Geneva 2008: Tata Nano is quite the hit
Filed under: MPG, Geneva Motor Show, Green Daily, European Union, India
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The Tata Nano, number one in the list of ten cheapest cars in the world, is a big hit at the Geneva Motor Show. Newspress is saying that the tiny and inexpensive Nano is drawing the biggest crowds at the show.The throngs aren't thronging just to see the car - we've seen it in pictures for a while now - but to listen for Tata chairman Ratan Tata update on details of the Jaguar/Land Rover/Tata deal. Instead, he said that the Nano would not be coming to Europe because of stricter emissions and safety standards there. We're all aware that a revamped second-generation Nano is a likely contender for European sales some time down the road.
[Source: Newspress]
Newspress story:
Big crowds for a small car – Tata Nano packs 'em in
It's a car that'll never be sold in Europe – but it drew the biggest crowds at the show. The tiny Tata Nano, which sells in India for just €1,700, drew a huge crowd – though many of the journalists weren't there to see the controversial Indian 'people's car'.
Instead they hoping Tata chairman Ratan Tata would announce that his company had finalised the deal to buy Jaaguar and Land Rover from Ford. Pre-show rumours suggested an announcement was imminent – but Tata only wanted to talk Tata.
In a emotional speech, he said: "Eleven years ago, we came to Geneva as a new car company from the developing world that was trying to find its place in the global car industry. We launched the Indica, which we designed in India, and received such encouragement and support from the international media that it spurred us on to be a car company of consequence."
He said Nano would not be coming to Europe – it would struggle to meet emissions or safety standards. But he said Tata had brought the car to Geneva because "emotionally this is the place where we launched our first car".
A more likely candidate would be the new, heavily revised Indica, with fit and finish significantly improved over the original Indica. This has only ever been sold in Europe as the ill-fated CityRover, which was heavily criticised for its poor interior finish and basic specification.
But Ratan Tata said he "hoped this car will be available in Europe in the future" - leading to the intriguing possibility that it could even return as a CityRover. Under the terms of the Land Rover sale, all '...Rover' brands will pass to Tata. BMW, Rover's previous owner, had retained the rights to the same until last year, when it was bought by Ford.
"We are serious about making a contribution to the car industry on a global basis," said Tata. The Jaguar-Land Rover deal is still on course, according to Ford executives at the show – and when the deal goes through, Tata will get his chance to make that contribution.
[Source: Newspress]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-05-2008 @ 6:15PM
mike said...
Funny, that beautiful $2000 paint job will never make it to production.
Reply
3-05-2008 @ 6:16PM
Carlos Ferreira said...
That's good. I appreciate the fact it can't be sold in Europe. It's too bad to be true! There were people out here already talking about 3 to 6 month car leasings for this thing. That would be terrible for the environment, on one hand, and for the global value of the car market, on the other. It costs me as much as the next man to buy a car - and I'm paying for mine. But I don't want to see such a waste in the streets.
Carlos Ferreira
http://www.greencarvalue.blogspot.com
Reply
3-05-2008 @ 6:36PM
rgseidl said...
This first-gen Nano will be sold almost exclusively in India. It may well become as important to that nation's development as the original VW Beetle was to post-war West Germany. The big difference is that India is home to 1.2 billion people. If just 10% of them of them switch from scooters to cars in the next 5 years, there will be a noticeable impact on global demand for oil and hence, its price. The global passenger car and light truck fleet in 2005 was estimated at 600-700 million vehicles.
Ergo, Tata will soon be forced to address the Nano's fuel economy - currently expected to come in at ~5L/100km (~47 MPGus) - or sales will stall because customers cannot afford the fuel. Stop/start systems will be a good first step as traffic jams and accident sites will become even more common and idling causes pollution. Air conditioning in India's hot, humid climate can add another 20% to that - but it normally requires the engine to run.
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3-05-2008 @ 7:17PM
Wildgoosechase73 said...
I dunno about the Nano, driving it in freeway traffic seems like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
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3-05-2008 @ 7:53PM
Jerry Z said...
Have you seen the exciting electric cars available from Zap? Go to http://www.zapworld.com right now to see what they have to meet your needs. I recommend the Xebra or the Obvio, which do you like best?
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3-06-2008 @ 12:18AM
Wildgoosechase said...
Uh, that smells like a commercial Jerry Z
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3-06-2008 @ 9:24AM
Kardax said...
Wildgooschase: It _is_ a commercial. ZAP does a lot of astroturfing around here.
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3-06-2008 @ 10:38AM
s10 said...
@Wildgoosechase73, better in a barrel than with 4 people on a scooter.
@rgseidl, Airco in India? 90% of the population doesn't even know it exists.
Tata is already working on several alternative energy sources. Pretty sure they will surprise us more, several times, in the near future.
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3-07-2008 @ 8:27AM
mikeSeven said...
Jerry,
Obvio: Delivery Date: TBA ( To Be Announced ), therefore, it's not on sale, you can't buy it yet. And it's planned price is $45K and 200hp( too much hp ).
But, please let us know when it's available.
Reply
3-11-2008 @ 1:53AM
nikki said...
The Indians are re-inventing the wheel. No surprise on comments here.This is a great little car than can.I've seen it in person. And, there are endless possibilities for pimping!. It has the same air cooled engine as the Beetle, and designed by the same company that designed the Beetle engine, Bosch!.And, i live in India. We manufacture Mercedes cars here at M-B's wholly owned subsidiary. Hyundai's 2nd largest auto plant in the world is also located in India. We drive the same cars as the rest of the world does. The Nano fits a budget. For some it will be their main car. For others, it will be a little runabout. The "Yugo" was once sold in America. Think about it. We have better choices.
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3-18-2008 @ 3:15PM
fred schumacher said...
The importance of the Nano is that it puts the emphasis on morphology (shape) as the primary focus of auto design and uses parsimony, rather than complexity, to accomplish the task. This runs counter to the entire industry, which has gotten itself trapped in a corner of its own making.
The Nano shows a way to replace the existing inefficient auto fleet rapidly at an affordable cost. Not only does it get much better fuel economy than the present fleet average (and there is huge room for improvement over its present price-limited performance) but also uses fewer materials and so has less embedded energy involved in its manufacture.
I've read that a European version of the Nano would be three times as expensive in order to meet safety and emissions specs. That seems about right. At that price, two Nanos could replace one standard compact sedan at the same price. With two-earner families the norm, two Nanos per family for commuting and general purpose use can replace a whole bunch of 4,000 pound monsters trucking around lone drivers.
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