The cheapest car to be commercially available in the US and European markets, the Tata Nano has taken up plenty of space on the newspapers and on the television in recent years. While it may not be everybody’s cup of tea, and does not come from a nation with much history of selling cars to other markets, this small Indian road car has become greatly in demand as the world comes to terms with financial realities that make it almost impossible to buy a new car without borrowing or saving. Whether it is any good or not is another question entirely.

The truth of the matter is that little is known about how good the Tata Nano is on roads in the US or further afield, because it has barely been launched. There are questions over how well such a cheaply-built car can possibly deal with accidents, certainly, but without seeing how they fare in reality it is mere speculation. One thing is for sure – with a new Tata Nano retailing for approximately $2,000, there will be many who choose to buy it and see, feeling that they have lost little if it does not work out. It remains to be seen what kind of resale value they have at that point.