TATA NANO AMIRICAN CARS

A deluxe version of India’s new "people’s car” may come to America with a chump-change $7,000 price. Add in urban-jungle agility, high mpg, and surprising space, and this cute puppy could spell trouble for other U.S.-market minicars.

What We Know About the 2012 Tata Nano America

It’s being called a 21st-century Model T, a masterpiece of cost-effective engineeering, a new “people’s car” that will change the global auto industry and millions of lives. It’s the Tata Nano, revealed in early 2007 and finally available in its native India at a starting price of just $2,500.

Ratan Tata, CEO of the Tata Group combine, was determined to build a genuine four-passenger car that would be priced only a bit higher--and be much safer--than the small motorcycles most Indian families use to tote three and four people at a time. The result is a tall, egg-shaped 4-door with about the same footprint as the original 1960s British Mini, minimal equipment, and a rear-mounted 2-cylinder engine making 35 horsepower from 624 cubic centimeters. Top speed is barely 65 mph, the comfortable cruising pace only 55 mph.

The India-market Nano may be too Spartan for First World countries, but it’s just right for the millions of Third World consumers who crave a car but could never afford one before. As Ravi Kant, the head of the Tata Motors division, recently told The Economist magazine: “Through the explosive growth of cellphones and television, the aspirations of rural people are converging with [those of] urban people...The interest in the Nano is worldwide.”

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So perhaps it was no surprise that Tata presented a deluxe version at the March 2009 Geneva Auto Show even before home-market deliveries were underway. Though this Nano Europa was billed merely as “for future launch” in developed countries, Mr. Tata later said that the Europa would likely start sale on the Continent in 2010 or 2011. Since then, one source has reported that Italy, Spain, Poland and the UK will be the initial markets. More important for U.S. consumers, Mr. Tata says his team is looking into a U.S. edition, what we call the 2012 Tata Nano “America.” It would take on the Smart ForTwo, the Korean-built 2011 Chevrolet Spark, a likely Toyota or Scion iQ and a possible 2011 Ford Ka in what’s shaping up as a whole new market class.

In case you’re wondering, Tata Motors is the company that paid $2.6 billion in 2007 to acquire British luxury-vehicle maker Jaguar Land Rover from Ford. Though JLR is something of a financial drain on Tata in the worsening worldwide recession, it does provide a wealth of global marketing know-how that should pay dividends in bringing “the world’s cheapest car” to rich-world buyers.

At a minimum, the 2012 Tata Nano America will share all the Europa’s upgrades over India-market models. The main one is a larger 3-cylinder engine, another all-aluminum unit with multipoint fuel injection, very low claimed CO2 emissions, and likely overall fuel economy above 50 miles per gallon. Tata is so far mum on displacement or outputs, but a look at comparable Japanese and Korean minicars suggests a 1.0-liter powerplant with around 65 horsepower and that many pound-feet of torque. Tata does confirm a 5-speed automatic transmission will replace the basic Nano’s 4-speed manual. Though the company won’t say more about that point either, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a low-cost automated-manual or a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) instead of a conventional torque-converter automatic, which would cost too much and sap too much power. All Nanos carry the powertrain on a separate rear sub-frame, an unexpected plus for refinement. That includes the radiator, which receives cooling air from a vertical bodyside scoop ahead of each rear wheel.

Like the Europa, the 2012 Tata Nano America is some 7.5 inches longer than the basic model, reflecting a 2-inch-longer wheelbase and larger, restyled bumpers that are presumably strengthened for Western crash tests. The Geneva display cars indicate the America/Europa will also get higher-quality interior trim--including ersatz chrome accents and available leather upholstery--plus a rear wiper and washer, sound-deadening material, and at least four airbags, all absent from basic Nanos. Antilock brakes and a stability system with traction control are promised too, and could be standard on top-trim models. The same applies to air conditioning, front power windows, power door locks, and foglights. Finally, the premium Nano exchanges flat-face headlamp units for a more-stylish “three-hole” design.

Of course, all these changes won’t come for free. Indeed, several sources predict the 2012 Tato Nano America (Europa, too) will cost over twice as much as its no-frills parent. Still, the rumored base figure is only some $7,000, which should be more than class-competitive in the States and thus very attractive to budget-minded shoppers.