What $2,500 buys in India: Tata Nano unveiled
by Alex Nunez on Jan 10th 2008 at 2:39AM 
click above to view more high-res images of the Tata Nano
Tata has pulled the wraps off its long-discussed and highly-anticipated 1-lakh (around $2,500) car. The orb-like Tata Nano was unveiled at the New Delhi Auto Expo today, boasting a 30-horsepower 624-cc engine; a four-speed manual transmission; a disc/drum brake setup; room for five (based on the above photo); and claimed fuel economy of 54 US miles per gallon. There's no power steering, and you'll find more instrumentation on many wristwatches -- the Nano has only a fuel gauge, speedometer, and oil light. Suspension? Well, it has one. Tata claims that the car meets safety and environmental standards (such as Euro IV emissions compliance), and we're sure it won't be long before tests show whether the car is indeed up to snuff in those areas. Say hello to the new "people's car," brought to you by the same folks who hope to sell you Jaguars in the not-so-distant future. We'd say that if all goes as planned, Tata's got just about every possible demographic covered. Thanks for the tip, RV!
UPDATE: Official Tata press release added after jump.
UPDATE 2: Official pics added to gallery.
[Source: Rediff, photos by Manan Vatsyayana/Raveendran for Getty]
Gallery: Tata Nano
PRESS RELEASE:
Tata Motors unveils the People's Car
A comfortable, safe, all-weather car, high on fuel efficiency & low on emissions
Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group and Tata Motors, today unveiled the Tata 'NANO', the People's Car from Tata Motors that India and the world have been looking forward to. A development, which signifies a first for the global automobile industry, the People's Car brings the comfort and safety of a car within the reach of thousands of families. The People's Car will be launched in India later in 2008.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony at the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi, Mr. Ratan N. Tata said, "I observed families riding on two-wheelers - the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby. It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family. Tata Motors' engineers and designers gave their all for about four years to realise this goal. Today, we indeed have a People's Car, which is affordable and yet built to meet safety requirements and emission norms, to be fuel efficient and low on emissions. We are happy to present the People's Car to India and we hope it brings the joy, pride and utility of owning a car to many families who need personal mobility."
Stylish, comfortable
The People's Car, designed with a family in mind, has a roomy passenger compartment with generous leg space and head room. It can comfortably seat four persons. Four doors with high seating position make ingress and egress easy.
Yet with a length of 3.1 metres, width of 1.5 metres and height of 1.6 metres, with adequate ground clearance, it can effortlessly manoeuvre on busy roads in cities as well as in rural areas. Its mono-volume design, with wheels at the corners and the powertrain at the rear, enables it to uniquely combine both space and manoeuvrability, which will set a new benchmark among small cars.
When launched, the car will be available in both standard and deluxe versions. Both versions will offer a wide range of body colours, and other accessories so that the car can be customised to an individual's preferences.
Fuel-efficient engine
The People's Car has a rear-wheel drive, all-aluminium, two-cylinder, 623 cc, 33 PS, multi point fuel injection petrol engine. This is the first time that a two-cylinder gasoline engine is being used in a car with single balancer shaft. The lean design strategy has helped minimise weight, which helps maximise performance per unit of energy consumed and delivers high fuel efficiency. Performance is controlled by a specially designed electronic engine management system.
Meets all safety requirements
The People's Car's safety performance exceeds current regulatory requirements. With an all sheet-metal body, it has a strong passenger compartment, with safety features such as crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat belts, strong seats and anchorages, and the rear tailgate glass bonded to the body. Tubeless tyres further enhance safety.
Environment-friendly
The People's Car's tailpipe emission performance exceeds regulatory requirements. In terms of overall pollutants, it has a lower pollution level than two-wheelers being manufactured in India today. The high fuel efficiency also ensures that the car has low carbon dioxide emissions, thereby providing the twin benefits of an affordable transportation solution with a low carbon footprint.
(For more information: www.tatapeoplescar.com )
About Tata Motors
Tata Motors is India's largest automobile company, with revenues of US $ 7.2 billion in 2006-2007. With over 4 million Tata vehicles plying in India, it is the leader in commercial vehicles and the second largest in passenger vehicles. It is also the world's fifth largest medium and heavy truck manufacturer and the second largest heavy bus manufacturer. Tata cars, buses and trucks are being marketed in several countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia and South America. Tata Motors and Fiat Auto have formed an industrial joint venture in India to manufacture passenger cars, engines and transmissions for the Indian and overseas markets; Tata Motors also has an agreement with Fiat Auto to build a pick-up vehicle at Córdoba, Argentina. The company already distributes Fiat branded cars in India. Tata Motors' international footprint includes Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co. Ltd. in South Korea; Hispano Carrocera, a bus and coach manufacturer of Spain in which the company has a 21% stake; a joint venture with Marcopolo, the Brazil-based body-builder of buses and coaches; and a joint venture with Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant Company of Thailand to manufacture and market pick-up vehicles in Thailand. Tata Motors has research centres in India, the U.K., and in its subsidiary and associate companies in South Korea and Spain.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 14)
Nicholas 11:15PM (1/25/2008)
This car is excellent and it is mostly Americans fault because of global warming and they think they are so rich that they can just waste whatever they feel like. I hope gas prices go for $20 dollars a gallon because that would serve these retards to start taking better care of resources. Bikes are so cheap because no one buys them. Not to mention you barely see anyone on the roads riding a bike or walking.
