12 Feb 08 16:44
Tata is planning to bring its £1,300 Nano city car to Europe - although it is unlikely to cost as little as £1,300 by the time it has been adapted to meet European safety standards.
Tata's head of compact projects Girish Wagh told a German newspaper this week: 'We will develop a successor model in four years time, which will meet the Euro 5 emission regulations and the crash standards in Europe.' He added that Tata was hoping to improve the Nano's fuel consumption from the current 47mpg to as much as 78mpg.
The Indian-built Nano has a 30bhp 625cc Bosch engine and four-speed manual gearbox, and is stripped down to the bare essentials: no power steering, no electric windows, no airbags, no air conditioning. There will be more expensive 'deluxe' versions, however. It is just over 3m long and 1.5m wide, can just about seat five and is said to be capable of 60mph.
Undercutting the Maruti-Suzuki 800, the Nano is to be the cheapest car on sale in India by a good margin; it's aimed at first-time car buyers, many trading up from motorcycles, and exports are also being considered to Africa, Latin America and south-east Asia.
Interestingly, for such a cheap budget vehicle, it has its inner body structures sourced from a top-end manufacturer: structural assemblies are being built by Caparo, maker of the F1-style T1.
