World's cheapest car goes on sale in India

Indian carmaker Tata Motors is launching its eagerly awaited Nano model, with which it hopes to revive flagging sales. The no-frills vehicle will retail at 1,500 euros in the domestic market, but won't reach Europe until next year at the earliest.Tata Motors on Monday launches the world's cheapest car, the Nano, hoping to revolutionise travel for millions of Indians and buck a slump in auto sales caused by the global economic crisis. The car is slated to cost just 100,000 rupees (2,000 dollars) for the no-frills model that has a two-cylinder engine, four-speed manual transmission and a top speed of 105 kilometres (65 miles) per hour. It has no air conditioning, electric windows or power steering, but deluxe versions will be available. Company boss Ratan Tata, who is to unveil the car at a glitzy show in India's financial hub Mumbai, hopes the Nano will get India's middle-class urban population off motorcycles and into safer cars. "I observed families riding on two-wheelers, the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby," Tata said when displaying the prototype last year. "It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family." Demand is expected to outstrip supply with production limited to just 30,000 to 50,000 cars in the first year because of limited production capacity -- a fraction of the original target of 250,000, auto analysts said.