$2,050 Car Goes On Sale In India

(AP)  Tata Motors said it will launch its ultra-cheap Nano car in Mumbai on Monday - a vehicle meant to herald a revolution by making it possible for the world's poor to purchase their first car.

But few predict the snub-nosed Nano will be able to turn around the company, which has been beset by flagging sales and high debt, anytime soon.

The Nano, which is priced starting at about 100,000 rupees ($2,050), is a stripped-down car for stripped-down times: It is 10.2 feet long, has one windshield wiper, a 623cc rear engine, and a diminutive trunk, according to the company's Web site.

It does not have air bags or antilock brakes - neither of which is required in India - and if you want air conditioning, a radio, or power steering, you'll have to pay extra.

Tata Motors has been hard-hit by the global downturn. Commercial vehicle sales, its core business, have been decimated as India's growth slows, and consumers have had trouble getting affordable car loans.

The company declared a loss of 2.63 billion rupees ($54 million) for the October to December quarter, and it has been struggling to refinance the remaining $2 billion of a $3 billion loan it took to buy the Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford Motor Co. in June.

Even the launch of the Nano has been scaled back.

The car is arriving six months late because of violent protests by farmers and opposition political party leaders over land, which forced Tata to move its Nano factory from West Bengal to the business-friendly state of Gujarat.

Company officials have said it will take at least a year to complete the new factory, and until then, Tata will only be able to produce a limited number of Nanos from its other car plants in India.

Tata Motors hasn't yet given details on production volumes, but most analysts doubt the company will be able to make more than about 50,000 cars in the next year - a far cry from the 250,000 the company had planned to roll out initially.

Vaishali Jajoo, auto analyst at Mumbai's Angel Broking, said even if Tata Motors manages to sell 250,000 Nanos a year, it will only add 3 percent to the company's total revenues.

"That doesn't make a significant difference to the top line. And for the bottom line, it will take five to six years to break even," Jajoo said.

Still, in this new age of global thrift, the Nano sounds appealing to more than just the struggling farmers and petty businessmen across India that Tata initially had in mind for the car.

"What do you think the chances are that the Nano will come to America? Personally, I'd love one," Steven Smith, whose first car was a Volkswagen Dune Buggy, wrote recently on the Nano Facebook page.

Tata Motors unveiled the Tata Nano Europa, a slightly more robust version of the Indian model, at the Geneva Motor Show this month, with a planned launch of 2011. But the company has no plans to bring the Nano to America anytime soon.

[mrjoshcan]

One Mumbile, two Mumbile, three Mumbile, Ford! Shocking! they ain't what they use to be. Super sporting larger drum radii, towards adding four hydraulic hybirds as custom Nano suspension accessories. Alaska Queen, you know what I mean.

[stevestanor]

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India has set only minimal standards for automobile safety, and virtually no standards for auto emissions. The Nano engine is basically a 2-stroke motorcycle engine that is noisy and pollutes like hell. That's just what the world needs - 5 million more mini gas-guzzlers and emissions belchers.

What India should do, IMHO, is to push it's burgeoning industrial base for cheap, efficient public transportation and, if they must have it, energy efficient cars. But India is steadfastly determined to "modernize" the same way Europe and most especially the U.S. did. They don't seem to realize that the 1950s model doesn't work as well now ,in this era of expensive and limited oil supplies and global warming.
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I am tired of reading these completely biased reviews which people post without any facts or research.
The Tata Nano complies with Euro IV emission standards which are more stringent than US Tier 2 norms. Here :

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Ratan-Tata-unveils-Rs-1lakh-Nano/259912/
(pg3) http://www.foe.org.hk/uploaded_files/heavy_vehicles_standard_1e1.pdf

"India has set only minimal standards for automobile safety, and virtually no standards for auto emissions"...did you make this off the top of your head ??
The emission figures are on par with the Euro standards. Read this :
http://www.siamindia.com/scripts/emission-standards.aspx

[mdalerwill]

BUY AMERICAN, SUPPORT AMERICANS..
Posted by cornbiker at 6:37 AM : Mar 24, 2009

I agree. However, where American companies cannot compete on price, they need to compete by providing quality and innovation. The Big 3 pursued neither, and that was their choice entirely. It is fairly reasonable to ask the country to pay more and buy American if they are getting a product of equal value and that product is a relatively small purchase anyway. However, cars are a *big* investment for most people. You can't ask them to pay more...AND get less quality...on an item that they have to depend on so much.

PROMOTE AMERICA'S RETURN TO QUALITY AND INNOVATION.
LONG-TERM INVESTMENT OVER MAKING A QUICK BUCK.

[Ichabod09]

As for this little cracker box.. I welcome it on the US highways.. as my F-350 will smash it like a bug. It will be like driving over a **** on the road.. just a little bump in the road..
Posted by cornbiker at 6:37 AM : Mar 24, 2009

Sounds like someone did not have job security?

[mrjoshcan]

My late although dear Uncle Henry asks; Which Anglo-Savior should the United Auto Workers rather drive? A Fourd thousand dollar Fiesta made in Alaska, or paw two-thousand and fifty dollars into a Tata aboriginal motor produced by southerners?

[mrjoshcan]

My dear and late Uncle Henry asks; Which Anglo-Savior should the United Auto Workers rather drive? A Fourd thousand dollar Fiesta made in Alaska, or paw two-thousand and fifty dollars into a Tata aboriginal motor produced by southerners?

[spiritwalk]

Secondly, no mention of warranty in the article, but one would have to guess it's not as generous as what any new car sold in the U.S. gets.
Posted by dan400man
..............................
At 1/10 the price of an average American car how much of a warranty do you expect, or need. You couldn't replace the air conditioner in the average American car for $2,050.

And, remember that the first car Nissan (Datsun) sold in the US in 1971 cost $1,890. They couldn't make them fast enough and eventually they destroyed the Big 3.

Don't think it cannot happen again

[Ichabod09]

Is India aware of the implications of the advertisement for a "Bodacious TATA"

[mdalerwill]

Has anyone been able to go up and look at/touch both a Nano and a Smart Car? The picture in this article reminds me of those I have seen of Smart Cars. I'm wondering how they compare in real life.

[mdalerwill]

What about the (Toyota) Scion? About $10K starting poit as I recall, and made in America (if not by an American company) if memory serves.
Posted by bgddy58 at 7:35 AM : Mar 23, 2009

Just as a point of interest for people who may be wondering, my experience with owning a Scion for 5 years has been excellent.

Pros: about $13K for an XA with a couple of optional features (I believe it was a little higher than in other states because my state has higher emissions standards), standardized pricing so you know going in how much everything you want is going to cost, Toyota reliability, the smallest carbon footprint of any car produced at the time, a monthly gas bill of about $50-60 (driving approx. 13k miles per year), a maintenance cost that averaged $200 per year (including oil changes), the car sits at a good height for senior citizens who may have a little bit of trouble getting in and out of cars that sit lower (I'me not sure this is true of the sports model).

Cons: very little cargo capacity, the discontinuation of the XA model in favor of the XD (which looks like a cross between the XA and XB), the fact that some people find the XB too danged ugly, changing the specialized fluids can be expensive ($190...I had to do so once in 5 years), the fact that these are small cars sharing the roads with some inexperienced and/or aggressive drivers in much larger vehicles (though I find mine zippy enough to manuever very well).

The Scion is proof that an inexpensive quality car can be produced in the US for the US market...but as usual it's a Japanese company doing it.