Monbiot: Is the world’s cheapest car on the road to ruin?

Production numbers are small and consumption levels relatively low but the Tata Nano could be an ominous development

It’s neither as good nor as bad as we were told. Advance publicity suggested both that the Tata Nano would be the most frugal mass-produced car on earth and that everyone in India would buy one. Today Tata launched its creation.

Though it consumes less than the great majority of cars, its fuel economy is a disappointment. Around 101 grammes of CO2 per kilometre means that it wouldn’t quite qualify for a band A rating in the UK, and that’s before it’s fitted with the heavy safety features required here. Load those on and it’s likely to be hungrier than my Renault Clio, which is among the leanest models sold here, but hardly space age. As the Nano’s engine

On the other hand the production volumes are surprisingly small, given the breathless claims made for the Nano and its planetary impact last year. Rather than a million or more cars a year, Tata now talks of selling 100,000 this year then of switching to a new plant with a production capacity of 250,000.

It can’t be the global recession: the impact in India so far has been to reduce economic growth from 9% to a piffling 7% this year. Perhaps it’s because of India’s notorious congestion: for most short journeys, you will get there faster by bike; and this car is designed for city travel, not highways. In any case, this doesn’t look as if it will become the environmental nemesis that so many predicted