Well, here it is, the Tata Nano, the People’s Car we wrote about the other day. The fuel injected, all aluminum, 623 cc 2 cylinder engine puts out 33PS (about 32 horsepower) and drives the rear wheels. According to the press release below, it has crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat belts, strong seats and anchorages plus lower pollution levels than two-wheelers being manufactured in India today.
I doubt this will ever get close to the U.S. but as a replacement or alternative to the little motorcycles and scooters in India and elsewhere, it could do really well. Is it durable or will it fall apart after a few months? We’ll see, but if people in those countries can turn scooters into vehicles for a family of 4, I bet they can keep something like this on the road, too. Very interesting.
Tata press release follows:
A comfortable, safe, all-weather car, high on fuel efficiency & low on emissions
New Delhi, January 10, 2008: 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.â€
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.
Link: Tata Motors
Nathan says
I like it, small wheels for quicker accelaration.
I hope its geared well.
Jeffreyvan says
who will be first to put a Busa in it? watch out smart car! I want 2 then I can wear them like roller skates!
Ride says
If they get 4 people on a bike I guess they’ll get 8 people in that :>)
Matt in NC says
Seems to me that this is the true legacy of the Type I VW Beetle.
brian says
India eh. Just what a country with some of the worlds most traffic congested cities needs: more cars.
Buzzman says
Ride: give it a month or 2 after launch and there will be a video of a Nano, “modified” for the large family, on the internet. There will be at least a dozen ppl sitting standing all over the thing. Modification to include foot boards and handles, removable roof for extra standing room, and maybe a donkey or cow up front to help it get moving.
Another “peoples car”? Soon they’ll be blitzkrieging across Pakistan…
Adam says
Why is it that Tata can build a vehicle with an enclosed cabin for 4 with 4 wheels for $2500, but Peraves wants over $77,000 for their enclosed cabin for 2 with just two wheels (Peraves Monotracer)?
Performance differences aside, there is still a massive price discrepancy there.
GenWaylaid says
I’d like to see one of these next to one of the original Mini Coopers, to see how much the basic concept has changed in forty-five years.
I say let these things replace motorcycles and scooters. Motorcycling doesn’t need the target market for this car. Carrying a whole family on the back of a motorcycle is just plain reckless. All those ~125cc utilitarian bikes over in India will see their sales flounder, but those never were going to come to the U.S. anyway.
todd says
neat little car. It reminds me a bit of that narrow track electric car. It’ll be cool to see the modified versions for commerce, like pick-ups and box trucks. Maybe someone will stretch one into a limo…
-todd
Ry says
I like the peanut M&M !
Sean says
Truly a volks wagon, no?
PO says
This Tata Nano seems to be a good base for the Automotive X-Prize Competition. It is just a matter of adapting the latest hybrid motorcycle drive train( e-cycle ? ) into this Nano which is presumably light and safe. How’s about it Mr. Tata? I will be the first volunteer for such pursuit. “PO”
MotoWebbi says
Not so much like a Mini, Genwaylaid…more like the Fiat 500.
FRED says
This is what should be here now,how much gas could it possible use.Spend a few billion bring them here lower fuel consumption and emission alittle over a trillion we could give everyone one of these or buy the company and build them here.Create a state run car company could you imagine HONDA,NISSAN,TOYOTA making a big deal.
zipidachimp says
hard to tell from a photo, but I think my old mini cooper was smaller, with 10″ wheels. went like stink but was a total junker after 3 years. good luck to this one.
P.T. Anderson says
Rear wheel drive! I can’t wait to see the drift video.
Seriously though… dang… (chin on desk) a real live, new, car for well under $3000?! I feel weird but I’m in awe actually. What it really reminds me of is the old Citroen 2CV. For some reason I sense a lot of the 2CV spirit in there. Maybe it’s the 3 lug wheels and the 2 cylinder engine.
Prester John says
In the USA the Model T killed transportation motorcycling. You know what killed the Model T? Pre-owned Chevrolets.
Building a new automobile for this price is an impressive industrial engineering feat, but for less even than the cost of this Tata Nano you can buy a good used Hindustan Ambassador.
Tom
Prester John says
BTW, this does make me wonder why a Smart car is $13,000USD.
Tom
chris says
$2500???? I clipped a tree at less than 5 mph in my Tacoma (off-roading of course) and it’s going to cost $3 grand to replace the rear bumper, tail light and fender. I love how they advertise these trucks as being indestructable when they should have just made them out of clay. The worlds first throw away car. It’s scary to think that my bumper, tail light and fender are worth more than this car. This is insurance companies fault due to this country’s constant fear of going outside of our safety bubble.
Richard says
referring to the cost of new bumper, chris says, “This is insurance companies fault due to this country’s constant fear of going outside of our safety bubble.”
