Tata expects to sell vehicles in the US for $7,000-8,000

Company Chairman Tata, who was speaking at Cornell University’s College of Art, Architecture and Planning during a symposium held alongside an exhibition to offer a close-up look at the Tata Nano. Needless to say, the Cornell Alum Tata was faced with questions about the company offering one of their ultra-cheap cars in the US and his replies may not sit too well with those hoping for a piece of the world’s cheapest car.

While Ratan Tata didn’t go into any real detail, he did say that when the Tata brand arrives in the US, it will cost more than the $2,172 price tag of the Tata Nano overseas – much more. “It won’t be a $2,000 car; it will be a $7,000 or $8,000 car. But it will still be, in comparative terms, a car that the U.S. would accept,” said Tata at the Cornell symposium. This would make the car quite a bit more expensive than the vehicles in other markets but it would still be among the cheapest new cars available in the US market.

There was no reason given for the price tag increasing by some 250-300%, but we can surmise that things like safety features required in the US not required in other markets will drive up the price. When you take into consideration the efforts to make the cars “safe enough” for the US market, plus the cost of getting the car here, establishing the dealer network and training a work force for the North American market, the additional costs are obvious but $8,000 seems like an awful lot of money for a car that has already garnered a reputation for catching fire.

Source: The New York Times

Other Tata News:
Indian automaker Tata looking to hire hundreds in Detroit