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World's Cheapest Car Goes On Sale In India

Frankie70 writes "The Tata Nano — the car that caught the world's imagination as the cheapest ever — will finally be rolled out commercially on Monday in Mumbai in a mega event organised by Tata Motors. Ben Oliver, contributing editor, Car Magazine, London test drove the car in December, 08. These were his first impressions. This was his verdict: 'CAR's first ride in the Tata Nano felt far more significant and exciting than a first drive in a Ferrari or Lamborghini, because this car's importance is immeasurably greater. It won't compete on dynamics or quality with European or Japanese city cars, but it doesn't have to. What Tata has achieved at an unprecedented price is astonishing, although we'd guess it will cost Indian consumers closer to £1700 when it finally goes on sale, six months late, in March 2009.'"

6 of 571 comments (clear)

  1. Re:And will be unavailable anyplace else.... by YeeHaW_Jelte · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I'm guessing he's an inhabitant of the country that has been churning out rediculously large gas guzzlers for the last few decades -- so indeed please shut up or trade in your SUV/pickup for a car with reasonable mileage. On the gas saved an Indian could probably drive around all year in one of these without the net world oil consumption going up.

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  2. Other Models by INeededALogin · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Did anyone else notice Tata Motor's other models. They are all fricking rip-offs of other manufacturers cars. They all look like Toyotas. It seems like a copy-me company got too good at manufacturing and decided to do something innovative.

  3. Re:I'm still waiting for the Tata Touch... by pmarini · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    the world's most polluting country - per capita (meaning based on the population) - is the USA... and once the technological advancements will make it possible for everyone to afford an electrical vehicle with all the bells and whistles that have put them off buying one so far, then the whole climate change argument will take a whole new dimension... and I wouldn't be in a cow's shoes for any price...
    p.s.: I'm not fishing for flames...

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  4. What racist, condescending drivel! by dfenstrate · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Environmental damage that happens in other countries counts as US caused if it's done by US corporations. E.g., the Union Carbide disaster may have happened in India, but it was a US corporation that caused it.

    Come now, take responsibility for your (collective) actions.

    Got it. Only white people have free will, and control their own destinies and everyone else's destiny at the same time. The democratically elected government of India has nothing to do with what they allow in their country. /sarcasm off.

    The problem with blaming everything on Whitey and/or the United States is it essentially reduces everyone else in the world to a pile of simple neurons that only react to what We do. It's the most racist, condescending attitude one could possibly have.

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  5. Re:I'm still waiting for the Tata Touch... by ColaMan · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I love the per-capita stats. Nothing like lies,damned lies and statistics.

    20 million people in Australia.
    1300 million people in China.

    So basically, with the 5x figure, Australia's pollution from 20 million people is equivalent to 100 million Chinese. Never mind the other 1.2 BILLION, eh? Australia is a dirty, dirty country and should hang its head in shame.

    Bad Australia! Be more like the Chinese with just 1/5th the pollution of you! (*cough*per capita*cough*)

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  6. Americans do this for a reason by r00t · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    His argument is, here in north america, we made the huge mistake of designing communities such that a vehicle was a requirement for living. In particular, the suburban and ex-urban phenomenon has left your average American completely incapable of living without personal long-distance transportation.

    Yep. The ugly truth is that this was triggered by desegregation. Once you could no longer enforce a little island within the city, anybody with the means to live elsewhere did exactly that.

    And this phenomenon is coupled with a truly massive underfunding of public transportation [...] The solution is to build communities where cars *aren't necessary in the first place*.

    Uh, well, bus stops devalue your property. This is because they make it possible for people without cars to live in your community. People who can't afford cars are people who make a community less desirable. You'll get more littering, muggings, graffiti, prostitution, meth labs... You want to raise children in a place like that?

    This is related to some of the reasons we don't even like to ride busses. We might have to sit next to a smelly bum, a pedophile, or worse. Remember that guy in Canada who chopped of the head of the guy sitting next to him. We want isolation from that class of people.