Nano may cost $8,000 in the US
15 Jan 2010
Tata Nano, the cheapest car in the world, would need to be rejigged before it goes for sale in the US, but by the time it is ready to meet US emissions and safety standards, it won't be cheap anymore.
Tata Technologies Ltd, the global engineering arm of the Tata Group, has brought the tiny car to Detroit where it is on display just a few miles from the Detroit Auto Show, where global auto majors are displaying their offerings.
Tata officials who had been involved in the Nano's development from concept to its launch last July in Mumbai, declined to put a figure to the price the Nano would retail at in the US, but said it would cost more than its 1-lakh price tag ($2,500) on Indian roads.
They would also not say when the Nano would arrive in the US, though Ratan Tata, chairman of the group of Tata companies has indicated that the car should be ready for US distribution in about three years.
The Nano's European version would cost $8,000 when it debuts in 2011 and a Tata Technologies official who declined to be identified as the price had not be made public told AFP, the US version would roughly cost the same.
However even at $8,000 the Nano would cost much less than $9,970 Hyundai Accent, which is the cheapest car in the US at present, according to the Edmunds.com automotive website. The price does not include shipping.