The story behind Tata’s $2,500 Nano

I like the rear brake vents. really sports it up. oh wait,.. thats just black plastic moldings? oh,.. never mind.

Yeah, all kidding aside, this is quite the brilliant exercise in cost cutting. I dont know if safety will be the biggest concern cause this thing may not be going very fast in the end. specially with 33hp.

By the way, 2500$ is peanuts for us here in the developed world, but most people would think 2500$ is hard to come by in india. for most, yes; however, indian friends of mine have assured me that 2500$ is pretty spectacular even in india. expect sales to hit a million a year. this car could very well over take the beetle for the best selling car ever. or was that the model T? i dont know, i think i've gotten my history confused. but this car will sell. in a market with 1.1 billion people, even if this is only accessible to the top 1%, thats still 11 million people. thats more than all of NYC's residents; with only one option in the motorized transportation department.

The problem isn't what the 33 horsepower can propel this car to, the problem is the normal car coming the other way...

But yes, this will be India's version of the beetle, which wasn't that safe of a car either...

Having traveled to India many times I can tell you that if you drive in the city the traffic rarely exceeds 30-40km/h. There are so many obstacles on the road that you simply cannot go faster. As for safety, it\'s a hell of a lot better than fitting 4 people on a scooter (which is not uncommon in India).

We are all used to discussing S-classes with preventative safety systems, more airbags than you can count, and all kinds of electronics but you need to think of the common man in India who simply wants to get from A to B without getting wet.

The vents are the engine's air intakes... it's located in the rear just like the original VW Beetle.

I still think (and hope) this car will revolutionize the world, just as Ford's T did. I think other car companies will start thinking about the need to reduce car's weight and costs, and it will start a movement to smaller, lighter, cheaper, greener cars across the industry.

Its amazing they actually put an engine in that thing. They should have fitted some pedals to it instead so the common indian man could get from A to B without getting wet and getting his cardio workout at the same time! LOL

Oh now that's just wrong.
Funny, but wrong.

This car will sell many millions. And it will have competition quite soon. Renault is working on a $3000 car for India in cooperation with Bajaj Auto.

As for safety being a concern in this car, yes, but it's a smaller concern that no car at all.

You can very much die at 60 km/h. The EuroNCAP frontal impact safety test is done at 64 km/h and look there what happens to safe western cars. It sucks not to have an airbag at that speed.

Gus; Jezza has the right idea. in most cases, this thing's biggest obstacle will be a rickshaw. or stationary objects. and with the congestion in foot traffic, this thing wont be going very fast either. at 30kmph, even a death trap is survivable. hell.. you can fall off a motor cycle at 30kmph and still walk away with bumps and bruises. my focus's cruise control wont even engage in the speeds that this thing will operate in because they dont want you setting the cruise at 30kmph and bailing ship. cause you can at those speeds. this thing could be made from wood and be safe.

Paulo; i just got told. thanks. i didnt realize the engine was in the back and those were actually vents. my comedy has been lost.

Steve; i hope that this car stays in india and other small markets where the afformentioned S classes will not change lanes into this thing at high way speeds and kill 4 people crammed into the thing. smaller cars, i definitely agree. lighter? well; that will be worked on greatly in the coming years in order to increase mileage. The people want green cars, and you will get green cars. but this thing is a gas powered golf cart with doors. it will revolutionize india, but not the western world. yes, cars are expensive, but i think the problem with everyone wanting gas guzzlers is cause you cant buy a small car thats well built. i mean, to the calibre of their bigger brothers. If i could have gotten the 3,000$ gps touch screen option in my focus, i would have. I wanted a fully loaded car. i want the smallest, fully loaded car ford makes. I like hearing about the tesla roadster cause its a small yet high tech car. ok... my rambling alert just went off. i have to stop. im getting off topic.

vesko; the common indian man doesnt have to do cardio. they walk. every where. there are parts of the world that dont know what a work out is. but yes, amazing that they even have an engine in that thing.

SMC; i guess that's one way of looking at it. would you rather be in this car, or the pedestrian that its hitting? the question is what happens when this revolutionizes transport in india and everyone has one of these? when they start smashing into one another, that may be a problem.

The interesting thing about the Nano is that next cheapest car the Suzuki/Maruti 800 with a similar performance but with slightly less interior space and lower crash test rating, and also built in India is double the price.