$2,500 Car Headlines New Delhi Auto Show
Published Jan 8, 2008
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NEW DELHI — The New Delhi Auto Expo opens Wednesday with the highly anticipated $2,500 car from Tata Motors taking center stage. Tata, a conglomerate producing everything from tea to steel, may well be the future owner of Jaguar and Land Rover.
The yet-to-be-named car developed by India's Tata Group promises to be the world's cheapest car at 100,000 rupees (roughly $2,500). Some industry analysts predict the "1-lakh car" could revolutionize car costs globally. Company founder and chief Ratan Tata, an architect trained at Cornell University, personally helped design the car in his aim to move India's masses from motorbikes to cars.
Maruti Suzuki, a venture between India's Maruti and Japan's Suzuki, will hold India's first-ever world premiere of a new car — a small car will go on sale worldwide, including in the U.S.
India is becoming an increasingly important player on the automotive world stage as a source of future vehicle sales growth and as an auto production base.
On the eve of the opening of the show, Ford announced a $500 million investment and the development of a new small car in India. Earlier, Ford confirmed it is in "focused" negotiations with Tata for the purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover. Chrysler is rumored to be in partnership talks with India's Mahindra & Mahindra, which was among the bidders for Jaguar and Land Rover. General Motors has been expanding in India and is now producing five Chevrolet models and adding a second factory this year. It recently opened a design center as well. A number of European and Japanese makers have operations and some joint ventures in India. Chinese automakers also are moving in and will have a presence at the New Delhi show. Meantime, India's automakers have been making noise for years about selling cars in the U.S.
Edmunds' AutoObserver will be covering the New Delhi Auto Expo.
What this means to you: You very well could be driving an India-built car in the future. — Nick Kurczewski, Correspondent
The yet-to-be-named car developed by India's Tata Group promises to be the world's cheapest car at 100,000 rupees (roughly $2,500). Some industry analysts predict the "1-lakh car" could revolutionize car costs globally. Company founder and chief Ratan Tata, an architect trained at Cornell University, personally helped design the car in his aim to move India's masses from motorbikes to cars.
Maruti Suzuki, a venture between India's Maruti and Japan's Suzuki, will hold India's first-ever world premiere of a new car — a small car will go on sale worldwide, including in the U.S.
India is becoming an increasingly important player on the automotive world stage as a source of future vehicle sales growth and as an auto production base.
On the eve of the opening of the show, Ford announced a $500 million investment and the development of a new small car in India. Earlier, Ford confirmed it is in "focused" negotiations with Tata for the purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover. Chrysler is rumored to be in partnership talks with India's Mahindra & Mahindra, which was among the bidders for Jaguar and Land Rover. General Motors has been expanding in India and is now producing five Chevrolet models and adding a second factory this year. It recently opened a design center as well. A number of European and Japanese makers have operations and some joint ventures in India. Chinese automakers also are moving in and will have a presence at the New Delhi show. Meantime, India's automakers have been making noise for years about selling cars in the U.S.
Edmunds' AutoObserver will be covering the New Delhi Auto Expo.
What this means to you: You very well could be driving an India-built car in the future. — Nick Kurczewski, Correspondent