Some bodacious Tatas are on their way from India to you

No, India's Tata Motors is NOT exporting the new $2,500-3,000 Nano to America, but you'll be seeing Tata products on US highways by year's end.

Chrysler has signed an agreement to have Tata Motors to produce electric min-trucks for the American market:

The deal, with the US carmaker's Global Electric Motorcars unit, is for an electric version of Tata's mini truck Ace that would be sold in the United States, the report said. "The battery-operated vehicle has passed required safety and reliability tests, and the prototype is ready for production," it said, adding they will be exported as completely built units.

Tata Motors will begin exporting around 10,000 units by year-end, and ramp up to 50,000 units, it said. "We are indeed exploring the feasibility of a vehicle on the Ace platform with an electric engine suitable for the U.S., in collaboration with a U.S. company," a spokesman for Tata Motors told Reuters. "But it is premature at this stage to give any details."

I suspect the mini-trucks won't be marketed as consumer vehicles, but used in more limited industrial settings, or like the little battery-powered utility vehicles you can see tooling around Disney World.

In the meantime, we should also take notice of the fact that Renault-Nissan has announced that within 18 months it will have a competitor for the Nano in production for the Indian automobile market in the $3,000 range.

Who says markets don't work? If one entrepreneurial company builds a cheaper car to exploit a certain market niche, others will follow.

Who benefits? The consumers.

Comments

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