Drew Guarini — Tata Nano: $3,000 Car Coming To U.S.

After a few years of admiration and curiosity from afar, it appears the U.S. will welcome another miniature car into the mix.

Indian automaker Tata is redesigning their $3,000 Nano minicar for release in the U.S. within the next three years, according to Automotive News.

$3000? Well not exactly.

But in the process of adjusting the car to fit American standards, the Nano will end up losing its incredibly cheap price-tag, the company says. "The structural changes that would need to be made, the changes that would be required as far as emissions are concerned, and some of the features that would be appropriate to add to the vehicle for the North American market, obviously that would drive up the price point," said Tata executive Warren Harris in an interview with the Associated Press.
Tata's billionaire chief, Ratan Tata, said the new features will include power steering, traction control, a bigger engine and "more bells and whistles." With these additions in place, the new Nano Tata would cost around $8,000. If this price were to a hold, it would make the Nano America's cheapest car behind the likes of the Nissan Versa ($11,750) and the Hyundai Accent ($13,205).

But still.

The Huffington Post
Tata Nano: $3,000 Car Coming To U.S.
Drew Guarini

Reminiscent of the Citroen CV2 of the 1950's and, of course, the original VW Type 1, affectionally called the "VW Beetle" and the "VW Bug," designed by none other than Dr. Porsche himself as the "people's car, which went into production in 1938." Porsche had already designed a "car for everyone" in 1931 for Zundapp.

Maybe we are coming full circle?

This was the year of the scooter at University of Iowa. Until now, acceptance of scooters as anywhere near "cool" was non-existant. Motorcycle, yes; scooter, no. Now they are parked in front of frats and sorority houses — you know, where the coolest of the cool live.

So I think that a low priced car has a shot here. It's too cold to comfortably ride a scooter here in these parts from late fall to early spring.

Why "restructuring" the auto industry is bad policy

"We think we can have a successful U.S. auto industry. But it's got to be one that's realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge -- at the other end -- much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is," Obama said on CBS' "Face the Nation" broadcast Sunday.

Take a look at the chart below. Vehicle sales in the U.S. are now at their lowest level since 1982, not because the auto industry is "not viable," but because we are experiencing the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression. Judging from his remarks on "60 Minutes," our president doesn't seem to understand that.



If "lean and mean and competitive" are code words for shrinking the domestic auto sector--reducing both physical and human capital and the associated technology--then somebody in the White House ought to look at that graph, because it is telling a very important story. It is saying that at some point down the road when the economy improves and demand picks up, there will be far less domestic capacity to produce vehicles, which will result in more imports, an ageing vehicle stock and higher car prices.

From an Administration that purports to be for the middle class and workers and for reducing "imbalances" (Obama says this all the time) and protecting jobs at home, this is once again astounding.

I believe Obama has good instincts, but his fundamental mistake was to surround himself with advisors that adhere to paradigms that have either outlived their usefulness, or were never "viable" to begin with.