This car will be excellent for everyone and it would be way better if they made it a hybrid too. I'm not saying 50 gallons a mile isn't bad thats excellent too.
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Chithra KarunaKaran 10:32AM (2/12/2008)
The Rise of the Car Nazis:
Ratan and the Tata Wannabes
Chithra Karunakaran, Feb 09, 2008
Ratan Tata has made an illegal Left turn in a no-car zone. The Nano is a no-no. Bad for India, bad for the developing world, bad for the poor, great for private entrepreneurs with no social conscience. Great for politicians in India and the developing world, they're off the hook, no need to fund public mass transit, more money available for corruption.
The Nano is a cheap car? Cheap for the environment?
Can industry-hungry West Bengal help to rethink the Nano 'personal car' project and instead develop into a manufacturing hub for MASS PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION? Do we need more cars OR more and better public use transport -- buses, subway trains, rail? With the proposed launch of the Nano car, every central and local government in the developing world is off the hook -- they will no longer have to commit political will and infrastructure funds to provide public mass transit. A cheap car? Cheap for the environment?
The people of India and I am one of them, do NOT need a mis-named people's car. We need a People's Bus, A People's Mass Transit, a vastly expanded People's Railway, we need PUBLIC MASS TRANSPORTATION that is ecologically sustainable and delivers a public convenience that meets the needs of our underserved Indian URBAN AND RURAL masses and is the envy of, and a model for, the entire world. I proudly count myself among these masses, even though I teach in the US and live and work in India only about six months of the year.
Q.Why did Ratan Tata and the Tata Group choose to put their wholly admirable "frugal engineering" expertise into a private car and not into making buses and mass transportation vehicles? A.Corporate greed and personal ambition.
The Tata Group has decades of engineering knowhow in the heavy truck sector. Why didn't they build on this experience and come out with buses and other mass transport innovations? Again the answer is corporate greed and selfish personal ambition. Ratan Tata has absolutely no stake in the Greater Collective Good (GCG). Tata is all about profit. Tata is all about a narrow self-serving short term view in which he and Tata Group can make a quick buck.
What many Indians (especially the avidly consuming, politically apathetic and ethically indefensible middle class in India) fail to appreciate is that a fabulous city like New York where I live about six months a year is heavily invested in mass public transportation. NYC has been heavily invested in mass transit for over half a century.
I don't own a car either in the U.S. or India. And I don't plan to own one, certainly not the Nano. I walk. It's smart not to be an obesity stat. I ride the buses and trains in India and I am proud to say that I adamantly refuse to ride in a car in India.
In New York, I do have a bicycle. Tens of thousands like me in New York ride our magnificent, er often tardy and continually underfunded subways of the NYC Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). I can get all around town and all the outer boros and to JFK airport for $2 and then I am happy to pay another $5 to get me on the public mass transportation called the AirTrain right into the airport terminals. We ordinary folks (mainly the middleclass and the aspiring middleclass of New York City) fought long and hard at public hearings and through legislative lobbying, for the funding of mass transit in preference to car-choked highways -- and we got it. We didn't get everything we wanted but there's always a next time at a public hearing or a court testimony.That's participatory democracy.
Even our Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg rides the subway everyday to work. It's a great feeling to get on a train that runs under New York and to know that we are contributing zero pollution to our wonderful city. That is precisely what we need in India. NOT crazy Ratan ("I have no watan") Tata and his no-no Nano.
Let's get real. India cannot afford to manufacture and dispose a paper cup, let alone produce yet another private car. We should not be following the U.S. model of predatory capitalism. The U.S. model of endless consumption is ecologically unsustainable. It is emphatically not the model for India.
Both the centre and the states in India must urgently invest in public mass transit which they have criminally neglected and disproportionately taxed.
The Nano represents a vivid test case for our civil society and the need for urgent development of a Critical Environmental Studies in schools and colleges to research such complex issues. I have presented the above ideas in India during conferences on Environmental Sustainability and will not rest until such proposals gain policy implementation.
The Gandhian post-revolutionary democratic Indian nation-state deserves a lofty vision, mission and policies that affirm the public trust. Public mass transportation that is ecologically sustainable is part of that noble public trust.
Note: in a subsequent blog I have cut and pasted all or nearly all of Tata's own comments ("From the Chairman's Desk") on the Nano.
Let the reader perform her/his own critical analysis of whether the Nano serves the Greater Collective Good (GCG).
