Word: nano
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...month. (For comparison's sake, in the early 1970s, Honda introduced affordable, good quality Civics at about $2,200, which adjusted for inflation would now be nearly $10,500.) It could well be one of the most important cars ever designed. (See 10 things you should know about the Nano...
...emerged at a much-anticipated launch on Thursday: a cute, short thing, with four doors, tiny wheels placed out at the far corners of the body and what looked like plenty of room inside. The Nano has just enough space for a briefcase or small bag under the hood. The engine - all two cylinders, 624cc and 33 horsepower of it - is in the back, just like the Volkswagen Beetle of old. The speedometer and other instruments cluster in a central pod in the middle of the dashboard rather than directly in front of the driver, the easier (and cheaper...
Tata hopes the Nano will help millions of poor people around the world - the "Bottom of the Pyramid" in developing world marketing-speak -switch from two wheels to four. Environmentalists, city planners and even some competitors, on the other hand, warn that the new vehicle will clog up India's crowded roads and add clouds of pollution to its already filthy...
...head of the Nano team says Tata Motors has applied for 34 patents on various components and design features on the new car, though he was short on specifics. The car reportedly uses super strong glue rather than welds in some joints - a technique that a handful of other car makers have used before, though perhaps never as extensively. Tata Motors' cost-cutting drive was relentless: the windshield has just one washer rather than two, the metal steering column was hollowed out to save on steel, cheaper bearings - strong enough to perform well up to (70 kph) but fast wearing...
...Indian magnate, who has hinted he will soon retire, sees the Nano as an evolution rather than a revolution. "What is revolutionary anyway?" he asked TIME before the launch. "If you asked me would it be possible to build a lower cost car than this - a car say for 50,000 rupees [$1,300] - I might be driven to say, 'Yes, it might be possible.'" He pauses for a few seconds. "I don't think anything's impossible." The half lakh car anyone...