Tata Nano, the new Volkswagen of the 21st century?

 

According to Ratan Tata, CEO of the first Indian automobile manufacturer, the idea of the Nano came to him as he was watching whole families (father, mother and children) travelling perched on old sputtering motorcycles: “It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family.”

 

Over 500 engineers were mobilised for years to rethink each part of the vehicle according to its cost and usefulness, and his dream has now become reality. Ratan Nata might be on the way to revolutionising the world automobile market! In fact, predicting a global destiny for the Nano, he maintains that it respects all safety standards (which remains to be confirmed, of course) and, moreover, pollutes less than a large two-wheeler, whose engine it carries at the rear: an all-aluminium 624 cc petrol unit delivering 33 hp, coupled with a manual gearbox. Its promised fuel consumption (1 litre per 23km) theoretically gives it a range of 700 km (435 miles)!

 

At 3.1 m long, 1.5 m wide and 1.6 m tall, the Nano is smaller than a Maruti 800 (made by Suzuki in Morocco) yet boasts 20% more interior space. Detractors will say it looks like a Dinky car, perhaps, but still it boasts 5 doors, which is not the case of all our superminis!

 

At this price, the Nano has, of course, had to make numerous concessions: no airbags, power steering or ABS brakes… Only one windscreen wiper, but it is equipped with air conditioning (essential in India). Its brake system combines discs at the front and drums at the rear. As for the dashboard, it is delightfully simple: no gadgets, a speedometer, a petrol gauge and an oil level warning, no car radio.

 

Designed for the Indian market, 500,000 units of the Nano should be produced per year. However, for the time being, nobody can say for certain whether it will one day be exported over here, once it has complied with European safety standards. If that were to happen, and if the issue of purchasing power is still unresolved, it may well become what the Beetle or Citroën 2 CV once was: THE people’s car!

 

Commercial launch scheduled in India during 2008.