$2500 New Car Now Reality

Tata Motors of India unveiled the long awaited Tata Nano today with a price of 100,000 rupees which translates to 2500 USD. The car is a subcompact that has a two cylinder engine that gets 50 mpg that according to the CEO has less emissions than a motorcycle. The Nano when produced will pass Indian and European emission standards.

The Nano follows in the footsteps of the Model T developed by Henry Ford and the Volkswagen Beetle that was originally the brainchild of Adolph Hitler for low cost transportation. Though I brought up the original proponent of the lovable bug, I in no way support Hitler or his policies it was just an interesting piece of trivia. The Nano is primarily built emerging markets like India, Vietnam and China where the middle class is growing.

Environmentalists are concerned the low priced car will put so many new drivers on the road that the added exhaust will threaten the planet. Since the car will replace mopeds and bicycles it will probably do that though not at the individual rate of the vehicles most Americans drive. Don't look for a Tata dealership just yet though as the Nano will probably not be released to U.S. market for safety reasons. The low priced 50 mpg car would signal the demise of the already troubled U.S. automakers, so I am sure it will be kept from our shores.

Tata already has a large market building trucks and cars in the east and the Nano should expand upon that. As jobs are outsourced to India and other countries people with new income will surely buy a car with the newfound wealth. And if you want to go to the high end of the auto market Tata will have something for you too as they are in negotiations to buy Jaguar and Land Rover from the troubled Ford Motor Company.