I thought this was pretty interesting.
Tata Motors, India’s largest automobile company, unveiled the world’s cheapest car today - according to a press release on the company’s website. This brand new two-cylinder vehicle is priced at INR (Indian Rupee) 100,000 equivalent to $2549 US dollars.
Image source: www.tatapeoplescar.com
Honestly, when I heard about this concept more than an year ago, I thought the project will sort of fizzle out eventually because of cost inflation and gross underestimation of technological challenges. Now, I stand corrected.
By the way, on a side note, Tata Motors is also in talks with Ford to buy Jaguar and Land Rover businesses.
If you think oil prices are high now, wait till this $2549 car becomes popular. It should be noted that “popular” has a totally different meaning when we are talking about a country with 1 billion people. But it could have been worse …. we are fortunate that China isn’t making any $1000 cars …. yet.
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Keep in mind, this vehicle isn’t at all targeted at the US market. In Asia and to a lesser degree Europe, the vehicles are a heck of a lot smaller than the average land yacht you see in the US. They can rule the roost locally and have all the sales they could ever need. Tata is a huge company in India and they have hands in all sorts of pots. This vehicle won’t change a thing for the West.
Robert, are you nut’s?? This will change everything for the west. Gas consumption will spike, crude oil will double, and world green house gas will, well go through the roof!
David,
You are so right, we must endeavor to keep the Indian and Chinese people on foot and on mopeds so that we can continue to enjoy cheap gasoline.
I could imagine the gas savings but I wouldn’t feel too safe in that thing. Maybe if everyone else had one it would be ok.
Ron, you missed my point, it wasn’t meant to keep others from having their own car. I was just pointing out that making a cheap car available to a billion people who currently use mass transportation would cause a world impact on many levels.
The U.S. has for to long been the highest consumer of world resources, and we need to get more in line with what is a more reasonable level that can be sustainable.
The price of crude oil has tripled in less then 5 years with only a modest increase in world consumption (relative to the last 50 year trend), what happens to that when 2 billion people can suddenly afford to purchase a car (India & China)??
David,
Forgive my sarcasm, I get weary of hearing about how the Chinese and the Indian’s are going to destroy the planet by following our example.
The intent of the NANO is to get families off of more polluting and dangerous 2- stroke motorcycles and into something that is safer and environmentally more friendly. I doubt that all 2 billion will be driving them. I’d like to see cars in the mold of the the NANO become more prevalent in the West, it looks like an adequate commuter to me.
Ron, but that is what will happen, we need to drastically change our pattern, who knows how much oil is out there. But Exxon and Shell what their 100 billion dollar a year profit’s. How much more pollution can we emit before we get to a tipping point and cause unrecoverable impact? I’m not Chicken Little running around screaming the sky is falling, but we have for to long just wanted to ignore the problem and hoped it would just go away, well it’s not going to. We had campaigns out there to get peoples attention on the gas issue, does anyone remember the “to hell with shell” slogans? Well that was THIRTY years ago, and we still have not changed a thing, a couple thousand hybrid cars does constitute a change. India and China need to adopt better mass transit solutions to alleviate the mobility issue, not put more cars on the road. And the rest of the world needs to follow suite with better trains (less truck transports), more fuel efficient standards for cars, and more government research into the fuels of the future.
I agree with David. This car is not meant to get people off “polluting” forms of transport. It is meant to give a car to more people. How much hi-tech emissions control could they put into a $2500 car? Even if it is, as they say, less polluting than a “two wheeler” the thing probably weighs 4 times as much and consumes 2 or 3 times more fuel. Hopefully they car pool!
On the plus side, it’s probably way better on fuel than our North American cars. Maybe we should buy them over here.
I think the scary part of this is that if there is a huge influx of cars in India all at once the road/driving infrastructure is just not scalable at the moment. Most of the Indians have I talked to about traffic there have said that already they do not have the infrastructure to match the number of cars/trucks on the road. I was very impressed with the driving in India (check out this youtube for a visual - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Doy_7sOoM ) but when scaled to higher speeds, my understanding is that there are a lot of really really ugly accidents.
But, as Robert said, this car would be a comparable size to most of the cars in India. I saw one Honda Fit over there and it looked huge compared to the cars next to it.
2500 USD FOR A NEW CAR IS NOT BAD AT ALL,
it is fine !
actually it is unnecessary now to pay for any car more than 10 times that sum,for mercedes benz,porsche,rolls royce or jaguar.
more than 25k USD for any car is just enriching carmakers in the west. the non-western world should now stop funding the luxurious lifestyle of whites by buying their cars for a sum far more than 25k.
