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10-15-2012, 02:15 PM
Filed under: Budget (http://www.autoblog.com/category/economy/), India (http://www.autoblog.com/category/india/), Tata (http://www.autoblog.com/category/tata/)
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/10/01-tata-mega-pixel-live-628.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/tata-megapixel-geneva-2012/)
Tata's much ballyhooed Nano (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/tata%20nano/) isn't exactly selling as expected in its home market of India, especially after the well-publicized fires (http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/12/nano-fires-prompt-tata-to-offer-free-safety-upgrade-insists-it/) engulfing the several examples of the world's cheapest car. Despite that, the head of Tata Group, Ratan Tata (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/ratan+tata/), says his company remains intent on bringing an updated sub-$10,000 Nano to the States, and he intends to do so in three years.
While the Indian market gets a bare-bones Nano powered by a two-cylinder, 37-horsepower engine, Tata unsurprisingly says the US version will have a larger engine, power steering and traction control.
"The Smart (http://www.autoblog.com/smart/) and the Fiat 500 (http://www.autoblog.com/fiat/500)have high sticker prices, and people buy them because they are small cars," Tata tells Automotive News (http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121015/OEM03/310159955/tata-will-redo-nano-for-the-u-s). "But everyone knows you put a lot of money into it. We hope that the sub-$10,000 car has appeal."
With the US economy still slowly recovering, a car for under $10k could have plenty of appeal. But the Indian automaker has several obstacles to overcome first, not the least of which is building a dealer network for the Nano. Tata owns Jaguar (http://www.autoblog.com/jaguar/) and Land Rover (http://www.autoblog.com/land+rover/), but that group's CEO, Andy Goss, says there has been no discussion about using those dealers to distribute the Nano.
Perhaps the updated US-bound Nano will be more like the Nano Megapixel (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/07/tata-megapixel-geneva-2012/) concept (pictured above) we saw at the Geneva Motor Show (http://www.autoblog.com/geneva-motor-show/) back in March. That car had a longer, 138-inch wheelbase and a larger 325cc engine supplemented by two electric motors. It's safe to assume that if Tata wants to keep costs down so that it can offer the car below $10,000, the next Nano won't get a hybrid powertrain like the Megapixel, but perhaps it will pick up some of the car's size and styling cues.Redesigned Tata Nano to arrive in U.S. wearing price tag under $10k (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/15/redesigned-tata-nano-to-arrive-in-u-s-wearing-price-tag-under/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/15/redesigned-tata-nano-to-arrive-in-u-s-wearing-price-tag-under/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20350106/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/15/redesigned-tata-nano-to-arrive-in-u-s-wearing-price-tag-under/#comments)
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http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/10/01-tata-mega-pixel-live-628.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/tata-megapixel-geneva-2012/)
Tata's much ballyhooed Nano (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/tata%20nano/) isn't exactly selling as expected in its home market of India, especially after the well-publicized fires (http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/12/nano-fires-prompt-tata-to-offer-free-safety-upgrade-insists-it/) engulfing the several examples of the world's cheapest car. Despite that, the head of Tata Group, Ratan Tata (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/ratan+tata/), says his company remains intent on bringing an updated sub-$10,000 Nano to the States, and he intends to do so in three years.
While the Indian market gets a bare-bones Nano powered by a two-cylinder, 37-horsepower engine, Tata unsurprisingly says the US version will have a larger engine, power steering and traction control.
"The Smart (http://www.autoblog.com/smart/) and the Fiat 500 (http://www.autoblog.com/fiat/500)have high sticker prices, and people buy them because they are small cars," Tata tells Automotive News (http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121015/OEM03/310159955/tata-will-redo-nano-for-the-u-s). "But everyone knows you put a lot of money into it. We hope that the sub-$10,000 car has appeal."
With the US economy still slowly recovering, a car for under $10k could have plenty of appeal. But the Indian automaker has several obstacles to overcome first, not the least of which is building a dealer network for the Nano. Tata owns Jaguar (http://www.autoblog.com/jaguar/) and Land Rover (http://www.autoblog.com/land+rover/), but that group's CEO, Andy Goss, says there has been no discussion about using those dealers to distribute the Nano.
Perhaps the updated US-bound Nano will be more like the Nano Megapixel (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/07/tata-megapixel-geneva-2012/) concept (pictured above) we saw at the Geneva Motor Show (http://www.autoblog.com/geneva-motor-show/) back in March. That car had a longer, 138-inch wheelbase and a larger 325cc engine supplemented by two electric motors. It's safe to assume that if Tata wants to keep costs down so that it can offer the car below $10,000, the next Nano won't get a hybrid powertrain like the Megapixel, but perhaps it will pick up some of the car's size and styling cues.Redesigned Tata Nano to arrive in U.S. wearing price tag under $10k (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/15/redesigned-tata-nano-to-arrive-in-u-s-wearing-price-tag-under/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/15/redesigned-tata-nano-to-arrive-in-u-s-wearing-price-tag-under/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20350106/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/15/redesigned-tata-nano-to-arrive-in-u-s-wearing-price-tag-under/#comments)
More... (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/15/redesigned-tata-nano-to-arrive-in-u-s-wearing-price-tag-under/)