Indian carmaker Tata, which bought Jaguar, Land Rover and the Rover badge from Ford in 2008, is gearing up for their ‘Tata’ small car brand launch in Europe including the UK during 2010.
Tata is currently at the Geneva Motor Show displaying a ‘Europa’ version of their “world’s cheapest car” Nano which it hopes to launch in the city car segment next year. The tiny Nano is expected to go on sale in its native India for the equally tiny price of $2,000. The Europa version has seen the engine revised for the market following concerns over the environmental credentials of the Indian-version, with an efficient 3-cylinder aluminium engine that should be capable of CO2 emissions below 100g/km; furthermore the interior finish has benefit from an upgraded and the car also includes ABS, ESP and airbags. Expect the price in the UK to reflect these additional features and be substantially greater than $2,000 when it finally hits the streets.
The firm is also rumoured to be working on an electric version of its Nano model with a French firm. The electric car is expected to use compressed air. Tata Motors also announced that it is in talks with Chrysler on developing electric vehicles.
Also on display at the show is an electric version of their Indica model. The Tata Indica Vista EV has a predicted range of up to 200km (125 miles) and is powered by super polymer lithium ion batteries, it is currently being tested and refined in Norway by Miljo Grenland/Innovasjon. Tata hope to launch the all-electric car by 2012.
What do you think of the Nano, will you be interested in driving one when it is released in 2010? Let us know below.
