Also, i’m not sure that this car is a good thing for our environment. If we start to produce “mini-cars” such as these in over populated countries such as India, what do you think will happen to the ozone? Millions of additional cars in the world is not helping those lungs of ours.

I think this is just another scheme for automakers to consume large amounts of money from overpopulated countries without dealing with the consequences. This car poses no solution or benefit other than being a “cheap” alternative. Its a way to exploit the poor and offer them a product that will help them in the short run, but hurt all of them in the long run due to the hazardous pollution it will produce.

“The Nano has just enough space for a briefcase or small bag under the hood. The engine — all two cylinders, 624cc and 33 horsepower of it —
is in the back, just like the Volkswagen Beetle of old. The speedometer and other instruments cluster in a central pod in the middle of the dashboard rather than directly in front of the driver, the easier (and cheaper) to offer both left- and right-hand versions when Tata Motors starts exporting the car to Southeast Asia and Africa in a couple of years. The top third of the over-sized headlights act as the turn signals (indicators) and look like cheeky yellow eyebrows above the main lights. It has a top speed of about 60 miles per hour. ”

So in essence bringing this car to the states would in fact be a travesty, with our advanced highways and bi-ways, constructions and destructions, this car would not last a day in the U.S. The safety measures have been compromised, there is no mention of air bags or any standards of measure to ensure that the driver is safe when behind one of these tatas (aka gas powered lawnmower). So in this case I would definitely go with the “Quality and not the Quantity”. As far as gas prices are concerned, there are definitley ways around that, i.e. carpooling, riding a bike, walking, or just plain mass transit, in this day and age people are starting to realize that its not so bad to ride the ‘metro’ and in fact, riders of mass transportation have started to notice that they are saving a lot more at the pump by taking the alternative methods.

But we can talk about the other idea of using an auto-rickshaw, which I believe has started in the larger metropolitan cities such as N.Y. or L.A., but thats another topic all together. Great blog!!

On another note, do any of ya’ll think the concept of an auto-rickshaw would work in major American cities? A car to get from one end of downtown to another seems like a waste (sometimes). An auto-rickshaw would be much more fuel efficient and would crowd our streets as much either…. Maybe wouldnt be too useful in Houston, but maybe somewhere like NY or other cities that heavily use taxis…. just a thought