The first month of 2008 saw a new milestone set in the global automobile industry. Tata the internationally known Indian car manufacturer announced a car dubbed to be the cheapest car in the world. On January 10, 2008, Chairman of the Tata group, Mr. Ratan N. Tata unveiled the Tata Nano at the 9th Indian auto expo. The Tata Nano would cost Rs 1 lakh, GB£1277, €1700 and US$2,500 respectively.  His words for the cute small car were few - A car designed for the average Indian citizen, a people’s car. As the world’s only second country to have over a billion residents, India’s economic boom has seen more and more of its population getting above the poverty line and reaching for private transport vehicles. Most Indians who cannot afford a car go for tricycles and motorbikes but with the launch of the Tata Nano, people who cannot afford to buy the “usual” cars get a chance to own one.

Introductory session for the Tata Nano unveiling ceremony.

History behind the Nano

History of the Nano dates far back in 2003 when Chairman of Tata Motors, Ratan Tata started a project to build a car that will direct towards Indian families with 2-wheeler transport vehicles. The initial idea was that any car created should be cheap enough for the average family. Being the man behind the dream that brought out the Nano, Ratan Tata had a lot of input in the cars preproduction stages, even reducing the number of front wipers from two to one. Italy’s Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering is behind the design of the Nano.

The Tata Nano is a four-door car. To conserve limited interior space without affecting the overall length of the vehicle, its engines were placed at the rear end of the car. The Nano comes with a 2-cylinder petrol Bosch multi-point fuel injection (single injector) 33horsepower all aluminium 623 cc engine. Due to its 2-cylinder status, fuel consumption estimates for the car are at 22km/Litre. The external dimensions for the Nano are:

Length 3100 mm (122 in)
Width 1500 mm (59.1 in)
Height 1600 mm (63 in)

Tata has announced that the Nano will come in different versions – a standard version and two deluxe versions. The standard version does not include air conditioning but the deluxe versions will. All versions have no power steering. While Tata Motors was able to reduce the size of the Nano by making it even smaller than its nearest competitor - Maruti 800, the Nano has 21% more interior space.

Performance

The Nano’s small engine doesn’t give much room for performance. Its top speed is 105 km/h and acceleration from 0-70 km/h is in 14 seconds. Though the Nano doesn’t provide much speed, it compensates for this with fuel consumption - One litre of fuel provides a 20 kilometre journey.  

Technical Specification

Engine: 2 cylinder petrol with Bosch multi-point fuel injection (single injector) all aluminium 33 horsepower (25 kW) 624 cc (38 cu in)
Value Motronic engine management platform from Bosch
2 valves per cylinder overhead camshaft
Compression ratio - 9.5:1
bore × stroke 73.5 × 73.5 mm
Power: 33 PS (33 hp/24 kW) @ 5500 rpm[18]
Torque: 48 N•m (35 ft•lbf) @ 2500 rpm
Rear wheel drive, 4-speed manual transmission
Steering – mechanical rack and pinion