why anyone would choose something other than a full sized SUV for all their driving needs.

I think the Tata NANO is more an experiment to test a lot of new technologies to lower the cost of building an automobile. What is learned from this project could be applied to a larger vehicle in a similar configuration that meets Western safety standards and could be a candidate for fuel-cell or advanced electric power with supercapacitor batteries, but costs less in retail than the competition.

Tata nano is not an engineering marvel or an entirely new concept. Post-WWII europe had its Isettas and other people's cars. What is bothering me is that this car could be rebadged as the entry level Jaguar if Tata decides to stretch the brand if it succeeds in its bid for the company :)))

Bob B

It is well known that I do have an SUV. However, it is used as much if not more for my business than it is for my personal use. 80% of my miles is in a 45MPG TDI running a heavy mix of BIO-D. I expect to get 250K - 300K miles out of my TDI. Please don't use part of the story to sling mud.

Thanks
Joe

Yes, Japanese & Europeans have tiny cars as well, but having the technology is 1 thing, but bringing it to market is another important thing. It took 8 years for a mighty company like Daimler Benz to bring the Smart car to USA.

If they bring it to USA, they will apply a slightly more powerful engine which will cruise at 70 mph and that will be a good secondary vehicle.

Sorry, if my Space Pen comment has offended anyone. Ofcourse the Pens cost $2.95 / pen for 400 pens, but what about research cost, NASA wont spend anything less than $ 1 million.

Often, the SUV owner talk about hitting a small car, but they dont realise that they are pumping American Dollars into Arab countries. Recently, an Arab company took a small stake in Citibank, how long will it take for them to grab a company like Chrysler or Ford.

Joseph, I wasn't slinging mud, I was simply taking issue with your baseless bashing of the Nano. You stated "Think of this as a Yugo with 40% less durability, reliability and safety..." without providing any basis for that claim. The assertion that this car will be a safety hazard is a complete canard, considering it's target market is people who are currently using scooters and three-wheelers. Coupled with the fact that these cars are not being marketed toward N. America, it might appear that your disapproval of this vehicle comes from the mindset of someone who simply dislikes small vehicles, not necessarily for any logical reason. I would refer to it as an SUV-centric point of view, although I've observed the same mindset from those who cruise around town on Friday nights in big tricked-out pickups, and years ago, in those who felt the need to assert the superiority of their big Cadillacs or Lincoln Town cars, etc.

India does not have a system to validate the condition of used cars unlike the US, thus most Indian car buyers are extremely weary of second hand cars. This is yet another reason why the Tata Nano will be so successful.

i cant wait to geta nano and carry it on the back of my pickup to a parking lot on the edge of downtown then unload the nano for use in the in urban congesion areas.....

If the Nano proliferates it will be interesting to watch the traffic injury curve. And the attendant medical care costs? It seems that India already has many desperately disabled people. People in bumper cars with little safety equipment looks to be exploitive.

And it is a somewhat unfortunate name in the West(David's hilarious comment aside,) since the etymology of "Tata" is the cockney for "Goodbye."

"goodbye," 1823, a word first recorded as infant's speech. Abbreviation T.T.F.N., "ta-ta for now," popularized 1941 by BBC radio program "ITMA," where it was the characteristic parting of the cockney cleaning woman character Mrs. Mopp, voiced by Dorothy Summers.

The US, Australia and Canada are by far the highest emitters of CO2 per capita. The emitted CO2 levels per person in these three countries is 25 times as high as the emitted CO2 levels per person in India.
We now know, why both the US and Austrlia did NOT sign the Kyoto protocol. For shame !
So, instead of preaching to India on the dangers of the Tata Nano leading to increased emissions, the US and Australia should get their houses in oder, and cut down on the CO2 emissions per capita in their own countries. Right away.

I would have to agree with Chris.
Assuming that every person on the planet has equal rights, it would translate that every person on the planet should be entitled to emit the same amount of CO2 per person, regardless of their country of citizenship.
Therefore, it is nothing short of CRIMINAL on the part of the developed countries like the USA and Australia to keep driving their gas-guzzling SUVs, and keep emiting CO2 at 25 to 30 times higher levels than those emitted by persons in the developing countries, and still have the gall to preach down to the developing countries on their contributions to global warming. It is clear that the fox is in charge of the hen-house !

Anyone know the weight of the Nano?

chris @ wayne:

Well said.

Australians, Canadians and Americans don't want to know comparative GHG stats.

Those of us who happen to know quickly find reasons such as the size of our countries, too cold, too hot, too humid, too windy etc as if those conditions don't exist in other countries.

The reality is that we are about the worst polluters (per capita) and would be even much worse if the GHG created to produce all the goods we import were added to our already high score.

Canada with almost +40% in the last decade or so is probably one of the worse offender but we like to tell the world that we are a shining example to follow. The average Canadian believes that C.... and buys F-150 +++ to feel more powerful etc..