Ok, I have been wanting to buy one of those "Smart fortwo" cars for a while, but they have been unavailable in the US until now. But now that they are here, they are way too much for what you get. 20k bucks for that tiny car that i just wanted for around town is terrible and is not economical. But then comes India with their Tata Nano. M.S.R.P...100,000 rupies or $2,187 (as of todays exhange rate) And thats brand spanking new! 51 mpg city, 61 mpg freeway. Sure it has a max speed of 65 mph and it does 0-43 mph in a lightning quick 14 seconds, but i think it would be a product that millions of americans would want, it would reduce the amount of oil we use by at least 20% and there would be less of these jack-a$$es speeding thru school zones at 60 mph. I mean I know if i had a teenager and i had to get them a car, this would be what i would get for them. You know they wont be drag racing in it, and you only gotta give them 3 bucks for gas instead of a $20 when they go out on the weekends. Plus if they do wreck the car, you know it aint gonna cost 5k bucks to fix it. You just buy a new one. Of course we all know that by the time the US legalizes the tata nano, the MSRP will be like 13k After all...they have to make it "competitive" with american brands.
HAHA, car like these would never Pass safety standards in US or Europe.... Indians are too many..A few less due to death in accidents won't matter. I think India and China would be the only countires using NANO
Well, that's a lovely sentiment, geesh. The people who couldn't afford one would likely be in dire straights anyway, health wise, but your concern is noted. As for safety standards, it is unlikely these things will pass muster safety wise-the insurance companies would destroy it before it ever hit a showroom, they would actually be better off lopping off the roof, losing the doors (and a couple of wheels) and selling it as a scooter if they wanted mass market appeal-except there are already stacks off scooters in the price range. So you may be right, but i would throw in most of asia, eastern europe and possibly parts of south america as possible high uptake markets, as is.
I am interested in little cars. They might be useful for many of the shorter trips that I make, mostly to the supermarket. I wish The Government would allow We The People to decide what kind of car to buy.
Along the same lines, I love it when car companies highlight in their commercials how their vehicles get 30mpg or less. Like that is some sort of huge accomplishment given that 30mpg has been around for more than a decade.