First Test Of The $2000 Tata Nano Leaves Journalist Impressed

This Indian version looks seriously poor. But just check the European styling package. It's really impressive how few design tweaks can turn an ugly ducking into a nice tiny people mover.

http://jalopnik.com/363463/tata-nano-not-for-europe-just-saying-hi-to-geneva

By the way, European countries are so sunk in debt that offering them some supercheap wheels may not be insane at all in the not that distant future.

— AutomotiveEngineer (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2009 10:01:22 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

what a joke

— 1UAW (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2009 1:51:16 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -2   

I'd rather take a bus or a train than drive that thing.

— LexSucks (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2009 1:56:45 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -5   

It pisses me off the way tata copies the Toyota Prius. Toyota should sue them.

— camrydriver (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2009 2:20:48 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -10   

There is no need to hate on this car people. It's not meant to be a super hatch. It's just a small cheap car for normal people who can't afford more expensive cars. And if you go to India, you would understand the purpose of this car more and more. I say kudos to Tata for offering a car everybody can afford.

— M53R (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2009 4:17:39 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 8   

Definitely thumbs up for offering competent, "cheap" transportation for a HUGE part of the world's population. This is the modern VW bug. A whole car for just a bit more than a Honda 50cc scooter is amazing. I wonder if we'll see a retro Nano in 40 years. Even the VW bug built in Mexico had a price of about $4500, so that puts things into perspective.

— PPower (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2009 5:59:08 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

It actually does look better than a Prius lol.

— Obliv (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2009 6:41:00 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

Western car makers are not that irresponsible to offer a car with zero safety features. But they might have to go "there" to compete now.
When the reporter says it costs so much less than in a car in the UK it's b.s. Once you sell it in the UK and add the required safety features, etc it will be much more.

— philippz (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2009 7:39:51 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

I want to see the IIHS test video.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2009 8:44:37 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Well done Tata. Well done. It's amazing though, how the morons creep out of the cracks with crap filled in their mouths just waiting to unload. So let me put this into perspective. Tata is irresponsible for making a vehicle without an airbag? So is Honda irresponsible for making a 600RR without an airbag? Let's be fair. Both have 600cc engines, don't they? Okay...let's proceed then. Nano has seatbelts. 600RR nill. Nano has rollover protection. 600RR nill. Nano has doors and windows to keep the wind, rain, dirt, and bugs out. 600RR nill. Nano has four brakes. 600RR has half that number. Gosh. So it seems Tata isn't that bad huh? Not knocking Honda at all with this comparison, mark you. I'm just pointing out that many times a vehicle is only as safe as its operator. This car is designed for busy urban streets to replace motorcycles. Urban streets where a motorcyclist is likely to be knocked off, whereas a car (even one with no airbag) is light years safer because it will absorb some of that crunch. I've owned a number of cars over the years, none of which have had an airbag. I don't think I'm driving a deathtrap. I also own a scooter, and I don't think that's a deathtrap either. In the so-called "West" we have been fed this garbage about ABS and airbags being "safer" when the truth is that driver discipline has more to do with surviving an accident than any airbag or ABS system will. Most people really don't know how to use ABS systems when they do become engaged, and airbags alone will NOT save your life if you crash head on into a wall at 80km/h, a perfectly legal speed in many countries.

— tango (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2009 10:26:23 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 6   

True, but North America has things called F150s which are about 10x the size and weight of this thing and we also have things called 400 series highways (Interstate in the US) which wold effectively make the Ford over 30x larger than the Nano in a collision.

Just like the STUPID, the Nano will get crushed by something as small as a Honda Goldwing.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 3/26/2009 11:51:32 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -3   

Ive heard the Tata Indica is a nice car. They are where we at Hyundai were 30 years ago, making inraods into foreign markets, getting ready for an invevitable U.S. Debut. Which will probably be by 2013, hopefully. Lets saturate the US Market with more foreign cars yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lmao!!!!

— HyundaiSmoke (View Profile)

Posted on 3/27/2009 12:10:10 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

I HOPE THEY FUC-KING BUY SATURN!!!!!

— HyundaiSmoke (View Profile)

Posted on 3/27/2009 12:14:04 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

What you need to do is put this story into the proper perspective instead of calling the car a "joke" or that it "sucks". I doubt if there is anyone on this site that can design and build a car that will hold four people, get good gas mileage, and have the cost land around $2K. India, like Brazil, has millions of people riding motorcycles and scooters and as a result, there are tens of thousands of fatalities each year. This is a very affordable means of transportation designed to be utilized in countries other than the U.S.

— Veeracer (View Profile)

Posted on 3/27/2009 10:34:44 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

Hyundaismoke,
Why are you cheering? Tata will just bankrupt Hyundai because they only compete on price. Same thing if Obama lets China dump cars in the U.S. market, no more Hyundai.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 3/27/2009 11:02:20 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

LMFAO! OH DRY! I couldn't agree less (though its stereotypical), I have the right to say such - since I live in (Toronto) [North, North-West] Scarborough, ON, Canada.

Have a look for yourself:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Grace_trilingual_sign.jpg

and/or,

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Visible_Minorities_of_Scarborough.png

— Jordanski (View Profile)

Posted on 3/28/2009 6:23:14 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Jordanski,
Actually, you couldn't agree "more". What you said basically means you don't agree.

Way to make Canada look bad on the linguistic front.

Is Scarborough Toyota still on Eglinton? I know they moved and renamed Scarborough Lexus to Lexus on the Park but its been a while since I've been on Eglinton.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 3/29/2009 2:02:54 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Huu, the Chinese or the Indians cant compete with a 1980s Hyundai in quality. Much less one from today. Chinese and Indian cars will just force Hyundai/KIA out of the doldrums of cheapness, like KIA/Hyundai forced Toyota/Lexus, Honda/Acura, and Nissan/Infinti out of their cheap era as well. History is repeating itself. People used to be skeptical of the Japanese cars until a bad economic crisis (1975-1985 recession) forced peopel to look cheaper. That time the Japanese car quality and design was fastly improving and becoming high in industry rankings, and people started to buy them up like hotcakes. While the American and German cars suffered. The same is now happening to American and Japanese cars, while the Koreans are benefitting from this. Have you seen Honda and Toyota sales statistics lately? Can you say Detroit 1979?

— HyundaiSmoke (View Profile)

Posted on 3/29/2009 7:43:46 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1