Better to walk than to drive: The fiasco of the world’s cheapest car

On January 10, 2008, the Tata Nano, or the “cheapest car in the world”, made its debut at the New Delhi Auto Expo in India. The financial press – and not only – all over the world, is talking about it.

Tata Motors, India’s largest car manufacturer, is presenting it as “the people’s car”, since its price would be under 2,000 euros.

The idea for the Nano belongs to former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata, who thought of making a car for those who until then couldn’t own their own vehicle when he saw an Indian family of four cramming on a motorbike.

The initial price of the Nano was set at 100,000 rupees, which at the time corresponded to 2,200 dollars or 1,900 euros.

The Nano was originally due to go on sale in October 2008, but disputes over the land on which its manufacturing plant would be built caused delays. So, after Tata decided to shift the factory to another part of India, the Nano went on sale across the country from April 2009.

The base model started at $2,000 (before taxes) and had no radio, air conditioning, airbags, power steering, power windows or a passenger side mirror. Such was the study of its creators to reduce costs that the Tata Nano had only one wiper.

With 32 horses and a 624 cc engine in the rear, it could reach speeds of up to 105 kilometers per hour.

The Indian reception to the “world’s cheapest car” was initially enthusiastic. Tata received more than 200,000 pre-orders. A number that seems even higher if you consider that in India at that time there were only 9 cars per 1,000 inhabitants.

But the factory could only build 100,000 Nanos initially, so the first buyers were chosen by lottery.

After all, Tata (a giant that in March 2008 bought the famous British brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, instead of 2.3 billion dollars), did not sell as many Nanos as it expected. In the first three years, about 7 out of 10 of the total 300,000 cars built were sold.

But as Tata would soon find out, a car advertised as the “world’s cheapest” doesn’t make consumers want to buy it. In India, owning a car is considered a status symbol and associated with luxury, so the Nano did not fit the market’s requirements.

The Nano’s image was further hit by concerns over its safety when some cars were burnt to a crisp.

What was it really like to drive the cheapest car in the world? A reporter for the website Carscoops who tested it in the US was clear: It’s worse than anyone would imagine.

First of all, the Nano lacks many features that one would find even in cars made 50 years ago: A locker, a speedometer, and a gas hatch. To fill it with fuel, the driver had to open the hood, while to access the trunk or look at the engine, he was forced to remove the rear seat.

As you might expect, its engine performance was anything but impressive. The Tata Nano did 0-100 in about 30 seconds and reached a top speed of 105 kmph. Of course, it consumed only 4.2 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers.

According to Carscoops, driving the Nano was a terrifying experience. It was too tall for such a light car, had “shoebox” aerodynamics and very narrow tires. Even a passing motorcycle made the car shake, while braking was a different experience every time.

This car makes the Fiat Multipla look like a Ferrari, the journalist concluded.

The result was that the Indians turned their backs on him. While Tata initially expected to sell 250,000 such cars a year, demand soon disappeared. In 2018, the automaker built just one Nano. And so, he decided to stop its production.

However, if the latest reports are to be believed, Tata plans to “resurrect” the Nano, this time making it electric.

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