How Green is My Low-Cost Car? India Revs Up Debate

Shweta Kumari is waiting impatiently for Tata Motors’ new Nano to hit Mumbai’s car showrooms later this year.

But some environmentalists are dreading the prospect of hundreds of thousands of low-cost cars hitting polluted and over-crowded roads around the world in the next few years.
“In the current policy and regulatory framework, the low-cost cars will be disastrous,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, associate director of the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi.

Car makers, warily eyeing sliding sales in developed markets such as the United States and Europe, disagree.

They argue the small, fuel-efficient vehicles are a greener option than gas-guzzling SUVs and larger cars as oil soars above US$130 a barrel and as consumers in emerging economies such as China, India and Russia get behind the wheel in ever increasing numbers.

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