Hell id drive it for $2500. And it is a great leap for those riding around on farm animals. This is a significant car and will certainly improve the standard of living in a lot of countries. I admire everything this car stands for. I wish Americans could understand the realities of existence on this planet rather than crying global warming on their cell phones, while chugging a $4 cup of coffee, driving to work in their SUV's. this car is definitely not a joke. I would expect this car to do much the same as VW in South America.

 

Gotta second all that said "what's all the whining about, this looks like a hell of a car for the money."

Consider that in constant $, this car would have cost about $1299 when the Yugo was introduced in this country for $3999. This is a hell of a deal.

 

I read a story on it in today's paper. Only 7 in 1000 people in India have cars. Currently many people buy scooters and try to fit their whole family on them to travel long distances. (You know those photos we get emailed and laugh about?) The Tata Nano and other cheap cars like it will help mobilize 3rd world nations and be a much safer alternative to the old 4 people and 30 baskets on a scooter approach they take today.

 

Now that is a business case for the U.S. market.

 

Do we really want more people using more oil?

All 54mpg says that you can use me more than my brother that gets 20.

there is no preservation going on, just stretching, and most will dirve more because they can now afford to, thus balancing any net gain in preservation.

~~I wonder if it has a 1 gallon, or a 2 gallon gas tank...

 

Should this car come to the U.S and have to be "worked" to meet U.S. standards it would end up costing $30k.

 

That's a mighty audacious statement for an American to make.

 

Would "I want less people to have the right to drive" be better? Because that is how I feel...

 

No, but "I want fewer people..." would.

 

Nano vs. Excursion = Big Mess!!

 

I don't think people are itching to get off the couch to go drive around in a vehicle all day. I think most drivers have a pretty set routine of where they typically drive in a week. Getting 54 mpg just allows less gas to be used. Especially in a vehicle like this one, I don't think people would be craving to take it for a 300+ mile trip.

Dan

 

I'd pay $5 to see that.

FIXED!

If you had an extra 30mpg in your Camaro, would you, or would you not drive more/harder?

I would if I had my Camaro, I'd go out every night and cruise around for the joy of driving the vehicle, because now it is cheap too. Isn't that why people drove on their vacations back before Israel?

 

Tata in Punjabi means big smelly poo. The term is usually used when talking about livestock manure.

Most people in India do 40 mph on the highway and about 15-20 mph in town so you don't need a lot of horsepower to get around. People usually keep one of these cars as a daily driver and then have something really high end like a Mercedes S class or a Toyota Supra Turbo for special occasions. Kids drive scooters. Poorer families put their entire family on a scooter.

 

The amount of driving I do is usually dictated by time, not the price of gas. I put a total of about 7000 miles on my own cars in a given year (I drive far further than this due to my job, but those miles are racked up on company cars or rentals.

"Back before Israel" - what the f***? If you're referring to the time before Israel's creation in 1948, people tended not to drive too far because we didn't have interstates.

Anyways, the sort of folks who can only afford a $2500 car are not the sort of people who are going to burn a lot of fuel joyriding.

The lack of perspective exhibited by certain people in this thread is astonishing, and is matched only by the levels of hypocrisy displayed by others.

 

The response by most Americans: Why dont they just buy an Audi A4? Or a Range Rover? I would not be caught dead in that thing. Thats why I only buy BMWs. Jeez and if they are hungry they can just eat cake too!