A Drive for Lower Prices

Imagine walking into a car dealership and seeing a brand new car with $2,000 written on the windshield in huge neon letters. It seems too good to be true right? Well in India this actually happens. Tata Motors is an Indian automaker that produces the world's most inexpensive car – the Nano.

India is growing in almost every sector, including the auto industry. One expert even predicted the car market to triple there in the next ten years. This makes it an extremely attractive place for struggling foreign automakers. Renault, a French carmaker, in particular has plans to compete with the Nano. They have recently announced that they are going to release a “competitively priced” car in the Indian market in 2012. It will be designed in India but all of the marketing will still be Renault’s responsibility. Renault is not the only company that is looking to India for new opportunities, Toyota, General Motors, and Ford all have similar plans to compete with the Nano.

So far, the Nano is only on the Indian car market. Tata Motors is scheduled to release the Nano Europa in select international markets in the next few years, but it will be more expensive than the original Nano. It is amazing how this company has kept production costs so low that the price is only $2,000. On top of that, the Nano is extremely fuel efficient. However, we have to keep in mind that India is not one of the world's wealthier nations, so the price of the Nano is actually relatively more expensive than its price tag indicates. Still, it gives us hope that auto manufacturers around the world will make strides to keep prices low as well. The Nano proves that it can be done.