World's cheapest car goes on sale (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

India's Tata Motors will launch its extra-cheap 10 feet (3 metres) long Nano car in Mumbai on Monday, selling for 100,000 rupees or $1,979 (£1,366).

It will enable poorer citizens in developing countries to move to four wheels for the first time.

The four-door five-seater car has a 33bhp, 624cc engine at the rear. It has no airbags, air conditioning, radio, or power steering.

It may not be enough to revive Tata Motors - hit by debt and falling sales.

The firm made a 2.63bn rupees loss for the October to December quarter.



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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7957671.stm

[madrchsod]

1. tata bought land rover and jaguar

[DBoon]

3. karma for centuries of British rule

nt

[AndyA]

2. Otherwise known as the Tata Death Trap.

If a kid on a tricycle with training wheels bumps into you, that's it!

And it's ugly. I wouldn't take money to drive one of those. YUCK!

[eppur_se_muova]

9. I was thinking "Tata Piñata" -- it rhymes nicely. nt

[sam sarrha]

4. gas milage..?

[Auggie]

5. Not a bad idea -- in concept.

Though it hardly looks safe for American roadways.

[marybourg]

6. That's more than my '73 VW cost (in '73). nt.

[PFunk]

7. Here's the stats on the thing via Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Nano#Technical_specifications

at 45 mpg it seems to be the most current fuel effecent car out their. But for a few bucks extra I'll go and hunt for a pre '90 for Ford escort or Chevy Chevette sub combat cars instead. They get about the same gas milege and probally a lot safer (despite their age).

[Jkid]

8. Normally I would not own a car.

But this is a car I would love to own!

[comtec]

10. i wonder how fast itll be electric converted

here this is a perfect car for city driving
its small, faster than a '45' and good enug to do the job.
i'll probably get one, if only because it's slightly more than my laptop!
we need a cheap basic car, and the mpg is decent....

however I'll wait till i see the EU rating on it... and what they say on top gear.... because you KNOW they'll destr... test it :)

[NickB79]

11. Great. A nation of a billion people, with access to the world's cheapest car

Can't anyone else see the environmental train wreck this will be? From a resource depletion standpoint, this will be a disaster. Reading this article I was cringing in the same way I cringe when I hear the Chinese government trying to entice it's populace to increase domestic consumption.

[The2ndWheel]

12. We're not going to stop voluntarily

A few thousand years of history proves that.

[truebrit71]

14. My folks went to India last year for the first time in 10 years...

...not much had changed, they said, except that instead of everyone riding bikes, everyone was driving cars...congestion and smog EVERYWHERE...NOT a good sign for the environment...add China into the mix and you quickly realize that we are well beyond the climate change tipping point and now need to plan on how to LIMIT the impending disasters as opposed to trying to prevent them...

[itsrobert]

13. Lifetime Warranty

Might as well, because the owner will have a short life in one of those.