Tata's Nano to begin production this Fall, eco-friendly version on the way?

Your dreams of riding in the ultimate cheapo deathbox have just gotten a little bit more real. According to a report, Tata will begin production of its diminutive, ultra-affordable Nano car this Fall. The $2500 vehicle is generally known as the cheapest car in the world, though worries over inflation suggest that its price-point may move above the intended figure. In other news, sources say that Tata plans a "greener" version of the vehicle in addition to the original model, which -- if it happens -- will likely be a real knockout punch for penny-pinchers with an Earth-hugging mindset. Still, you'll probably have to ship it from India, which would burn a lot of fossil fuels, which would be bad for the environment... oh just buy an old Yugo.

[Via Autoblog Green]

[Flashpoint @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:53AM]

These should be at F-16 training grounds to test A-G missiles.

[Tas Kar @ Jul 3rd 2008 2:12PM]

why? put Ur own car there, i wont be ny more happy but at least u will understand *something* in these miserable times!!!!!

[Tas Kar @ Jul 3rd 2008 2:37PM]

http://www.fashionfunky.com/2008/04/gm_announces_tata_nano_competi.php

Putting GM cars as target practice now?
GM car just a bit more safe than scooter?
GM car a pickachu? safety standards of GM cars gone to the gutter?
GM cars causing rise in Oil prices, and not guzzlers?
what a bunch of jokes!

[iEye @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:37PM]

I like this car, and I can tell you all that quality wise, this is above a Cavalier and below a Cobalt...

I wan GM and Ford to DIE...

[Blackstar @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:23PM]

Hey, I'm all for cheaper, more fuel efficient, or even gas replacing vehicles... but the only things that are going to die with this one are the passenger and the driver.

[initialxy @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:55AM]

yes! i want the EEE car! o wait, not asus?

[konshuss @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:55AM]

say 'tata' to picking up chicks in one of these...

[Abhishek @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:02AM]

Lol.

I admit it's a ghastly lookin car. But it's mainly intended for a family (of 4 or 5) who drive on scooters and motorbikes in India.

If you really wanna do a story engadget, do one on how clogged the Indian roads are, and what number of Nano's tata plans to sell, and THEN how badly the roads are gonna be once a 100,000 of these hit the streets.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:03AM]

I agree Abishek. I go to India every other year and the streets are worse than the cities here. Once all the people that ride electric bikes/scooters on the road get this, ground transportation is damned in India.

[apeguero @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:59AM]

There goes the $4.00/gallon gas prices. Imagine, the 2nd most populous country (1.1 billion people) now has the cheapest (by far) new car in the world and it's powered by gasoline.

[Tas Kar @ Jul 3rd 2008 2:50PM]

funny how u ignored American and European consumption, u ignorant ranter

[apeguero @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:29PM]

@Tas Kar: What the hell do I care about what anybody else pays for gas. I only care what I and the people where I live pay for gas you douche bag!

[apeguero @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:37PM]

@Tas Kar: Another thing, I said FOUR DOLLARS per GALLON. That's US Dollars. So I don't get your point by including American in your comment to me. Common sense says if the US is already suffering high gas prices because of increased consumption by India and China (one of other reasons for high gas prices), then the introduction of this car to the people in India will not help matters.

I could see if this car was a hybrid or full electric. But, although this car will give people in India more opportunity to own their own vehicle (which is nice in my opinion), it will not help gas prices by all of a sudden having the 2nd most populous country in the world having a dirt cheap (to us in the US at least) car available in their market.

Take that as you will. Like I said above, I honestly don't give a rat's ass what other countries pay for gas. I only care what we pay for here in the US as it affects our economy and our bottom line.

[Nonedone @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:58PM]

@apeguero: You ARE ignorant. Crude oil is an internationally traded commodity. If the price of gas in the US goes up, it's because the price of crude oil has gone up. (You'd know that if you read a newspaper in the last year). If the price of crude oil goes up, the price of petrol in India goes up too (even though it's subsidized).

Ergo, I care what you pay for gas and how you use it, because your idiotic gas-hungry-car is driving up fuel prices for my highly-economical-car.

America has the highest per-capita fuel consumption in the world. A TATA Nano will definitely congest the roads of India, but it won't do nearly as much damage as idiots driving around in Hummers.

