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The World's Cheapest Car Set To Launch
theodp writes "Ready for one-automobile-per-child (OAPC)? India's giant Tata Group is on the verge of launching the world's cheapest car. The People's Car, slated to be unveiled January 10th at a New Delhi auto show, will carry a sticker price of 100,000 rupees ($2,500), which some analysts say could revolutionize automobile costs worldwide. The Tata is a pet project of Cornell-trained architect Ratan Tata, who helped design it. The vehicle is aimed at improving driving safety by getting India's masses off their motorbikes and into cars."
- 33 HP 660 cc gas engine. Also a 700 cc diesel option. (4)
- 80 mph top speed (4)
- single windshield wiper blade as a "cost-saving measure"(2)
- Four doors (4)
- 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) per liter. Call it 60 mpg using company supplied numbers(3)
- Picture here maybe with an scanned in article about it listing engine options
As for seeing it in the U.S., two things here: In India required safety standards do not currently include full-body crash testing, airbags or antilock braking systems (1). The cars would have to be upgraded to be U.S. street legal. Which brings us to this point: "Roland Berger [consulting group] estimates it would cost as much as $4,000 on top of Tata's $2,500 to engineer the car to meet U.S. safety and emissions regulations, transport it, pay tariffs, market it, pay lawyers and offer warranties. The same would hold true to meet European or Japanese standards. Meanwhile, the Tata would have to compete, too, with a used-car market that turns over 43 million cars a year. A quick Web search shows that $6,500 could buy a 1998 Cadillac Seville with a V-8 engine and a leather interior, or a 2002 Dodge Caravan that seats seven." References: 1 NY Times 2 Rediff 3 Forbes 4 Business Week"It's one thing to talk about the poetry of machines. Quite another to listen to it for yourself."
The problem is, and indeed TFA points this one out, it's not one guy on a motorbike. Have you seen how they use their motorbikes in India? Typically they're three or four up (rider, pillion and a child or two sitting on the tank) with luggage strapped on anywhere it can go. There's a reason why that sort of thing is illegal over here ("here" being pretty much anywhere west of the Asian subcontinent).
We've had TATA pickup trucks in the UK for a few years now. They're pretty good. They're surprisingly well-built, if a bit plasticky. The 4WD box seems to be derived from Steyr-Puch running gear, and the engine is a licence-built Peugeot XUD 2-litre diesel, with or without a turbocharger. This means that engine spares and consumables aren't a problem (because about a quarter of the diesel cars and vans on the road in the UK use Peugeot engines in one form or another) and it will run quite happily on veg oil.