TATA is not a small player in the entire world and they are slowing eating the giants in the west. Jaguar and Land Rover will soon in the pockets of TATA the Indian Giant. Environment issues will not a big issue, Nano meets European emission standards. lOOking into the future these kind of cars can easily fueled with solar energy or electic power. There is car called Reva in the Indian market which runs with electric power and it is gaining popularity in UK.
Cannot just degrade the biggest achievement - The Small wonder car TATA Nano for just 2500 USD
http://meninweb.blogspot.com/
I’ve been saying for several years that the American working poor are going to get massively hosed by converging forces of housing, energy, and health care costs. They will be forced by housing costs to live further and further from their jobs, while rising fuel costs make the commute unaffordable.
Looks like the hosing is getting ever closer.
I’m not sure how safe I’d feel sitting and driving a vehicle that was less expensive than some gaming computers out there..
-Raymond
Guys! Bull shit! This car is a piece of crap. I stayed in India for more than 20 years and I know how things work over there. In cities, its a total congestion and most people use public transport which in some places is better than New York. In India, car is considered as a symbol of status and now as this car is portraited as a poor man’s car, owning this car will be considered as below the dignity level to many…….The feel will be exactly like the way people driving Honda And Toyotas considering Kia rio or Dodge neon and even worse than that for sure!
I want one - we need to get more small and fuel efficient cars in the US. Right now the choice just isn’t there - just a couple of hybrids and the Mini. Those cars also don’t depreciate much so there’s not a big discount for getting a used one.
I am from India and I know how traffic is. I was a person who would rather drive a 2-wheeler to work than a car since I could reach my destination faster. The only disadvantage is the amount of polluted air you take in when you drive a 2-wheeler. Driving this car would avoid it to an extent. Also it is much safer than a 2-wheeler. I would consider having this in the US if I don’t have to drive the highways.
Harry Todd@ you are a big liar, aren’t you? Call me on it and i’ll tell you why.
First of all, this car is good news for India and the developing world. If this replaces all those smoke-chugging motocycles, scooters and rickshaws out there. And I believe the “5-seater” motor-scooter market segment is what Tata is targeting with the Nano.
Second of all, we in the USA no longer have a fricking right to lecture the world - especially the “third” world - about global warming, oil consumption, traffic congestions, air pollution, water tables, rights of the underprivileged, discrimination, democracy, freedom of expression, separation of church and state, or basically just about anything. Our idea of environmental consciouness is the Prius, for Krishna’s sake!.
Pot. Kettle. Black.
It kind of looks like the Smart Car … though I wouldn’t want to entrust my life to this.
I sort of anticipated some of the comments above … and sometimes it surprises me as to the conclusions we (including me) draw without knowing much about anything.
Anyways, that’s besides the point.
Before discussing secondary issues about oil or anything, let me first appreciate the fact that they delivered what they promised - in the price they promised - before anyone else in the world did. That in itself is awesome (at least in my opinion).
Robert: “They can rule the roost locally” - we will surely sing a different tune when Tata acquires Jaguar and Land Rover - it’s just a matter of time.
David: I understand what your are saying and this car will have it’s share of impact on the oil equation, but believe me, with the falling dollar we will never realize it.
On a serious note, the US consumes oil by almost an order of magnitude more than India so we shouldn’t really complain about any other country contributing to pollution till we stop driving 15 mpg vehicles to work - with just one person in each. For the record:
- US oil consumption: 20.73 million barrels per day (population 301 million).
- India oil consumption: 2.45 million barrels per day (population 1.13 billion).
On the flip side, I don’t know if the car will deliver where it intends to - that is, reducing the number of two wheelers and the corresponding pollution. If you take away the two wheelers and substitute them with equal number of four wheelers, it is obviously going to increase the congestion (read more pollution) ~ so it’s success in metropolitan areas is a bit doubtful. However, it may strike the fancy of the massive rural middle class (for whom this car comes in the affordable range) or the public transport entities (taxis and rickshaws) and that just might make it the most popular car in the world.
The impact on oil economy may not measurable, but it will be felt - although that still doesn’t give us the right to complain about it.
Caro: That’s an awesome video … although it seems to be in the fast forward mode.
Ron: “we must endeavor to keep the Indian and Chinese people on foot and on mopeds so that we can continue to enjoy cheap gasoline.” - LOL.
