New car sales have dropped off dramatically in the United States since Tata Motors introduced its tiny Nano city car, but the Indian automaker is still determined to sell the Nano in the U.S. Tata head Ratan Tata reconfirmed his commitment to the U.S. market at the New Delhi auto show.
Tata first announced the company’s plans to market the Nano in the United States last year and confirmed those plans are still ongoing at the New Delhi show. “We also recognize there is a market (for the Nano) not only in developing countries, but possibly in the developed countries,” Ratan Tata told Reuters at the New Delhi auto show.
“For the United States we need a car which has a larger engine and we need additional crash test modifications and we are in the process of doing it.”
Tata revealed the company is targeting a 2013 launch date for its U.S.-spec Nano model. The Nano is expected to launch in Europe sometime next year. A hybrid version of the Nano is said to be in the works, but it remains to be seen if that model will be ready by the car’s 2013 U.S. launch. It also remains possible that Tata could sell the Nano through Chrysler dealers, thanks to a connection to Italy’s Fiat.
Although the Nano carries a price of just about $2,500, look for that price to increase for the U.S. model due to added safety and emission regulations. Still, the Nano should easily be the lowest priced vehicle in America when it hits our shores.
