World's cheapest car coming to the U.S.

Indian auto manufacturer Tata Motors is planning to launch a redesigned version of its $3,000 Tata Nano in the United States in three years.

Ratan Tata, the billionaire chairman of Tata Group -- which also owns Jaguar and Land Rover --told Automotive News that the redesign of the Nano, the world's cheapest car, for the American consumer will come with a bigger engine, power steering, and traction control, among other "bells and whistles." It is expected to be priced below $10,000.

A combination of poor marketing, safety concerns, and (ironically) a price tag that might have been too low caused sales to lag in India.

"The Smart and the Fiat 500 have high sticker prices, and people buy them because they are small cars," said Tata at the opening of a Jaguar Land Rover dealership here. "But everyone knows you put a lot of money into it. We hope that the sub-$10,000 car has appeal."

If the company sticks to its sub-$10,000 price tag, it will be the cheapest car in the United States. Right now the Nissan Versa is the cheapest car in the U.S. at $11,750. But will a tiny, cheap car that's made for driving in the city find a market in the U.S. or will urbanites stick to services like car2go for their tiny car fix? We'll find out in a few years.

Photo: Tata Nano/Facebook

[h/t Huffington Post]

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com