Tata Nano Export Plans
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Europe looks set to be the next country to receive the Tata Nano. Tata’s head of Small Car Projects stated that they won’t be exporting the current model, however in five years the second-generation Nano will have been developed and will be good enough for the European market.
The second generation Nano will be in a different form, at a different price and will meet the tough Euro 5 emission regulations as well as all relevant crash standards. A promise of an improvement in the Nano’s already impressive fuel consumption from 47 to 78 miles per gallon has also been laid down.
I say good on Tata for setting such a goal for the little ‘city’ car, they certainly are ambitious, but I do wonder how the second generation car will be priced considering the changes that will have to be made to meet the stringent emission standards and crash safety standards? The selling point of the first generation car seems to be focused around the fact that many people in India will see the car as a cost-effective alternative to a motorcycle and obviously the European market is a completely different kettle of fish.
I think also that the people of Europe would be accustomed to having their vehicles available with a variety of features and options and sure, for the price of the first generation car you could easily over-look a few creature comforts for the sake of economical motoring but will the second generation car be priced low enough to lure people away from the mainstream brands that they currently buy? Or will the Nano be up-specced enough and priced low enough to compete in the European small (micro) car market? Only time will tell I guess.