Dr. Chithra KarunaKaran
City University of New York (CUNY)
www.ethicaldemocracy.blogspot.com
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Jake 7:24PM (7/17/2008)
you are dumb
Christine 2:05PM (3/03/2008)
I like this concept. I'm looking for a vehicle for short distances and not speed on the highway. Looks cost effective and practical from a seniors point of view.
Also safer than a motor bike.
I'd buy one.
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gxgold 8:14PM (5/07/2008)
i called porgressive and thay did not no not give me a policy for the car. if i buy the nano i need a policy and gico sad ha ha ha nice try.. need help with this if i buy the car from www.tatanano.com
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Ozziejatt 10:44AM (5/18/2008)
If smart cars can run on Highways in north america why can't this one?
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rtree01 6:00PM (2/27/2009)
True. Right now this is tailored for the Indian market. With minimal additional cost same car can be brought to American Safety standards. Who needs a $25k car anymore in this global economy? This is not geared for power hungry, thrill seeking, status minded people.
Someone said 50 mpg is more polluting than existing average American cars with 20-28 mpg? That was dumb. People who think this can go 25 mph are in for a rude shock. With this economy and efficiency even 25 mpg would be fine for non hwy commute.
Greg 3:36PM (5/18/2008)
I agree. I think it's great that Tata can provide a new car to people
who normally can't afford it. It's better than having to commute on a
two-wheeled automobile that doesn't provide you with protection from
rain or dust storms or such things. Also if it does do as it claims
and beats a two-wheelers with emissions, I would rather see them
driving around than a two wheeled bike.
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Luciano Henriquez 9:41AM (9/03/2008)
Mi comentario es; comprarme un TATO-NANO, por el fabuloso precio para la famila pobres como yo ...Donde puedo ponerme encontacto para que me informen para comprar el carro graciass
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rtree01 5:47PM (2/27/2009)
Most of you with skeptical views are in denial. This was long over due. This is the future. This is the homo sapien of dinosour equivalent gas hungry 20-28 mpg cars.
Think about it. If they were to add auto transmission and 8 air bags it would at most cost them another 2 grand.
Snap out of denial and push American Giants to collaborate or lease or follow for a better future and mostly their own survival.
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gravy 12:53AM (2/28/2009)
tata bought Jaguar and caused the greatest one day devaluation of an automobile in recent history, i personally lost $10,000 on my car instantly.
if this is the best that they can come up with as an end result of there spending spree...ie..jaguar and land rover...then they are in worst shape than detroit.
jackasses all of them
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WillG 11:24AM (3/25/2009)
This is great news for Tata Motors, as well as for those whose incomes didn\'t allow for their own car in the past. The Nano is going to make a big difference in the lives of a lot of people, not only for the freedom of movement, but also in increasing the potential for additional commerce (taxis, hauling products longer distances, etc.).
I read a great article about the Nano, though it is actually part of a series of articles. The latest one is titled "Tata Releases the Nano, No Thanks to Mamata Banerjee" and it is found at http://economicefficiency.blogspot.com/2009/03/tata-releases-nano-no-thanks-to-mamata.html
Apparently, the politics behind building this car is out of this world.
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Erik van Erne, Milieunet Foundation 11:18AM (3/27/2009)
De Tata Nano driven test drive: amazingly good and amazingly cheap
http://www.stichtingmilieunet.nl/andersbekekenblog/?p=7175
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chris 1:07PM (4/10/2009)
This sounds like a good idea and I hope it's better than a Yugo - India has good engineers so chances are better. Would be good to convert it to electric - no need for a fancy electric car (like overpriced Chevy Volt). Bad thing in US is there are too many large vehicles - I can imagine one of these getting broadsided by a full size Chevy Suburban - even reinforced door panels (unlikely it has them) wouldn't help the occupants much. But hats off to India for producing a car that will be perfect for many families on India roads.
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Mircea 1:41PM (4/23/2009)
Tata Nano isn't great for hooking up, but is good enough to carry you around.
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napatel 1:04AM (4/28/2009)
I want to buy a tata NANO in India. How can I do this?
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KnightRider 2:46AM (1/10/2008)
Impressed!
TATA's Nano: $2500
Take your family and all their relatives around town at 50 MPG:
Priceless!
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Nicole 3:42AM (1/10/2008)
We should be glad they are making economic vehicles for this part of the world.
If they would buy and operate American style cars and trucks in large numbers, the demand for oil would skyrocket. $100 per barrel would suddenly sound like a bargain, and we'd soon have gas prices of $8/gallon like the Europeans have now.
Shri 9:34AM (1/10/2008)
what so ever....
i know its not a car of my type.....
but I m gonna buy one.....
for me.....
for my Mom n Dad....
for my Sis.....
and yeah...
we love Mr Ratan TATA...
Fernando 9:46AM (1/10/2008)
I dig the 10" rims and the criss-cross wipers.
BTW, how fast do you think this could go with 5 people in it? 25MPH, tops? (not that this will be driven on a highway)