India reinvents the basic car that Henry Ford started with - OT

yes !

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

YES ….Just as good as a smart for two a fraction of the price.

-- --<<<<<< I will not stop until I get it right. >>>>>>--

yes

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Another company over there has come out with a Hybrid to compete with this one as well.
It will sure kick the stuffing out of the export market for used “guzzelers” I suspect.

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Yeah, but will it hold 4×8 plywood? :-)

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Yes!

Cars seem high priced as compared to so many other manufactured products. High safety standards seem crazy when you let people drive motorcycles. Legally drive without helmets in some states where it is illegal to drive without seat belts.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Charlie, they must have been reading your mind. ;-)
http://www.hybridcars.com/news/indian-carmaker-plans-diesel-hybrid-pickup-us.html

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

So, if you have two of these in your garage, is it politically acceptable to compliment you on your “nice Tata’s”? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm . . .

-- Dave; Lansing, Kansas

Ha,ha,ha, I wondered when that would get a notice.
Apparently the minister in charge of transportion over there is Sheila Dikshit.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

yes, and i really like the look of that hybrid pickup.

-- Roper - Master of sawdust-

No. I’d rather not be bounced all around the freeway when a pickup clips me. I realize these things are essentially roll cages on wheels but in the event of an accident mass wins every time.

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

i hear you damian. i just bought a minivan because I was worried about our new child in a civic in the event of an accident. At the same time, I feel horribly guilty for what I consider automobile proliferation. Everyone needs to keep getting bigger cars for fear that the person with an even larger car will t-bone them at an intersection. I can’t even imagine what a sequia or suburban would do to one of these (assuming it doesn’t drive right over the top clearing it entirely).

I heard these were selling for seven hundred pounds around eleven hundred dollars maybe by the time the come here or with you the price goes up with us and uk tax.Our governments well, they don’t want such a cheap car to come onto the market and upset standard car sales in the USA and UK and Europe do they?

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Physics. You can’t alter the laws of physics.

If a car 4000 lbs hits a car 1000 lbs head on it’s equal to 4:1 ration in weight. The damage is also in that ratio. 3/4 of the energy in the collision is transfered to the smaller mass.

Many small cars have wonderful crash ratings.. when crashed into a wall or other small car. The rating is for that category of car. When everyone is driving a small car, so will I. I hope that occurs soon. I’m holding out for an electric. I’ll be keeping my pickup though.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

The car was built for a family of 4 who currently have no means of transportation or just a motorbike or tuk tuk.
Being hit from behind by a truck while on a bike, motorcycle or on foot is about the same damage.
Walking 3-4 miles for groceries or just water on the other hand is a hardship.
When the “Greens” are finished with us here in North America this car will look like al uxuray here too.

Read or listen to it as soon a you are able.

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

i read the first few pages of the book in the preview, but I feel like this is another very lopsided argument that is stereotyping a group of people. Just in the first few pages, the author makes it clear that he thinks the entire green movement is out to destroy the US. I think if you really got to know most people that support “greener” policies, you’d see that most of them are trying to protect america.

I know you live in Canada, and this book seems to focus on the US, but I’d assume the same is true in your country. I don’t think it is fair to assume that everyone that wishes people would by the smallest car that fits their needs are tree huggers and I don’t think it is fair to assume that someone who drives a low mpg pickup truck will be happier when all the polar bears are only left in zoos. I don’t think you will sway people with one sided viewpoints, such as those in a book like this.

Sorry if I took this off topic. I do think cars like this would have a great place in many niche markets. $4,000 makes it affordable enough to have as an extra car for local errands, if you were slightly well to do and already had a pretty large car for toting the whole family around.

The entire text is 6-1/2 hours on 6 disks.
To be fair I think you should at least hear the man out before you make up your mind. What North Americans cannot get a grip on is the fact that we have, priced ourselves out of the world market.These folks are making less expensive transportation are doing it for themselves ,not to reduce our cost of living.
In the past ,about 30% of the fleet of vehicles in North America over 200,00 miles ,was sold off to third world countries . Now they can get a machine that uses 1/3 the gasoline to do the same task and the buck stays at home in their own country.
Your export market for your used vehicles is lost .

When these “well meaning Greens” boost the gas prices to the ten dollars a gallon mark these guys will be O.K. . Maybe not so good for the comfortable and safe Yanks and Canucks.

The Greens are already lobbying for a carbon tax based on your purchase price plus the number of miles you drive plus the impact on the roadway.

Please read the book before you make your mind up.

It’s the right thing to do.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

No
My cars (trucks) are paid for.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

What a concept…... It’s the same thing that happened here 100 years ago. Think-the model T

-- Julian, Park Forest, IL

at 4,000 i would get one…but like Damian said…its kind of scary in freeway mass pile up land…when 1,000’s of cars all going 75 miles per hour come to a screeching halt during rush hour…this is not the car I want to be in…

but at 4,000 and assuming good mph is could be a great car to hop around town which is most of my driving…

matt

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

This article explains some of the rationale behind the first Nano car and hints are future Nano’s destined for the Europian market.
It seems the stripped down model goes out in Mumbia for around $2100.00
They also mention perhaps making one for the U.S. market. ( note the position of the steering)

Incidently, isn’t this something that the U.S. automakers should have seen comming? <g>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/24/tata-nano-worlds-cheapest-car

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner