When inexpensive microcars get unveiled, they usually don’t garner much attention. But when that microcar is as revolutionary as the Tata Nano, the world takes notice. The Nano is so important, in fact, that the Indian automaker saw it fit to put its microcar on the world’s stage at the Geneva motor Show.
The Nano is here in Geneva for two main reasons: the first is to get even more media attention — since the Nano’s unveiling was at a rather small event in India — and the second is to gauge European reaction.
While Tata head Ratan Tata says there are no current plans to bring the Nano to Europe, he did admit that he would like to bring the premium edition of the car here eventually.
The up-scale model features flashier wheels and an overall nicer interior, something Tata feels could appeal to some European buyers. However, since the Nano has the fit and finish and quality of materials you would expect to find in a $3,000 car — you can literally take off any body part you see fit with your bare hands and the interior plastics look as though they were cut out with scissors — it remains to be seen if the discerning buyers of Europe would ever go for the Nano.
But then again, the Nano might find a market in some of the developing regions of Eastern Europe — as long as it can pass stricter European emissions and crash standards. Stay tuned.
