Industry News: Will The Tata Nano Be Sold In The U.S.?

[William Maley]

William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

October 15, 2012

The Tata Nano, introduced in 2009 as the world's cheapest car could be making its way to other countries. Ratan Tata, head of the Tata Group recently revealed in an interview that they are working on a redesigned version to be sold in the U.S. and Europe that could go on sale within three years.

"The U.S. is a very enticing market. We are redesigning the Nano for both Europe and the U.S."

The redesign will involve a larger engine and adding "more bells and whistles," including such items as power steering and traction control. Tata says the Nano will be under $10,000.

"The Smart and the Fiat 500 have high sticker prices, and people buy them because they are small cars. But everyone knows you put a lot of money into it. We hope that the sub-$10,000 car has appeal."

When asked where the Nano would be sold, Tata said its too early to talk about that.

We have to give a lot of thought to how we would distribute the car," he said.

Source: Autoweek

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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[David]

If it meets US regulations then welcome to the market, but personally I think this is a coffin on wheels and I see no purpose in having such small auto's on our freeways.

I only see more auto deaths due to the lack of protection and the lack of driving skills the youth who would buy these have.

Then you have the cheap and poor who buy it and then do not take care of it. I see this as another YUGO Nightmare. Only this time it is called NANO by TATA.

[Robert Hall]

If it meets US regulations then welcome to the market, but personally I think this is a coffin on wheels and I see no purpose in having such small auto's on our freeways.

I only see more auto deaths due to the lack of protection and the lack of driving skills the youth who would buy these have.

Then you have the cheap and poor who buy it and then do not take care of it. I see this as another YUGO Nightmare. Only this time it is called NANO by TATA.

If it ran on CNG, though, you'd be all excited by it, though.

[A Horse With No Name]

Dismal, methinks....

[Robert Hall]

Dismal, methinks....

Makes the Spark look like a luxury car... about the only thing this small here currently is the Mitsu i, I think...

[David]

If it meets US regulations then welcome to the market, but personally I think this is a coffin on wheels and I see no purpose in having such small auto's on our freeways.

I only see more auto deaths due to the lack of protection and the lack of driving skills the youth who would buy these have.

Then you have the cheap and poor who buy it and then do not take care of it. I see this as another YUGO Nightmare. Only this time it is called NANO by TATA.

If it ran on CNG, though, you'd be all excited by it, though.

Actually NO, I would not want this auto here period even on CNG. I do not see these for more than an inner city golf cart equal and I fear that the people who buy them are trading in their life for a car that is not safe especially going over 35mph.

[A Horse With No Name]

Agree Dfelt, and while I like small cars....this is the worst small car on the planet in mass production, I think....

[balthazar]

Yugo 2.0

[Mary S]

It's not a problem having Nano here in US as long as it has to meet emissions and safety regulations first. The redesigned version is going to be quite a bit different than the current version. The current Nano has a 37-horsepower, two-cylinder engine. I'm looking forward to what a $10,000 car can offer.

[balthazar]

^ Not going to offer what a 1-yr old Sonic is offering for the same money (138 HP aside).

Edited November 2, 2013 by balthazar

[ocnblu]

TaTa? Nono!