[apeguero @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:14PM]

@Tas Kar: I don't get your comeback. You say I don't care about what Americans and Europeans pay for gas? Did you see that "S" with two bars in the middle to the left of the number four? That's a Dollar sign. Where is that currency symbol mostly used? In America! What's the average price per gallon in America these days? Around $4 per gallon. Oh, sorry, there's that funny "S" again. Four Dollars per gallon, Three Dollars and Ninety Five cents where I live to be exact.

As for what the Europeans pay? I don't know what they pay. I don't live over there. All I hear from many of them is that it's about time that we pay as much as they do for gas...

[apeguero @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:26PM]

@Nonedone: You sir are the dumb ass here. I sold my second car and have gone down one which is not a HUMMER. The price of gas, at least from what I've read in the past few months (going with name calling then fine, Mr. Ignorant ASS) has been driven up by increased consumption in China and India, consumption in the US has gone down as a result of high gas prices. Other factors are the price of the dollar and the Speculators here in the US that keep driving the price up of Light Sweet Crude due to fears of this Government attacking Iran or the constant fear of a de-stabilized Middle East. Don't tell me I don't read and make stupid, dumb-ass assumptions without knowing who you are speaking to.

More Nanos in India WILL increase their gas consumption because the car runs on gasoline only. Even if they replace their old cars with this new one, the Nano will still consume gas. It's more likely that more people will be buying this car that never owned a car before also. I don't have a problem with that. I know plenty of Indians and have never met one I did not like. So if it brings happiness in their lives to own their onw transportation then nice for them. Either way, it's an increase of fuel consumption from India that will result from this.

To be honest here, I would love for the US to get out of this addiction with gasoline so we wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. It's increasing the price of almost everything here. I don't make policies, I'm just a consumer. Therefore, I only care what I pay at the pump and will do what I can to save money, even if it means going down to one car in my family.

[Nonedone @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:37PM]

@apeguero: More ignorance. You're correct in your analysis for the de-stabilization of the middle-east as one of the factors. However, your charge that India and China and driven up gas prices is as idiotic as the charge that India and China have driven up food prices. The real statistic to look at here is PER CAPITAL FUEL CONSUMPTION. If an average American used as much fuel as an average India, fuel prices would PLUMMET.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum#Consumption_rates

Compare the per capita consumption rates (either by population or by GDP), and you'll see the HUGE gap.

My car gives me 45 miles per gallon in the city and 55 mpg on the highway. And I drive less than 10 miles a day (as would an average person in Mumbai). Can you really compare you and me?

[Nonedone @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:44PM]

I stand corrected, the US does NOT have the highest per capita fuel consumption in the world.

That award goes to Saudi Arabia. However the US uses 68 barrels of fuel per person per year. India uses 2 barrels of fuel per person per year. You claim that a car that gives over 70 mpg will really affect fuel prices that much?

[apeguero @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:00PM]

@Nonedone: I stand corrected as well, sort of. If this car really does drive at 70mpg then, hell, I want one too :)

Like I said above, I don't have a problem with people in India being given this opportunity to have an affordable car (to me anyway and I would imagine to them as well). I have yet to meet an Indian which I did not like. My concern from this whole thing is how it will affect the price at the pump here in the US. Asshole speculators will make sure that this is a cause to increase the price even more. And that's that from me.

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:01AM]

Are these the same guys who bought jaguar.

[doobster @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:09AM]

yupp... tata bought jaguar.

IMO calling it a "deathbox" is completely baseless. If I remeber correctly, when Ratan Tata announced the car, he said it had passed crash testing and safety standards.

[BMErdin @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:13AM]

Yes.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:00AM]

Also bought LandRover. Nice to see an Indian company gaining worldwide share after a long time. I'm an Indian born in America, really.

