COMPANIES Next Monday, Tata will launch the Nano, the mini-car set to revolutionise the bottom end of the global automotive market with a starting price of Rs100,000 ($1,996) for the most basic petrol-driven version.
The Indian industrial group stripped out costs by giving the car just one windshield wiper, tubeless tyres, seats with integrated headrests, and a centre-mounted instrument panel which can be used across both left- and right-hand drive variants. Tata managed to keep its promise to create a “one-lakh” (100,000) car thanks in part to the crash in world commodity prices last year.
