Tata Nano project is in a drastic changing process in order to comply with the US standards regarding safety and emissions and hit the market.
Tata Technologies Ltd., the global engineering arm of the Tata group conglomerate, brought the tiny car to Detroit as a publicity stunt for the engineering group.
Although officials haven’t revealed a launch date, the chief of Tata group, Ratan Tata, claimed Nano will be ready for the US in about 3 years. Another official from Tata revealed in private Nano will cost about the same as the European model that will be launched in 2011 – $8000, that is. No position was taken by the company regarding this statement, so it is probably true.
Warren Harris, Tata Technologies president, would only say that the price would be more than the roughly $2,500 charged in India.
“The structural changes that would need to be made, the changes that would be required as far as emissions are concerned, and some of the features that would be appropriate to add to the vehicle for the North American market, obviously that would drive up the price point,” he said.
Tata Technologies could be involved in bringing the car up to U.S. standards, said Tony Jones, associate vice president of the global automotive practice.
Before it can be sold here, the car’s two-cylinder, 623cc engine would have to be engineered to meet stronger U.S. pollution standards, he said. Airbags would have to be added, the roof strengthened and the front bumper lengthened to meet U.S. requirements to limit damage in a 5-mph crash.
The Spartan interior, with flat bucket seats, three knobs, a horizontal switch and a steering wheel, also would have to be changed to comply with U.S. safety standards that limit movement of passengers not wearing seat belts.
Jones said the Nano Europa has airbags and has passed European safety tests with flying colors.
The Nano, with 12-inch diameter tires, electric windows in the front and crank windows in the back, gets 50 mpg on the highway and has a top speed of 65 mph.
If the $8,000 price tag holds true, it would cost far less than the $9,970 Hyundai Accent, currently the car with the lowest base sticker price in the U.S., according to the Edmunds.com automotive Web site. The price excludes shipping.