[Krush @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:15PM]

@CUBSWILLWIN

.... you forgot to add that you were also delusional -- CUBSWILLWIN !! rofl

[qwan @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:46PM]

@doobster if you really believe what tata says then you better read their rap sheet and bhopal.net. Tata is not the pride of India(only in the mainstream media as much as Monsanto is the pride of america).
They have been literally murdering Indians for furthering their business and I would believe this is a deathbox without any proof.(even though it may not be) just because it is a tata product.
Oh there is another reason why this is a deathbox. Tata killed a lot of villager in a bid to evacuate them to set up the Nano factory and Singuri. I am sure this Nano has been a deathbox for all those who died there.
here is the link
http://www.bhopal.net/tata_rapsheet.html

You must remember the bhopal tragedy this is a website that is dedicated to fighting for that cause.
They only put up tata "hidden" past into the open because Tata wanted to coverup DOW as they wanted DOw to invest in their Chemical Plant.

Tata has no intention of bringing "luxury tranport to the poor". There is no altruistic intention here. The whole concept is driven by greed. They are just looking at a huge Indian Middle class market here. This is a disaster as TAT has only thought about sales figures and nothing else.

[Tas Kar @ Jul 15th 2008 10:10AM]

@Qwan

Ur statement shows your ignorance. Was that intentional? You are making it look like they killed thousands of Indians for some dollars, was that it? You dont know a thing dude.
Seems like you are working for the company that killed thousands in Bhopal, and just want every other company to look as bad.

[Nonedone @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:06PM]

@qwan: I don't quite think you know ANYTHING about Tata Sons? About how Jamshedji Tata introduced employee welfare long before the western world created "Human Resources", or about how JRD gave up his own airline company so that it could become a national carrier, or how Ratan Tata has pushed Corporate Social Responsibility to the forefront in Indian enterprise or how Tata Institute of Social Sciences is one of the foremost universities in the world for studying Social Work.

Or maybe you just have selective memory about the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

[Nonedone @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:11PM]

@qwan: And in reply to your allegation that Tata killed people for the Nano factory- that just shows how ridiculously ignorant you are about India and Indian politics.

Tata bought the land from the Government of West Bengal. West Bengal is ruled by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and has bitter political rivals all over Bengal.

The CPI-M was accused of illegally acquiring the land from farmers and the Trinamool Congress used violence as a means of protest. This is related to a larger problem in West Bengal surrounding a disputed Special Economic Zone in Nandigram

Get your facts straight before you go around hurtling accusations.

[doobster @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:21PM]

@ qwan

I know about their Singuri plant fiasco. I take the controversy with a pinch of salt. Tata has done a whole lot for India.

"There is no altruistic intention here. The whole concept is driven by greed."

I never said they were altruistic. Greed is a good thing.

[Ian @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:04AM]

Oil rose 247% on news that the Tata was to enter production.

[Rick @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:04AM]

So if you buy two Tatas do you have a bodacious set of Tata Tatas?

[JeffinLA @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:06PM]

^^ EXCELLENT!!!

[happy_penguin @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:17PM]

Perhaps. But they won't be bodacious.

[David @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:07AM]

I still think it looks like a Pikachu.

[tcc3 @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:40AM]

Bless you

[r3loaded @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:00AM]

So does Top Gear..

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:04AM]

Top Gear owns. They are having an American version coming to NBC now. w00t!

[Mantikos @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:21PM]

Umm, ht edesign has won awards, and all the italian desgin houses have been singing praise of how spacious it is on the inside!
As far as the death box goes, it passed all tests and in my mind would be the same level of safety as any kia/hyundai

[tyler @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:07AM]

If you were in an accident while driving this thing, your only hope for survival is if you were hit by other Tata's.

[martin @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:20AM]

still a lot safer than a scooter, which is what many of the indian families this is aimed at use as their main transport

[natels @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:25AM]

I lol'd

[Mantikos @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:21PM]

It passed all safety tests...fyi

[Hamidxa @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:31PM]

Mark me down for a lol too. :D

[Johan S @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:47PM]

No the only hope for survival is if by being the pedestrian getting hit.

[Siva @ Jul 4th 2008 7:01AM]

Tyler
I guess you should say "Nano" instead of tata. Tata has many models including the recently bought Rover and Jaguar :)

[space347 @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:07AM]

I still think it looks like a pikachu.

[tcc3 @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:41AM]

Gesundheit

[tcc3 @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:45AM]

Gesundheit

[konshuss @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:12AM]

but you know what i think? that it still looks like a pikachu.

[tcc3 @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:42AM]

Damn, theres some serious allergies on this blog.