First Test Of The $2000 Tata Nano Leaves Journalist Impressed

This Indian version looks seriously poor. But just check the European styling package. It's really impressive how few design tweaks can turn an ugly ducking into a nice tiny people mover.

http://jalopnik.com/363463/tata-nano-not-for-europe-just-saying-hi-to-geneva

By the way, European countries are so sunk in debt that offering them some supercheap wheels may not be insane at all in the not that distant future.

I'd rather take a bus or a train than drive that thing.

You wouldn't be saying that if you had to take the bus/cab everyday!

It pisses me off the way tata copies the Toyota Prius. Toyota should sue them.

There is no need to hate on this car people. It's not meant to be a super hatch. It's just a small cheap car for normal people who can't afford more expensive cars. And if you go to India, you would understand the purpose of this car more and more. I say kudos to Tata for offering a car everybody can afford.

You're family will spend more money buying you a coffin after you get into an accident. Save you're damn money and buy something half decent - something that's not a deathtrap on wheels.

Definitely thumbs up for offering competent, "cheap" transportation for a HUGE part of the world's population. This is the modern VW bug. A whole car for just a bit more than a Honda 50cc scooter is amazing. I wonder if we'll see a retro Nano in 40 years. Even the VW bug built in Mexico had a price of about $4500, so that puts things into perspective.

It actually does look better than a Prius lol.

Western car makers are not that irresponsible to offer a car with zero safety features. But they might have to go "there" to compete now.
When the reporter says it costs so much less than in a car in the UK it's b.s. Once you sell it in the UK and add the required safety features, etc it will be much more.

i guess it's still a bargain with all that safety stuff if it's compared to a smart

I want to read the Euro-NCAP ratings.

Well done Tata. Well done. It's amazing though, how the morons creep out of the cracks with crap filled in their mouths just waiting to unload. So let me put this into perspective. Tata is irresponsible for making a vehicle without an airbag? So is Honda irresponsible for making a 600RR without an airbag? Let's be fair. Both have 600cc engines, don't they? Okay...let's proceed then. Nano has seatbelts. 600RR nill. Nano has rollover protection. 600RR nill. Nano has doors and windows to keep the wind, rain, dirt, and bugs out. 600RR nill. Nano has four brakes. 600RR has half that number. Gosh. So it seems Tata isn't that bad huh? Not knocking Honda at all with this comparison, mark you. I'm just pointing out that many times a vehicle is only as safe as its operator. This car is designed for busy urban streets to replace motorcycles. Urban streets where a motorcyclist is likely to be knocked off, whereas a car (even one with no airbag) is light years safer because it will absorb some of that crunch. I've owned a number of cars over the years, none of which have had an airbag. I don't think I'm driving a deathtrap. I also own a scooter, and I don't think that's a deathtrap either. In the so-called "West" we have been fed this garbage about ABS and airbags being "safer" when the truth is that driver discipline has more to do with surviving an accident than any airbag or ABS system will. Most people really don't know how to use ABS systems when they do become engaged, and airbags alone will NOT save your life if you crash head on into a wall at 80km/h, a perfectly legal speed in many countries.

+1

"and airbags alone will NOT save your life if you crash head on into a wall at 80km/h, a perfectly legal speed in many countries."

Yes, they can and/or will. If not, they'll protect you from obtaining brain damage; which ultimately can result in death.

FYI, many automakers have done extensive research in helping increase passive safety. Prime example, Volvo's city safety, or the Mercedes-Benz PRE-SAFE system, even Lexus has a similar system. Even the Toyota Star Safety System is top far ahead of many automakers.

"Most people really don't know how to use ABS systems when they do become engaged"

Only an idiot wouldn't know how to use ABS when its engaged? Works the same way as a threshold brake, except it wont lock up. Ever heard of EBD (Electronic Brake-Force Distribution)

...and who the **** crashes into a wall head on going 80 km/h?

LOL, 400-series highways = me assuming your from Ontario. If you're from the GTA then you shouldn't forget to mention the way "those" immigrants drive. (Yeah the number one most infamous stereotype, middle-aged Asian woman driving a Sand Beige Toyota Corolla.)

No, Saturn just needs to die.

What you need to do is put this story into the proper perspective instead of calling the car a "joke" or that it "sucks". I doubt if there is anyone on this site that can design and build a car that will hold four people, get good gas mileage, and have the cost land around $2K. India, like Brazil, has millions of people riding motorcycles and scooters and as a result, there are tens of thousands of fatalities each year. This is a very affordable means of transportation designed to be utilized in countries other than the U.S.

LMFAO! OH DRY! I couldn't agree less (though its stereotypical), I have the right to say such - since I live in (Toronto) [North, North-West] Scarborough, ON, Canada.

Have a look for yourself:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Grace_trilingual_sign.jpg

and/or,

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Visible_Minorities_of_Scarborough.png