tekHPoynt

A
s a follow-up with the last issue from TekhPoynt.Com (2009 Cheapest Cars), India's Tata Motors is set to launch the world's cheapest car amid predictions the vehicle could transform how millions travel and fears it would bring more traffic jams on Indian roads.

Tycoon Ratan Tata was due to unveil the four-door jelly-bean-shaped car with tear-drop lights on Monday at a "revolutionary high-tech" audio-visual show in India's financial hub Mumbai, a spokesman said.

The car is slated to cost just $US2,000 ($A2,900) for the no-frills version that has a two-cylinder 623 cc, rear-mounted engine with a top speed of 105kp/h.

Ratan Tata, an architect by training and head of the sprawling tea-to-steel Tata Group, dreamed up the Nano car to get poor Indians off unsafe motorcycles.

"There's no safety in two-wheelers especially with the whole family," said New Delhi resident Ganesh Khand, 38, who now has a motorbike but wants a car to be able to transport his wife and two daughters safely.

One analyst said, "This is a value for money car".

The basic model has a four-speed manual transmission, no air conditioning, electric windows or power steering, but deluxe versions will be available. Here's an image (from samaw.com) explaining why Tata Nano makes cheap:


The launch comes at a tough time for India's top vehicle maker, hit by a slowing domestic economy, a credit crunch and a deepening world financial crisis that has hurt sales of British luxury marques Jaguar and Land Rover which it bought last year for $US2.3 billion ($A3.34 billion).

But demand is expected to be hot for the Nano with just 30,000 to 50,000 of cars likely to be sold in the first year because of limited production capacity - a fraction of the original target of 250,000, auto analysts said.

Dealers say they've been flooded with queries about the car whose debut was delayed by several months when violent protests over the acquisition of farmland for the project forced the Tatas to shift the Nano plant from West Bengal state to Gujarat, known as more business-friendly. But the Gujarat plant won't be ready until late 2010, meaning production must come from existing factories, reducing output.

Tata has been likened by India's media to US automobile pioneer Henry Ford for conceiving the car. "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," Tata said when showing the prototype in 2008.

So automobile's prizes gone crazy nowadays, hah?