Good things come in small packages
No single car by the Tata Motors car manufacturers has been talked about as much as the Tata Nano. Even before its release we had the people talking about it and eagerly anticipating it’s released. Much to the deliverance of the public it was finally revealed at the 9th annual auto expo in the first half of january 2008 in the city of New Delhi. This is a highly democratic car as the promotional tag line suggests it to “the people’s car”. Tata Motors have claimed it to be the world’s cheapest car. With a price of Rs 100,000 the standard version of the Nano costs just a little bit more than a decent motorbike.
Classified as being part of the new breed of 21st century cars the Nano symbolizes the new age philosophy of smaller, lighter and cheaper cars. The Tata Nano is without a doubt the leader in terms of causing a world wide trend of producing smaller cars. The interesting name actually has the very essence of the concept behind the car in its meaning. Nano is derived from the Greek word nanos which means dwarf. The word also means “small” in Gujrati which happens to be the mother tongue of the Tata owners.
The project was initiated in the year 2003 to construct a small sized car in the range of one hundred thousand rupees. This was done after considering the fact that India had a considerable number of families that were being forced to drive around on two wheelers due to the lack of finance for a four wheeler. This was the basic motive behind creating the Nano which was also encouraged with the company’s successful attempt at producing a low cost four wheel truck in 2005.
Many people were skeptical of the new Nano as they believed that it was not possible to create a good quality four wheel in the budget that was administered by Tata Motors. The results were quite the contrary to the negative public perception as the Nano turned out to be a properly designed and built car. Tata Motors once again collaborated with I.D.E.A of Italy to produce the smallest and most affordable four wheel ride. Together they have managed to integrate such features as the rear mounted engine to maximize interior space. The Nano sports a 623 cc rear engine and is rear wheel drive as well. The car is highly fuel efficient and it complies with the international emission standards as well.