[May
5] NEW DELHI, India--Tata
Motors has unveiled the Tata Nano, a car which will
sell for 100,000 rupees ($2,500 or £1,277), setting the wold
record for the cheapest car.
Photo:
Motor boss Ratan Tata stands by his newest creation, the Nano,
world's cheapest car (enlarge
photo)
The four-door five-seater car, which
goes on sale later this year, has a 33bhp, 624cc, engine at
the rear.
It has no air conditioning, no electric
windows and no power steering, but two deluxe models will
be on offer.
Tata
will initially make about 250,000 Nanos and expects eventual
annual demand of one million cars. The price will be slightly
more than the 100,000 once tax and other costs are taken into
consideration. Photo:Tata
Motors has unveiled the world's cheapest motor car at India's
biggest car show in the capital Delhi.
The Nano release comes as India's domestic
car market is predicted to soar in the coming years on the
back of the country's fast-growing economy and increased consumer
wealth.
Indian
car sales are predicted to more than quadruple to $145bn by
2016. Company chairman Ratan Tata said the launch of the Nano
was a landmark in the history of transportation.
He said the car was "a safe, affordable
and all weather transport - a people's car, designed to meet
all safety standards and emissions laws and accessible to
all".
The Tata chief, who drove a white Nano to the
podium, said he had wanted to make "a safe, affordable and
all-weather transport -- a people's car, designed to meet
all safety standards and emissions laws and accessible to
all."
Environmental critics have said that the car will
lead to mounting air and pollution problems on India's already
clogged roads. But Tata said the car had passed emission standards
and would average about 50 miles to the gallon, or five litres
per hundred kilometres.
The firm also said it would introduce a
diesel version of the Nano at a later date.
Tata said he believed "India desperately needs
a mass transit system" but asked "should [ordinary Indians]
be denied the right to individual forms of transport?"
Auto analysts say the Nano could have a
major impact on the way global car firms think about costs.
It may "revolutionize car costs downward," said
Indian auto analyst Murad Ali Baig, adding that the Nano was
bound to be followed by other low-cost cars.
The car has sparked a race among global automakers
to come up with vehicles at rock-bottom prices to appeal to
the new lucrative segment of consumers in India and other
emerging markets.
Small cars comprise two-thirds of annual passenger
vehicle sales in India. The budget car's nearest rival --
the Maruti 800 from Japanese-owned Maruti Suzuki -- sells
for $4,800 US.
Tata, which has been on an aggressive overseas
expansion drive, is also expected to win its reported two-billion-dollar
bid for the British Land Rover and Jaguar brands.
TATA'S NANO
# 3.1m long, 1.5m wide, 1.6m high
# Can seat four to five people
# Meets European emission standards
# Costs 100,000 rupees ($2,500)
# Tata
hopes to eventually export the car
