Tata Nano

Tata Nano

The Tata Nano is India’s answer to Germany’s Volkswagen or “people’s car.” The Nano will retail for only about $2,000 and will be sold only in India at first, with later worldwide distribution an inevitable outcome. Tata expects to sell one million of the little cars each year in India alone, with production set to start sometime in the coming year. The Nano is constructed of components that can be built and shipped separately to be assembled in a variety of locations. In effect, the Nano is being sold in kits that are distributed, assembled, and serviced by local entrepreneurs.

Built to carry four passengers (though perhaps not comfortably), the tiny Nano has a two cylinder engine, a four speed manual transmission, and a top speed of 68 MPH. The car is geared more toward India’s narrow streets and congested conditions and less to the demands of highway driving, but the fuel efficiency is respectable at 47 MPG in the city and 58 MPG on the highway. Even so, environmentalists, imaging a third world clogged with combustion engine vehicles, are not as excited about the Nano as Indians are.