I think your blame is misdirected. Our current “safety” standard requires cars to survive a 2-1/2 mph bump across the bumper, or a measely 1-1/2 mph bump to the corner. It doesn’t take much more than a thin sheet of tinfoil (or plastic) to handle that! If it costs you $3K to repair that worthless bumper, you can’t blame the insurance company.
chris says
The insurance company comment was way out of line for this comment box, but I have to correct you and say that insurance companies do have a stronghold on safety standards in cars. Insurance companies lobby the crap out of vehicular safety standards. Just like health insurance companys lobby the crap out of cigerettes. Where do you think all the money comes from to advertise these nonsmoking Campaigns? It comes from your wallet when you pay your health insurance premiums. When they get less people smoking they have less people visiting the Dr. They don’t really care about your health; they care about money. Why do you think your insurance rates go down when you have airbags or better crash ratings? Crash ratings mean better crumple zones, and better crumple zones mean cheaper materials and expensive research that can’t withstand anything, and that is the reason why I need to pay more than a tata for it to be repaired. (Did you catch the punn there?) Safter cars mean more expensive cars made of cheaper materials and cheaper insurance rates. To say that insurance companies are not partially responsable for expensive repair costs is naive.
GAMBLER says
say good bye to $100 oil
say hello to $500 oil
OMMAG says
I am afraid that what you are looking at here is the future and most pathetic death of performance motoring motorsports incarnated in the ultimate piece of utilitarian crap…
You want to know what the end of the world looks like?
You are looking at it!
rangeroger says
Honda did this already in 1970. The Honda s600 sedan and coupe. 600cc vertical twin powering the front wheels (10 inch). A litle smaller than the mini. Sold new for $1100.
Gearshift lever came out from under the dash.
Used to own one. Balls to the wall on the street and I both autocrossed it and raced in SCCA D sedan in Cal Club events.
Nothing quite like being wound out at 85mph on the back straight at Ontario Motor Speedway and have a Porsche or Corvette blow past at 180.
Gave true meaning to getting your doors blown off.
rr
JC says
rangeroger,
It should please you to know that a 600 has done nearly the ton at the Bonneville salt flats!
J Evil Tweety Eric Burns 10/04 99.299
Just out of curiosity, I plugged $110 into an online inflation calculator:
“What cost $1100 in 1970 would cost $5842.77 in 2006”
OMMAG says
To the posters who note that you can have fun with underpowered little cars …. I agree.
I owned a Renault Dauphine ’67 version of the 4cv ….. it was underpowered ( even though this was the most powerful version yet) handled like it had NO suspension and no chassis integrity and stopped like it had NO brakes ….. it required constant fiddling to keep running, was incapable of clearing the windshield in winter and would not go 60 mph with three people in it.
Never the less I raced around in it and thrashed it like it was an Alpha …….
The thing is that in 67 these kinds of cars were an anomaly and were not going to become mainstream transport. I’m afraid that todays’ version of the eco-nobox is here to stay and economics will relegate other types of vehicles to the historical context.
Hence the end of performance motoring as we know it.
todd says
OK, car talk… Today’s econo box is leagues ahead of yesterday’s cars.
My old VW bug and pick-up truck have 30-40hp. My BMW 2002 has maybe 120 (I spruced it up a little). Current bug or Honda Civic has 4 times the power of my VW’s and a Hyundai Accent could probably outrun (and out-handle) my BMW.
People expect a lot now. In many cases today’s econo-boxes are becoming the performance cars. Just look at the Lancer Evo and the WRX/STi, these will kill a 20 year-old 911 or corvette. Even the Neon SRT (or what-not) is wickedly fast for not being a real sport-compact.
If you want real performance stick with motorcycles.
-todd
Nick says
If we try to compare this new cheap Tata stuff with previous vehicles, as I have read in the previous postings, we’ll say VW Bug, Mini, Citroen 2CV … all these cars have been produced at millions units during at least 40 years. Great popular successes …
Then, the descendants of these cars, the ones who have survived (at least in the name) are now commercial success and a kind of fashionable items for wealthy people (the Mini and the bug), not a source of easy jokes …
So I guess we’ll joke a lot about this tiny cheap stuff, but it may be the next greatest success of the automotive industry, far beyond our noisy “muscle cars” and fat SUVs … 😉
And in India as everywhere else, the motorcycle will evolve from the rugged reliable cheap donkey to an expensive funny (or statutory) item.
Be safe guys !
Sean says
Tell me: Would it be rude to say “Cor, nice tata!” to a woman in one of these waiting at a stoplight?
BikerVoodoo says
I’d prefer the mechanicals of the Tata Nano under a Fiat 500 (in Abarth 695SS form) body. That would ROCK! Tata should be developing a bigger engine and better brakes/wheel bearings/etc. for export.
Mircea says
An important thing in a car is safety which nano seem to lack completely. Also, it is not the perfect car to hook up 😛 Anyway, I made a site about tata nano where I’ll post all the news related to this.