Cheapest car - EcoCa set to challenge Tata Nano


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A little-known company in London is set to challenge Tata Nano as the cheapest car by rolling out a 340 cc two-seater petrol car for as little as $2,200 (Rs 1 lakh) that it says will still ensure healthy profit margins for the makers. EcoCa, a small engineering and design company, is now scouting for a joint-venture partner in India to build the car with the same name.

Karman M Naghdi said
We have identified India as a lucrative market to achieve our price target of $2200 which will also help us earn healthy profit margins. Some Indian carmakers have also evinced keen interest to evaluate the prototype of our cars for performance, fuel efficiency and safety standards.
While Mr Naghdi refused to disclose the name of any company EcoCa is in talks with, an auto industry executive familiar with the development said Mahindra & Mahindra could be one of the companies.

A top M&M official, however, refused to confirm any such development. “We keep getting such proposals for technology and product development which we routinely evaluate,” he said, requesting anonymity.

EcoCa plans to utilise India’s low-cost manufacturing base to keep the price down for both global and domestic markets, said Mr Naghdi. “Some Indian carmakers have also evinced keen interest to evaluate the prototype of our cars for performance, fuel efficiency and safety standards,” he said.

Developed with an investment of around 8 million pounds (Rs 60 crore) and inspired by the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, EcoCa comes with convertible roof and automatic gearbox that means no need to change gears.

The prototype is made of lightweight, a high strength ABS plastic, which has good resistance to impact, heat and chemicals. It weighs only 330 kg against Nano’s 635 kg and delivers a fuel efficiency of 27-28 km/litre of petrol against Nano’s 23.6 km/litre under standard test conditions.

The car has cleared the frontal crash tests in Europe like the Nano and carries options of front airbags. It has a top speed of 70 kmph, much lower than Nano's 103 kmph. A new car chassis and body could be shelled out in 24 minutes flat under normal production cycle, Mr Naghdi said.

Source - Economictimes
 

350Z

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Tata Nano created an An All New Segment in Automobile Scene - "Cheap Car Segment", Every one tries to copy and capture it by launching one and another cheapest models, Now Let it be Nissan's Small car or Ajanta's Cheapest EV.

Passing Crash Test is not sufficient enough to prove the car in this competitive world, What one needs is reliability, Long Term Reliability which I doubt these "Cheapest" Cars would promise to offer.


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350Z
 
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The name sounds funny. The car with the top speed seems impractical to me. But can be used as a second car, just for city use. It should be fun to drive in close traffic.
 

350Z

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With such a small Engine, It would still be an impractical model even as a second car, These carmakers should better try developing Electric Vehicles.

Drive Safe,
350Z
 

Arun

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Why is it that every material comfort a man needs is getting cheaper? Today food is costlier than a liter of fuel! The irony of petrol-heads, do we feed our cars or ourselves?


Why do they [EcoCa] even think of competing with the Nano? Being cheap has now become a status symbol!

People will realize only when they start flocking their roads and leave no free space for you to enjoy your Audi/Bmw/Merc...



EDIT: No offense meant to anyone. I personally like these cars purely because of the fact that they are in reach of the common public. I don't like it as they'll soon congest roads!
 
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Why is it that every material comfort a man needs is getting cheaper? Today food is costlier than a liter of fuel! The irony of petrol-heads, do we feed our cars or ourselves?


Why do they [EcoCa] even think of competing with the Nano? Being cheap has now become a status symbol!

People will realize only when they start flocking their roads and leave no free space for you to enjoy your Audi/Bmw/Merc...



EDIT: No offense meant to anyone. I personally like these cars purely because of the fact that they are in reach of the common public. I don't like it as they'll soon congest roads!
+ 1.

And hell every dam Automobile company sees a Market & low cost production thing in India.[anger]

What we get is CRAP Quality & Features where as other countries gets alloys & airbags on a base model.[anger]
 

Arun

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Great thought arun. What you said is quite practical.
+ 1.

And hell every dam Automobile company sees a Market & low cost production thing in India.

What we get is CRAP Quality & Features where as other countries gets alloys & airbags on a base model.
Thank you. I speak sense once in a while. [;)]

Even if they do launch such el cheapo cars, they shouldn't be allowed on the highway. On second thought, will they be capable of following the speed limit? Don't kill the fun of the other people please!
 
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I have slight different view on this.
In India, earning capacity is very less compared to other developed country, but everybody has the right of dreaming about their own car. So actually we should thank Tata to make this a reality.

Now the problem with road traffic, where is the actual problem? The problem is with roads, so why blame auto industry. The blame should go to govt.

For road safety on highway, i am sure its more safer than most of our 2 wheelers present in our country.
 

Arun

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I have slight different view on this.
In India, earning capacity is very less compared to other developed country, but everybody has the right of dreaming about their own car. So actually we should thank Tata to make this a reality.

Now the problem with road traffic, where is the actual problem? The problem is with roads, so why blame auto industry. The blame should go to govt.

For road safety on highway, i am sure its more safer than most of our 2 wheelers present in our country.
Agreed it is safer than the 2 wheelers. I even agree to the income factor. You just cant widen roads out of nowhere. You need space for that.

These cars will definitely nip around you like those pesky auto wallas. Now, would you like to trade paint? [;)]


A big NO NO again!

I dont have any clues how to stop these cars from entering into India ?

Any ideas ?
Whenever you see one, get a shotgun. [lol!] Just kidding.
 
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I have slight different view on this.
In India, earning capacity is very less compared to other developed country, but everybody has the right of dreaming about their own car. So actually we should thank Tata to make this a reality.
I actually respect TATA for bringing in the NANO,but we don't want every XYZ company to come here,join hands with Indian manufacturers and start experimenting their products.Like there was this news of some Chines Electric 2 wheeler company will be joining hands with someone & bring in their cars.Are we some sort of Experimenting bodies kept in lab's where every newcomer comes & starts his own experiments ?[anger]
Moreover we don't even get the desired results.[lol]
 

350Z

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I have slight different view on this.
In India, earning capacity is very less compared to other developed country, but everybody has the right of dreaming about their own car. So actually we should thank Tata to make this a reality.

Now the problem with road traffic, where is the actual problem? The problem is with roads, so why blame auto industry. The blame should go to govt.

For road safety on highway, i am sure its more safer than most of our 2 wheelers present in our country.
I share the same thoughts and all I say is that [agree]

I actually respect TATA for bringing in the NANO,but we don't want every XYZ company to come here,join hands with Indian manufacturers and start experimenting their products.Like there was this news of some Chines Electric 2 wheeler company will be joining hands with someone & bring in their cars.Are we some sort of Experimenting bodies kept in lab's where every newcomer comes & starts his own experiments ?Moreover we don't even get the desired results.
I don't have an objection from "cheap" cars entering into India, In fact on flip side of coin its good that more and more car makers are making way to country which earlier had only Marutis and Fiats.

The matter is that one should not forget "Quality" when developing such models at cheap prices, Else If you're not capable to maintain both, quality and price at same time, Better leave the idea of making "Cheap" cars just to become a copy cat.


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350Z
 
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As long as quality and safety are not compromised, no problems with such cars making their way to india. At least that is not the case with tata products(my personal experience). And it is better for people who cant afford cars(since even m800 doesnt come in 1.5lacs), with nano and this car coming even they will have options to chose from.
 

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