I think there is confusion about the oil supply/demand implications of the Nano. Of course the U.S. and Europe are currently much bigger oil consumers than India but the point is that, according to oil economists, a relatively small increase in global utilization will cause a disproportionate spike in oil prices for everyone. It shouldn’t degenerate into a moral issue about who should and who should not be entitled to guzzle gas, it’s just a fact to be understood. Because the global oil supply situation is so tight the addition of just a few million extra Indian cars on the road will raise the price of crude for every person on the planet. The Nano may very well serve as the tipping point for eventually reaching $150 or even $200 a barrel oil. That translates to about $6 or $7 a gallon for the US. Let’s see how everyone feels about the Nano after that.
Hi GolbGuru
I think Mr Tata is offering a safer & affordable alternative to families in emerging nations who otherwise ride on 2-wheelers. And it looks like his ‘innovation around cost’ model is an interesting way of making such ideas a reality.
I think $6 or $7/gal gasoline is just what US consumers need to switch to smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles and to pay attention to inefficient driving habits. An awful lot of people (most it seems) just don’t care about the oil situation or gas prices until it affects their bottom line - it’s sad but true. Petrol in Europe is at around that level and the average engine size is about 1.5L (same as Honda Fit).
This car is a great achievement and will be a godsend to people in developing countries across the globe.
When it comes to oil the reality is there is tons of oil out there but the government in the U.S. refuses to let the oil companies go get it. We are the only country in the world that refuses to use our own natural resources and we penalize the companies that could help us harvest those resources reasonably.
I do not think oil is the future when it comes to energy, but it is the present. So we need to produce more oil now to keep prices low and stop funding the crazies in the middle east, and so that we can bridge the gap until new technologies are available and affordable.
The formula for success is pretty simple: more oil from domestic sources, more clean coal enabled power plants, more nuclear power, and more conservation from the western world as a whole. By attacking this problem from all angles, instead of focusing on just one, the developed world can ween itself off of oil so that the developing world can use it to jump start their economies. In the end the whole world will be more prosperous and cleaner.
Hello all,
Interesting comments. I agree Nano is pushes the envelope — in different ways. We have to start thinking of how more cars will be on the road. Also, what is next? Hopefully, other auto companies (Fords, GM, Toyota, Honda…) will start thinking about this paradigm shift. It is a wake up call for them not to find excuses of making smaller, cheaper, and more efficient cars (they don’t have to be $2,500). Let us start thinking about making cars smaller, more gas efficient, and functional. Also, we the people (East and West) should think about how more cars on the road is not good for our world. Not for Indians, not for Chinese, not for Nigerians, not for Iranians, not for Canadians, not for Americans, or for Eskimos. So, the world should start thinking about Earth and start thinking collectively to address how we are going to sustain the life style we craved for and still do. So, it is time that we as people start walking more, using public transportation more, and bycycling more. One thing that West needs to understand is the difference in attitude between East (India, for example) and the West. In India, when people go to fill gas tanks they don’t fill up the tank, but think about how much can they get by with. They also think about how long can they extend that gas for. In the US we fill the gas tank up thinking that gas prices may go up by few cents tomorrow. Well, I will stop here.
You guys are looking at this all wrong. What happened to the U.S. economy once Henry Ford started mass producing his automobile? The industrial revolution and an exploding economy.
Now that the average Indian can travel farther their economy is going to boom over the next twenty years. I say it is time to get in on Indian sector funds for the long term.
As for oil consumption we have enough oil to last a hundred thousand years or more on this planet it simply hasn’t been found yet. New fields are found seemingly every day with mother loads of crude. Hell even a man named Jeb found some bubbling crude while shooting for some food one time…o.k. maybe not Jeb.
Back to the topic, this car looks like a death trap and no American would be caught dead in it. They already have tiny three wheelers over in Europe that get 50 miles to the gallon. They are banned from the U.S. for safety reasons.
These will be no different.
that car seems so small
BE A PART !!!! NOT BREAK APART
this is absolutly a copied idea of smart cars ..
i dont understand with so many talented car designer
why cant people make innovative cars.. and i think its
sad the car compnies follow a very self centered approach towards
design .. even after realising indian economy booming up ..
the companies are creating mess for the country ..
imagine the roads after 10 years in delhi ..
will be full of these cars .. and every person will have a
mobile and this car .. because at certain point of time ..
easy loans and easy installments will lead a car to everyone ..
why cant people think of the future for this country .
why cant we have the same speed of the way we manufacturing cars ,
into the common transport infrastructure collective by the automobile
companies with real time solutions they have to be serious in design
what they offer to public , the idea of india is to grow without any
painful yet an assured future which is comfortable and in the long run ..
think about the world running away from gas and carbon fuels ,,
and india is falling into the hands of the oil cpmpanies ,,
and desperation of every person who will drive the car in next 20 years
,,
its a clear and alarming , india need realise wake up call for those
sleeping ..
i knw it sounds like absultly absurd that some comments like unwanted
,,like this but the idea of being a innovator or designer holds
responsibility of creating a smart solutions
i disagree if this car is for villages just beacuse its cheap ..
the idea is still not comunicated
.. we cannot use the microscope to study stars and galaxies
be a part!!! not break apart …!!
