January 10 In History: Debut Of World's First Cheapest Car

Tata Nano car (wikimedia commons)

JAKARTA - Today, January 10, 13 years ago or in 2008, the cheapest car in the world named Nano was launched at the New Delhi Auto Expo, India. Tata Motors launched the Nano for 2,500 US dollars, or around Rp.22 million at the exchange rate at that time.

As quoted by History, Tata, the largest car manufacturer in India, calls a mini four-door vehicle that looks like a bubble as a "people's car." They also stated that the product would be a vehicle for families who previously could not afford a car.

Nano is scheduled to be released in October 2008. However, its production is hampered by a dispute over the land where the production plant is being built in West Bengal.

Then the company chose to move its production facilities to another part of India and the Nano officially went on sale across the country in April 2009. The most standard model was offered for around $ 2,000.

His name is also a cheap car. So that the Nano will really have minimal features: no radio; AIR CONDITIONING; power steering and power windows. Because of the minimalism, this car is even equipped with only one wiper.

Meanwhile the car body is made of plastic and sheet metal. As for engine capacity, this car will be fitted with a 32-horsepower, two-cylinder 624cc engine that can go up to 65 miles per hour.

How are the sales?

Tata received more than 203,000 pre-orders for the Nano. That's a pretty high order considering at that time there were only about nine cars per 1,000 people in India.

However, since Tata was only able to produce an initial production of 100,000 Nano, the car's first owner was chosen by lottery. The Nano was originally sold only in India, although Tata says it plans to eventually export it.

Tata Motors is part of the Tata Group, one of the largest and oldest business conglomerates in India. Tata doesn't just produce cheap cars And Tata doesn't just make cheap cars, in March 2008, the company bought famous British brands like Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company for 2.3 billion US dollars.