Posted on 01/09/2008 11:30:46 PM PST by Arjun
The Tata Rs 1-lakh car is here! And it's called the Nano!
Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata on Thursday unveiled the Tata Nano at the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi.
Details of the People's Car:
Ratan Tata, while unveiling the nano, said: "The car will meet all current safety norms and all emission criteria. The pollution it will cause will be lower than 2-wheelers."
The car, Tata said, is smaller than a Maruti [Get Quote], but has 21 per cent more volume or space inside than the 800. He said that the dealer price of the car will be Rs 1 lakh, plus value-added tax (VAT) plus transport charges.
The car will have a 624-cc petrol engine generating 33 bhp of power. It will sport a 30-litre fuel tank and 4-speed manual gearshift. The car will come with air conditioning, but will have no power steering. It will have front disk and rear drum brakes. The company claims mileage of 23 km per litre.
The car's dashboard features just a speedometer, fuel gauge, and oil light. The car does not have reclining seats or radio. The shock absorbers are basic.
Nano, the world's cheapest car, costs almost half of the cheapest car currently available anywhere in the world.
''Since, a promise is a promise the standard dealer version will cost Rs 1 lakh,'' said Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata.
He informed that the car is 8 per cent smaller bumper to bumper, than the Maruti800 but at the same time 21 per cent larger in its interiors and can sit up to four people.
Dispelling myths that the car was not safe enough Tata said, 'The car has passed the full-frontal crash and the side impact crash''. He also side stepped emission concerns and said the car will meet Euro IV norms.
While critics had been sceptical throughout about the car meeting safety and emission norms, coming as it is at that price, Tata said he was happy to announce that Nano meets all norms as would a modern car.
The car is eight per cent shorter than Maruti 800 on bumper to bumper length, but is 21 per cent more spacious, claimed Tata.
Alluding to fears expressed by environmentalist R K Pachauri and green activist Sunita Narain that the car at that price would add more vehicles on the road leading to higher vehicular pollution, Tata said the 624 cc, 33 HP petrol engine meets Bharat Stage-III emission norms and can also meet the Euro 4 norms.
"Pachauri will not have a nightmare and Sunita Narain can also sleep," he quipped, while recalling that some people had suggested that the car should be called 'Pachauri' and some others said that it should be named 'Mamta' � probably referring to the position TMC leader Mamta Banerjee had taken against the setting up of the small-car project at Singur in West Bengal.
Commenting on the safety standard, he said the car has gone through a full frontal crash test as per norms.
The Nano will come in three variants -- standard and two deluxe models with AC. The standard car would be available for Rs 1 lakh (ex-showroom), while VAT and transportation costs are extra.
The Nano is expected to be commerically launched in the second half of 2008. News reports say that Tata Motors [Get Quote] hopes to sell 500,000 units of the car, almost four times the number of Indicas it sells. Tata plans to focus on a market segment hitherto untapped.
Not since the launch of the Maruti 800 in 1983 has any car gripped the imagination of a nation and indeed car manufacturers the world over so intensely. If commercially successful, the Tata Nano can alter the passenger car market in India, and perhaps the world, beyond description.
Depends on the gearing. My bike is a cruiser so acceleration is not a priority.
My ‘94 Miata had an 1800cc engine and it was no speed monster. Even the Ford Festiva had a 1300cc engine.
I’ve always been something of a car nut with an emphasis on sports models. I’ve had BMWs, Porsches, Mustangs, etc and loved my Lincoln LSC.
Because I’m retired now and on a limited budget, I’m currently driving what is probably my last sport model—a 1994 Pontiac Formula with the big engine, all the goodies and T-Tops. But it’s close to 100,000 miles and I worry about what to buy when this bruiser wears out.
I only drive about 5000 miles a year now, mostly going to the store and back. So I’d probably try something like this out. I think there is a market in the US among us old folk.
47 miles per gallon
That's just the thing. I'm not willing to spend $30K for vehicle with limited utility.
Any time you buy a vehicle, there's a weighing of needs. I don't drive a Miata, because I need the capacity to carry more people and stuff than that. I don't drive a van, pickup or SUV, because I don't need to carry that many people or that much stuff. So I staked out the middle ground.
If I had the money, I would love not to compromise. To have a vehicle for every need. But it costs too much, and I don't have the space. That's my point.
Give me an electric car for under $5K that's good for around town, and I will buy it. And I'll keep my gas-powered car (at 30 mpg highway, it's no hog) for distance trips. And my VW Vangaon Westphalia -- that is, the one I expect to be mine soon -- for hauling or camping.
Not only do I think the Tata will be a success in India, but it can probably be exported profitably to many other nations (Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, various countries of central Africa, etc.)
An inexpensive basic car can be a major winner.
Ford, GM, Chrysler, etc. have missed the boat by not producing a competitor.
I prefer to maintain some space between me and the 18 wheelers.
Big and heavy, small and nimble. The former helps you survive an accident. the latter helps you avoid one.
That Reva sells for 2.5 lakh rupees, thats Rs. 250,000, which is approx. 5500 USD, depending on the exchange rate.
http://www.eaaev.org/CurrentEvents/pdf/2001/CurrentEvents200103.pdf
I’m a weather wuss. Born in Florida, raised in Georgia, I have a weak tolerance for cold. I’ve eyed scooters, but I’d rather have a closed cabin. I’ve driven cars with crappy heaters, but at least they kept the winter wind out.
Ohhhhh.......
When a vehicle going at good speed hits a streetlight or something similar, I wonder how well a heavy car with all the accrued momentum would do, versus something lighter (though maybe not as light as the one in the article above) and with better impact-absorbing crumple zones.
The two vehicles are colliding the stationary object with about the same area of contact. The impressed forces will be greater, when a larger mass is decelerated suddenly.
Just a thought.
Thanks to those of you who replied with the mpg . I guess it’s safer than a scooter, and economical.
My learning and experience are based on driving in Atlanta. We're in the piedmont, and weve got a lot of hills. So my off-the-cuff guess will probably not apply to flatlanders.
I agree with you that I wouldn't want to take one of those on the Interstate, let alone the Autobahn. But for hauling my flabby butt to the grocery store, and then hauling me and my grocery sacks back, it might be the right tool for the job.
I’d feel like I was riding a gas tank with four wheels and a steering wheel.
I agree whole-heartedly. The American manufacturers have ceded a market that they didn’t think was worth pursuing. They were so besotted with high margins that a high-volume low-margin model never entered their scope.
Thanks...I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable driving that...with SUV’s right next to me, though.
Guess what? You are.
so true
Really well put. My Geo Metro is basically set up like an autocross car and it is VERY maneuverable. I've forgotten the exact weight now, might be 1,850. If I'm in a head-on, or other major accident, you can post the FReeper obit for me.
Looks like a shoe.
I’ve got 999 cc and every one is put to use (in the Metro). And have bikes with half the displacement that are about 10 times as quick.
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