I am a professor at an indian design school and I have commented in detail on the Tata Nano on my blog “Design for India. I have a view that this is a great design, engineering and marketing achievement while it will also be a social and ecological disaster for India. This is the dilemma of any design success in a frenzied marketplace. Make it a consumer success and you have a runaway disaster that fuels consumption that the infrastructure and the society cannot take. As it is the Indian cities are crumbling from inplanned growth that the economists say will get sorted out by market forces but little innovation is in sight in the public transport facilities and systems and the way forward is therefore pretty bleak.
David:
You sound like Al Gore. Do you even know that within 75 months there are going to be cars that get 150 miles per gallon? Guess who is going to be making and selling them? General Motors and Ford!
The sky is not falling. Oil prices are within 5 years…
Ron,
Technology is about to change the world.
Do not worry man. It is all going to be ok. My 2015 forcast:
Oil: 20 bucks a barrel. @99cents a gallon.
150 MPG cars everywhere.
Regards,
Ames
I’ve read and read all of the comments and whatever. Main Question?
How much will it cost to have this car shipped to the US or Canada? The price sounds good, it sounds like a great grocery cart, and about town car, but the end result will be the shipping charges.
So who knows the answer to that? As it stands, I can buy anything for $1.00, but the cost of shipping is more than the cost of the item itself. So? Will it be worth it?
Pat
Um, look at the first picture. The tires on my lawn mower are bigger then those on the Tata.
This will never become street legal in the U.S. As I said before three wheel vehicles that get 50 plus per gallon are all the rage in Europe. Have you seen one lately in the States?
They are banned for safety reasons and this one will be as well.
As for the Professor’s comments he has good insight but as the vast consumer base in India becomes mobile the economy will spike freeing up more money for infrastructure.
These seem to be environmentally safe due to it being a 2 cycle so I see nothing but benefits from the Tata. Including benefits to the Indian sector funds I’m about to invest in.
Hi,
Does anyone know if they’re looking for dealers for this car? Just curious!
Dave A.
It is nice to know that so many people talk about such great issues.
But, it is sad to know that they only talk.
It is great to know that someone like Mr. Ratan Tata who can live life happily without doing so much for the society is doing something for the common man.
Innovations have helped the countries in the west realize their dreams of being rich and self sufficient. Why not the Third World Countries????
It is sad to know that despite of having a wonderful Mass Commuting/Transport System the US or the UK use the OIL so much:
- US oil consumption: 20.73 million barrels per day (population 301 million).
- India oil consumption: 2.45 million barrels per day (population 1.13 billion).
Don’t Teach, I would suggest Lead by Example. I have lived in the US and I love to walk, use the Mass Transit systems and like to sit in a park and spend quality time with my family and friends around in the US. I also work and earn a living. Then how different are you people citizens of US. Do the same. Don’t use the Hummers / Cadillacs or any big car.. The Limos and all. Don’t go and spend time in Pubs drink milk. Eat vegetable & don’t kill innocent birds and animals for food. Conserve the Environment.
Just live by what all you have said… Stop worrying about keeping the Indians on Foot and Mopeds. Because now the Indians or the Chinese have enough to support themselves.
RA
Yes it indeed is a revolutionary car because of the constraints of cost control for the project.Even western as well as japanese auto makers are baffled and it has evoked a grudging admiration from them
Good that people were discussing about TATA Nano.
I am sure that this car will not effect the Gas prices for sure.
Fyi
This is not not $2500, The on the road price will come around $3076 and that too it’s basic model. People who buy this car has to spend $200 to $500 more on car accessories.
This basic model does not have A/C etc.
And the Deluxe model will cost around $6000 and + ($200 to $500).
And more over this car not for the Cities and its only for rural areas.
I don’t think people in Rural areas will buy this car or show interest towards this car to buy.
For the same amount of $5000 - $6000 , people still can get a used car in Excellent condition (Santro, Wagnor) and can get new Suzuki “alto” if you spend $1000.
