
As if Detroit didn't have enough to worry about,
Tata Motors (NYSE:
TTM) has unveiled its long-awaited super-cheap car at the Auto Expo in New Delhi. Called the Nano, it's tiny and kind of cute, in a smooshed jelly bean kind of way. Its most attractive feature, though, is its price. For a mere
100,000 rupees, the equivalent of roughly $2,500, you can drive home in the world's least expensive car (assuming you live in India, of course).
According to
AutoBlog, here's what you get for your
100,000 rupees: a two cylinder gasoline engine producing a whopping 30 horsepower, a four-speed manual transmission, room for five (very small) people, brakes of some kind, and, best of all, 54 miles per gallon of gas. You don't get a radio or power steering or a second windshield wiper, but did you really expect to? Even so, the car is reasonably safe and efficient by Indian standards, and Tata claims that it meets all environmental and safety regulations in India.
It's hard not to be impressed by the Nano, and by the potential of Tata Motors. Tata is already the largest auto manufacturer in India. Millions of Tata vehicles are already on the roads, and with the Nano, we can expect to see millions more. Tata also sells cars and trucks all over Asia and has a growing presence in the Middle East and Latin America. If you want to place a bet on the future of the global auto industry, you could do worse than buying some Tata stock. Just as
General Motors (NYSE:
GM) and
Ford (NYSE:
F) provided basic transport in the world's fastest growing economy early 20th century, Tata is poised to sell millions of basic cars in the fastest growing part of the world in the 21st century.