The commoner’s dream car Tata Nano, which was primarily intended for the Indian car market, is now getting ready to go to places. The tiny four-wheeler has already made a huge impact on Indians and foreigners and this is evident from its immense worldwide popularity. Christened ‘Nano Europa’, the European face of Nano is expected to be seen on European roads within two years. With modifications and new features that will match European standards, the Nano Europa will have very little resemblance to the Indian version.

It will also travel to America and Tata is expected to launch the world’s cheapest car Nano there by 2012. Similar to the launch plans for Europe, Tata will have to adorn the Nano with a completely new look and even call it by a new name before unveiling it in the U.S. car market. Like Europe, the United States too poses plenty of barriers to the Nano in terms of standards. Tata understands these challenges and is working to make the American launch happen. The toughest challengers are stringent emission norms and car safety standards. In India, the car is available only with a 623cc two-cylinder petrol engine. Tata is working on future versions of Nano which will include diesel, bio fuel, and electric technologies on the car.

Nano is the cheapest car in the world and will be available for a similarly low price in the U.S market, but the acceptance of the car depends on what additions Tata makes to the car before launching it there. To make it the cheapest car, Tata has cut down on many basic features. To mention a few, Nano has no power steering, single side-view mirror, and single windscreen wiper instead of two. This is a no go for the U.S. market as these are extremely basic requirements there. Re-designing and re-engineering the Tata Nano poses a new challenge.

One thing that surely favours the Nano in the U.S. is the increasing popularity of cars with good fuel economy due to the gloomy economic scenario.