Can EcoCa give a competition to Tata Nano as the cheapest car?

EcoCa, a little-known company in London is challenging Tata Nano as the cheapest car by rolling out a 340 cc two-seater petrol car for as little as $2,200 (Rs 1 lakh) that it says will still ensure healthy profit margins for the makers. Being a small engineering and design company, it is now scouting for a joint-venture partner in India to build the car with the same name. Their price target of $2,200 which will also help us earn healthy profit margins.

EcoCa plans to utilise India’s low-cost manufacturing base to keep the price down for both global and domestic markets.

* It is developed with an investment of around 8 million pounds (Rs 60 crore) and inspired by the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, EcoCa comes with convertible roof and automatic gearbox which means no need to change gears.
* The prototype is made of lightweight, a high strength ABS plastic, which has good resistance to impact, heat and chemicals. * It weighs only 330 kg against Nano’s 635 kg and delivers a fuel efficiency of 27-28 km/litre of petrol against Nano’s 23.6 km/litre under standard test conditions.
* It has a top speed of 70 kmph, much lower than Nano's 103 kmph.

The car has cleared the frontal crash tests in Europe like the Nano and carries options of front airbags. They want to build 1,800 cars per month, which will keep the price at $2200. Higher volumes would further bring down prices.There is a definite potential of micro cars in India with such a vast population yet to have access to any form of mobility.