Say Hello To the World's Cheapest Car - The $2,500 Nano
Tata Motors unveiled it's $2,500 Nano with much ado - and with the theme to "2001: A Space Odyssey" blaring in the background - in New Dehli.
Tata's been ginning up hype for the Nano for more than a year, promising that it would motorize India's masses - hence its nickname, "The People's Car" - and there's been no end of rumors, leaks and speculation about it in recent months.
We told you a little about the car a couple of weeks ago, and today Ratan N. Tata, chairman of the company that bears his name, filled in some more details. The Nano is 10 feet long, 5 feet wide, a little more than 5 feet tall and, in our opinion, pretty cute. C'mon - it's practically smiling.
Tata says the car's got a 623 cc 2-cylinder engine, and the New York Times, in an excellent story looking at just how Tata built a $2,500 car (answer - eliminate everything that isn't absolutely necessary to make it accelerate, turn or stop), says it produces 30 to 35 horsepower. That's less than all but the smallest motorcycles.
More about the unveiling here.
Photo by Money Sharma/European Pressphoto Association via New York Times.
More pics of the Tata and video of the unveiling after the jump...
Tata's been ginning up hype for the Nano for more than a year, promising that it would motorize India's masses - hence its nickname, "The People's Car" - and there's been no end of rumors, leaks and speculation about it in recent months.
We told you a little about the car a couple of weeks ago, and today Ratan N. Tata, chairman of the company that bears his name, filled in some more details. The Nano is 10 feet long, 5 feet wide, a little more than 5 feet tall and, in our opinion, pretty cute. C'mon - it's practically smiling.
Tata says the car's got a 623 cc 2-cylinder engine, and the New York Times, in an excellent story looking at just how Tata built a $2,500 car (answer - eliminate everything that isn't absolutely necessary to make it accelerate, turn or stop), says it produces 30 to 35 horsepower. That's less than all but the smallest motorcycles.
More about the unveiling here.
Photo by Money Sharma/European Pressphoto Association via New York Times.
More pics of the Tata and video of the unveiling after the jump...
The red car is the "standard model," the other is the "luxury" model. Were not sure what the difference is aside from the aluminum wheels and body-color bumper on the upscale model, but we do know that sun visors and a radio are added-cost options.
Don't expect to see a Nano tooling around your neighborhood. Beyond the fact Tata doesn't have dealer network in the United States (although it is about to take Land Rover and Jaguar off Ford's hands), the Nano almost certainly wouldn't meet U.S. emissions and safety regulations.
Don't expect to see a Nano tooling around your neighborhood. Beyond the fact Tata doesn't have dealer network in the United States (although it is about to take Land Rover and Jaguar off Ford's hands), the Nano almost certainly wouldn't meet U.S. emissions and safety regulations.
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