Tech & Biz

The Race for the World's Smallest Car

by Gordon Clark | November 10, 2009 at 11:15 am

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Renault-Nissan announced that they would be joining Toyota and General Motors in the race to supply India with the world's cheapest cars. The current leader in cheap cars is Tata Nano. Their cheapest car only cost $2,500.

Producing the cars is proving to be difficult for the major care manufactorers. Even with major competition between firms the 3 car companies keep on pushing back their expected release dates. Nissan is now saying the car will be available in 2012.
A price has not been set for the car. The only information given about it is that it will be less than $2,500 so for the rest, use your imagination, rather, don't.

Mr. Ghosn said the low-cost car was a critical part of his companies’ strategy for building up their business in India, where they have less than 1 percent of the market now. By comparison, the companies have a 10 percent share of the global market. The Indian auto industry sells about two million cars a year now, and Mr. Ghosn said that number could reach at least six million in 10 years.

“I don’t want Renault and Nissan to be makers of very pretty cars that people dream about but cannot afford,” he told reporters at the sidelines of a World Economic Forum conference here. “We need an entry price point that is very competitive, and we don’t have that entry price point” right now.