India races for the world’s cheapest car

The telecom revolution in India has made cheap mobile telephones accessible to even the country’s poorest, and now India’s underclass is likely to be able to go from two wheels to four when the cheapest entry-level autos hit the roads in the near future.

The race for the world’s cheapest four-wheel vehicle was recently ignited by Tata Motors’ plans to launch a Rs100,000 (US$2,470) car in 2008. In comparison, China’s bargain auto, the Chery QQ,

retails for about 20,000 yuan ($2,600).
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, India will become the single largest test ground for all versions of these low-cost vehicles. They predict that by 2010, more than 100 million world households will be able to afford a $2,000-$3,000 car.

It is expected that a quarter of these buyers will be from the more than 7 million two-wheeler users in India.

Currently India is the world’s 12th-largest consumer market. By 2025, it is should be the fifth-largest and larger than Germany, according to a recent McKinsey survey.

Asia Times