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Tata has revealed a European version of its Nano city car at the Geneva motor show. The car, to be called the Tata Nano Europa, is coming to Europe in 2011 in both left-hand drive and right-hand drive, with a target price of €5000 (£4500).

The Tata Nano Europa has been significantly modified for its introduction to the European market.

See more pictures of the European Tata Nano

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I am sure that this car will get loads of derisory comments but I love it.

Cheap (though drop the leather and chrome and make it cheaper), chirpy and so right for now. I am a huge fan of the Smart ForTwo but this makes even greater sense.

Bring it on TATA......In fact why not assemble it in one of the Land Rover/Jag factories?

 

Er, 'high gloss plastic interior'? Yep, that'll go down well over here. Isn't it astonishing how little attention car manufacturers pay to market realities.

Now this is the kind of car Ferrari should be producing.

How about renaming it Tata NO NO;

Ok jokes apart, Pretty sure that this car will sell, i mean if Smart can flog plastic cars at the prices it charges i dont see why people wont buy this. It looks better as well.

I wouldnt want to be seen in one but there is no denying that at the said price and predicted running costs this will easily find customers/corporates/fleet buyers/delivery guys looking for a new car, there is no forseeable competition for it and definitely not at this price.

This car will sell in huge numbers for Tata in India as well as similar developing markets. Their margins will be minimal but the volumes will be huge. Selling a better priced higher specced variant will just be an additional benefit.

Tata as a carmaker will take a long time to catch up with any of the established car makers (the safari and the City Rover are easily the worst cars sold in Britain), instead what they did was keep things simple and bring out a cheap but promising product.

I'd rather have a Gordon Murray T25,  but this will still sell well enough to people who need 4 seats.  I think they have done a pretty good job of tidying it up for Europe.

shortbread:

I wouldnt want to be seen in one but there is no denying that at the said price and predicted running costs this will easily find customers/corporates/fleet buyers/delivery guys looking for a new car, there is no forseeable competition for it and definitely not at this price.

If they really can launch this at £4500 or thereabouts, it should do reasonably well in the UK. The trouble is, the likes of Perodua have proved that people would rather pay an extra couple of thousand for a more 'grown up' machine than opt for a zero-image bargain-basement offering. I hope I'm wrong, though, because I really admire what Tata is doing with the Nano - and in European spec, it actually looks good too. Well, okay, it looks a lot, lot better. 

One major facor will probably hold it back, though: the lack of a tailgate, which will make it ridiculously awkward for anybody looking for a cheap runabount for the weekly shop. Tata will also need to make sure it establishes a decent UK dealer network if it's to stand any chance of success - obvious, I know.

The biggest regret is that the European Nano isn't on sale right now, at a time when Europe's recession is worsening and consumers are downsizing and cutting costs. By the time it goes on sale in 2011, will it have missed much of the momentum it could have enjoyed at the height of recession? (That's assuming we're heading out of recession by 2011, of course...)

I can see it selling well and I hope they do make it at a UK plant in the TATA network; it would then allow JLR to centre landrover and Jag production etc on one site.

Its a real disposable car, £4.5K......keep it four maybe five years, scrap it and got a new one.....

However, I will reserve real judgement until I have seen the crash figures; the Smart has excellent crash protection.......the Nano...??.....as i know I love Merc and thus no surprise I like Smart and would always buy Smart for this sector......and with Smart you get to excellent crash protection.....I love my legs and body etc!.....Smart is an excellent for £2K more......personally rather than a Nano, if price was the main factor not to be able to afford the £2K more, I would get a used Smart and feel safer driving it!...plus Smart cars are cooler, better looking and all the other good things.....!!....Smart for Smart is a very good name!!

 No thanks. I'll have a year old Panda which comes with its own boot lid. Decent start but not there yet.

North:

However, I will reserve real judgement until I have seen the crash figures; the Smart has excellent crash protection.......the Nano...??

The smarts safety cell only works well at low speeds - it does a good job of shielding the occupants from intrusion, but fails to cushion the blow due to lack of real crumple zones to absorb the energy - I think the Tata will be similar, but then again if only used in big cities then speeds never get up that high, so not really an issue. You're right that a poor safety score from NCAP could have a big negative effect on sales though, regardless of how relevant the NCAP test might be.

I can't see a justifiable cost for setting up its own dealer network for 1 low volume (in the UK) product, so piggy backing another dealer network like BMW Mini / Merc Smart did might help, I'm just not sure if JLR is the one to do it - just such a difference in product cost & target audience.

Free Nano with your XKR, sir?

Autocar:

the Tata Nano Europa, is coming to Europe in 2011 in both left-hand drive and right-hand drive, with a target price of €5000 (£4500).

- joke car, joke price. The novelty of this thing was supposed to be its price, 1 lakh(100,000 rupees).

100,000 rupees is about $1900. The 'Nano Europe' will cost more than three times the Indian version. No amount of titivation or EU import duties can explain a 200+% mark-up. Anyway, by the time this joke gets to Europe, which given the delay in Indian production will be 2012 or later, the likes of VW's Up! series of small cars should be on sale and knocking this execrable thing into a cocked hat.

H&C is right.  This is poor and it won't sell.  With regard to crash test issues to say that speeds are not high in cities makes little sense - speeds ARE high and enormous vehicles pound the roads. 

People will buy secondhand cars now or keep the ones they have - myself I can't see VW getting within 500 quid of the projected price of the UP! but they will get close enough to make this look silly...  It already looks pretty bloody daft.