Not Buddy Related more like a buddy killer

[UXO]

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/tata-nano-launched-in-mumbai/


Stiff competition for cheap transportation.

[ScooterTrash]

I would much rather be hit on a scooter and fly away from the wreck vs. getting hit in that and it being used as my coffin since they cant get all the pieces out of it

[jfrost2]

Those body panels are fiberglass and resin and "rondo" (resin and bondo mix on outer layer)

They can easily be repaired at any good old home and rattle canned, I remember watching how tatas were built. They have many other models also, all cars are pretty much base, nothing fancy.

[nissanman]

Wow, a whole 30 HP!!! I've ridden lawnmowers with more power.

[gearhead]

my CL175 is only 20hp lol

[ScooterDave]

I will keep my Suburbans.

[djelliott]

[TVB]

I'm not going to buy one, but that's mostly because of all the Suburbans it'd have to contend with on the roads.

[KCScooterDude]

2009 Tata Nano = 30 bhp @ 1,300 pounds wet. Price $2,230
1963 Beetle = 40 bhp @ 1,631 pounds wet. Price $1,685

I've owned a 1963 Beetle. Loved it. If you could sell the Nano in the U.S. as is, don't think about taking it on the highway and air-conditioning - forget about it. It would probably need 700 pounds of safety equipment to sell in the U.S.

I would say this. It is more practical than a Smart Car for around-town use. It would be a good alternative to the electric city cars they are now starting to sell like the Zenn.

I wish they would let the Zenn and other cars go 35mph in the States. They would be worth a look then. Until then, stick with a scooter or motorcycle.

So, Nana is a nono for us, but it will revolutionize India. Probably perfect for their needs.

[TVB]

[KCScooterDude]

[UnionZac]

In the future when we are surpased by India and they become our over lords, do you suppose we'll be judged more favorably if we own Stella's?

[KCScooterDude]

[siobhan]

[KCScooterDude]

[Skootz Kabootz]

Is this the clip you were thinking of?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dzi_8Rscfs

Can't wait to read the comments this generates

[KCScooterDude]

[Skootz Kabootz]

So funny. And really well done.

[illnoise]

Let's not get paranoid or jingoistic on this list, please. A few people are guilty of it here, and some of them have been warned before.

Remember, shoddy foreign manufacturing and cheap foreign labor wouldn't be a problem here without cheapskate American consumers and capitalist American importers. There will always be someone making cheaper products or providing cheaper labor than we can. If you have a problem with that, take it up with the Americans who make the decisions to source products and labor overseas, not with the people of the nations that provide it.

When times get bad, there are always other people to blame for our problems, but this time, there's more evidence than ever that domestic greed brought most of these problems on us. American carmakers and American labor made bad decisions, that's no reason to blindly attack other nations.

And JFrost, I love you and hope to meet you this weekend, but I would really love to see some sort of justification to your suggestion that EVERY chinese car sent to Russia that crashed resulted in death. That doesn't even make sense.

The chinese can and do build quality vehicles, electronics, toys, and components. China supplies just about any multinational corporation you can name. Obviously, in some cases, Chinese ethics have caused problems, and Chinese products do warrant extra scrutiny for that reason, but Chinese manufacturing shouldn't be written off as a whole. In fact, the importers more often than not make the decisions about quality and THEY deserve a larger share of blame than the Chinese factory for lowering their standards to keep prices down.

Lord knows I've bashed Chinese scooters plenty, and there's plenty to bash, but let's not forget that some of the fault for these products is our own, and let's not let fear of an unknowable future turn into hatred, racism, and jingoism.

[illnoise]

As far as microcars, here are a few things to think about:

1) Most small budget cars that come to the U.S. end up changed beyond recognition thanks to DOT/EPA/NHTSA specs. This is good and bad, some of it makes them safer for American roads, some of it's just bureaucracy created by Detroit lobbyists. Not making a judgement, just stating a fact.

2) This process usually also makes them ridiculously more expensive than in other countries, partially because of the homologation expense, but also because Americans just have more money. The Smart, Mini, Beetle, and even Vespa are all priced at a premium because of their novelty here. I fear the new Fiat500, if it ever comes here, will too. (For that matter, I'd say the 500 is WAY more likely to come here than the Tata)

3) "Safety" is relative. If you've been to Europe, you'll know that no one there drives anything bigger than what we'd call a mid-size sedan, and even those are rare. Even trucks there are small, the Dodge Sprinter is actually a Mercedes van that's very common in Europe, though the ones you usually see there are a smaller version. Most of the cars you see on the street in, say, Paris, are 2 or 3-door citroens, peugeots, VWs, etc. In England, it's Vauxhalls. You see a lot of Smart cars and of course far more scooters and small motorcycles (of the hundreds of motorcycles I saw in Europe, probably none were over 250cc) Asia has even fewer (and smaller) cars and more scooters. So a car that's 'safe' in a sea of 50cc scooters and Tuk-Tuks is perhaps not so safe in the Land of Hummers and Semis. American friends with old-school minis tell me that they feel safer riding a scooter than driving a minicar in America.

[Scooter Hoot]

For all that Detroit can be annoying, their arguments about mandatory fuel economy requirements does make sense. Traditionally, Americans buy the biggest car they can afford. For better or worse, we've kept our gas taxes relatively constant for so long that the biggest we can afford is embarrassingly huge in comparison to everywhere else. If we actually wanted to change consumer behavior, we'd have to hit them where it hurts, and raise the gas tax. The fuel economy requirements are a complete joke, but no congressman wants to be known as the jerk that raised gas prices.

[rajron]

I praise this car for India – what a great deal!
I know it’s glued together, it has none of the USA safety features, its underpowered etc., but, it allows mobility at a great price. So much better than those Trike Taxies, the peddle, or the motorized ones; and it is such a huge improvement over what they have now, in that price range

[Dooglas]

[UnionZac]

In many ways the Nano represents the things that the Model T once represented for Americans. When average citizens can afford to own their own car this drastically changes the culture. With the advent of a car for the masses comes a greater focus on infrastructure and with it even more economic development. So whether we in the US would want one or not, is really irrelevant in defining the significance of the Nano.

[TVB]

[KCScooterDude]