Hipsters and city dwellers are going to love this new car that is coming to the United States from India. This unusually shaped small car is promised to have a bigger engine and a variety of excellent features over the scaled down version that has been selling in its home country for quite some time now. Apparently this small offering from India will be positioned to compete with the Smart and Fiat 500, with a much lower price. In fact, right now, the rumor is you will be able to pick one up for under $10,000.
Ratan Tata, head for the Tata Group agreed to an interview. He comments, “The U.S. is a very enticing market,” Tata said in an interview. “We are redesigning the Nano for both Europe and the U.S. The Smart and the Fiat 500 have high sticker prices, and people buy them because they are small cars. But everyone knows you put a lot of money into it. We hope that the sub-$10,000 car has appeal.”
The Tata has no American retail outlet and that could be one glitch for the Indian automaker in making sure United States drivers have the option to choose one. There were whispers of the Land Rover Ranger Rover dealerships picking it up, but the dealers are stating there are no such plans at this point in time. It seems if there are enough Americans who want another tiny car on the market that want it, someone will figure out a way to get them over here though.
The existing Nano will have to be completely rehauled to become competitive in the American market. The current nana is only 122 inches long, this is almost two feet shorter than the Mini. It also has an engine that only offers 37 horsepower and as we know too well, Americans are not going to want a car that would lose a race to their riding lawnmower. The concept is interesting though and we will stay tuned to see what the Tata Group can come up with for our market.
Source Autonews