People in the west really no need to worry abt the Gas prices..
Trust me we really no need to worry abt this car at all, it’s just like Indica became (Inid Cab).
And another thing is not all 1+ billion people are buying this car.
Worse case TATA can sell around 1 Million cars in coming 5yrs…(That too if this car is a HIT).
What if the US goes into a major recession/depression, and Europe follows. What happens to India and China? Does this car still sell big?
@ Harry Todd — There are places in the world where public transportation is worse than NY? Really?
I applaud Ratan Tata for conceiving this idea and making it happen. I think the enviornmental impact of the Nano is overblown. Like some have already pointed out there is no guarantee that everyone that can afford $2500 will immediately jump at it. Also the existing infrastructure would be a bigger concern. Its more about the personal freedom and mobility. I am sure those of us in living in the US appreciate that idea.
The best hope is all those rickshaws on Indian roads that leave a trail of blacksmoke will be replaced with these Nanos.
My microblog about Nano - http://www.squidoo.com/cheapestcar
My transmission recently blew out… It’s hard to believe that this car costs less than my new transmission! Yikes!!!
This car looks like a casket maker. I am sure one nudge and it implodes.
Ron, you must go play with your little nano in your pants and not talk too much
its nice to see so many in the us (actually all over) discuss this issue, my point is — weather it sells or not, weather it causes probs or not, watever, watever, watever– TATA NANO is INDIA’s great achievement. And Many Indians and me are PROUD of it…..:)
Tata has much more interesting development of a car driven by compressed air. Now THAT would be a real revolution (the car is expected next year - here is some more info - http://www.dancewithshadows.com/autoindia/tata-mdi-compressed-air-car.asp)
Tata is trying to but Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.
I wonder will this car be able to stand the roads of India?
On the other hand its a sign of new hope for the people in general.
Fingers crossed.
I think they have every right to give this car away to every citizen if they wanted to, never mind charge for it. As soon as Americans and others decide to give up their gas guzzling SUV’s and drive smaller more fuel efficient cars, we can tell the rest of the world that cars are bad. We don’t exactly set a good example for everyone else, but we sure are good at telling them all what they should do.
Pretty neat car… I bet safety and emissions aren’t a real priority though.
I look forward to seeing how the Nano sells in India. I wish they would bring it over here. I know that it would sell. Just think of the possibilities. Actually, I am so convinced that it will do well that I just started a super-forum for Tata vehicles.
http://www.trickmytata.com
Cut down the development costs and out goes safety. It also has a maximum speed of 43mph which limits the roads it can be used on, so no motorway use.
It looks like it would crumble after hitting one pothole. I’ll keep with a bigger car for the safety.
Yes. I do very mcuh agree with these answers although most of you probably think that your answers are correct, but you are wrong, these Nano cars will be an huge jump in the vehicle indusrty and this will cause all global warming to corrupt how we live.
But what do I know, Iam only 9 years old:)
Sometimes you get what you pay for… I think case it is 4 wheels, 4 seats, and a go cart engine. Seems that may be all some people need. Really nothing special such as the $100 laptop effort that will actually have a positive effect on the developing world. If they had made it battery power with a solar charging station or ethanol powered with a do-it-yourself ethanol kit for rural communities… then it would be worth making the news.
You’ll never catch me riding in one of those cars.
Incidently, Jamsetji Tata was the first Indian to own a car. Ratan Tata has a ongoing love affair with autos. Tata Motors is going to end up ownng Range Rover anf Jaguar very soon.
However, the first mini is India was not Nano. Meera was the first Mini in India.
i too happy to listion about it .but its come should with a spacial sceem
its under one lakh yet midil class can face finance problume. so any finance sceem should be compalsary for saling it in india on large number
A nice price for a car but it’s so freakin ugly!
since these cars are fuel ifficient and if millions are sold over here in america whats going to happen is the oil and gas companies are going to raise the price ( and i mean raise the price ) on gas. if i were an oil company and i was losing money and losing profit because of a 50mpg car that millions have i’d raise the price on my fuel. so in reality, it cost $35-$65 dolloars to fill up cars/trucks today, expect it to be close to the same when the NANA hits america
Hey this is a great blog. Interesting posts. I’m going to be visiting it again for sure. I have a blog of my own on advertising / marketing. Just getting it started so it will take awhile to get it as successful as your’s seems to be.
Where can i buy this car Nano
This is the car that’s supposably supposed to help destroy the world. Since everyone can afford one now, there will be even more and more GHG’s released from the worlds most populous country. Grand.