Tata: Nano for U.S. by 2011

We’ve heard Ratan Tata’s dream of bringing his super-cheap Nano to American shores, but this time, he’s set a personal goal: bring the Nano stateside by 2011.

That timeframe echoes Tata’s plan to offer the Nano, designed to be cheap, simplistic transportation for the working classes of India, in Europe. The Indian firm plans on modifying the car to meet European Union crash and emission standards, with a few creature comforts possibly added for good measure.

Similar revisions will need to appear on any possible U.S.-spec Nano. “It will need to meet all emission and crash standards,” Tata said at a forum at Cornell University this week, “so we hope in the next two years we will be offering such a vehicle in the U.S.” We’d also expect Tata to seriously consider replacing the meager 0.6-liter two-cylinder engine mounted in the rear of the car in favor of something a little more powerful.

Such changes will likely drive up the Nano’s price tag, long a hallmark of the car. Tata designed the car so it could sell at a paltry $2300, but the expenses associated with engineering and certifying the compact car for North America may drive that upwards. Still, that “increase” would still place it well below $10,000, undercutting the likes of the Nissan Versa and Hyundai Accent.

Source: Automotive News