Autoblog UK

Indian manufacturer Tata Motors Ltd, who bought the legendary British marques Jaguar and Land Rover for 2.4 billion US dollars in 2008, have just announced that they will shut at least one of their factories in England by 2014. The manufacturing plant in Castle Bromwich, where 2,100 workers currently build Jaguars, and the neighbouring former Rover factory in Solihull near Birmingham, where 5,000 are employed in the production of the Land Rover, are under threat. Tata spokesman Paul Chadderton disclosed that 800 new jobs would be created at the Halewood plant near Liverpool to produce the new Range Rover LRX.

The three factories are running at only 60% capacity due to a decline in orders. Since September 2008, around 2,500 employees have already lost their jobs. The final decision as to which factory will close will be taken early next year.

When in January 2008, company boss Ratan Tata unveiled his minimalist vehicle – the Tata Nano – in the Indian capital New Delhi, he rattled the motor industry to the core. His stated intention was to produce the cheapest car in the world. Sales in India start on 1st April and it is now clear that this is no April Fool stunt. The motivation behind Ratan's Nano is as simple as the car itself: all Indian families who still do not own a car of their own should be given the opportunity to acquire a safe and affordable mode of transport with four wheels for roughly 1,700 euros.

But production in India has been repeatedly delayed, as protests from Bengali famers forced Tata to close their original factory. The new car plant in New Delhi will not reach its full production capacity of 350,000 units a year until 2010. The Tata concern hopes to deliver some 100,000 vehicles in its first phase of production. Anyone interested in buying a Nano has until the end of April to pre-order one with a deposit of around 44 euros. The European model, premiered at the Geneva Motor Show, has a much higher specification and should be available from 2011 onwards. Prices for the European version have not yet been released but are expected to come in below 5,000 euros.

Last year, one item of news in particular rocked the automotive establishment around the world: the new Tata Nano was to go on sale in its native India for roughly 1,700 euros. Fairly quickly, word got around that this version contained only the barest essentials – no trace of modern safety technology. But now, Tata are showing off an improved model of the Nano that has been specifically designed for the European market.

Its idiosyncratic basic shape remains unaltered: a high build combined with small wheels allowing for maximum use of space. The Nano Europa is 3.29 metres long and 1.58 metres wide, and the only visual differences are the newly designed headlights and taillights. Under the bonnet, the previous two-cylinder engine has been replaced with a three-cylinder petrol engine, producing CO2 emissions of less than 100g/km. According to Tata, the Nano Europa meets all safety requirements, with ABS, ESP and airbags on board. So far, no launch date or prices have been released, but in India, the production model will be unveiled on 23rd March 2009 and go on general sale from April.

The main thing that speaks in favour of the Tata Nano is its price tag of US $ 2,500. This is what you would otherwise have to shell out for a Honda Civic with around 140,000 miles on the clock. So what do you in fact get for the price of a rather expensive lawn mower? A car! Yes, a car with some 33 HP and a four-speed gearbox! If the driver floors it for 17 seconds, he'll get to an impressive speed of just under 60 mph.

Should he have the brazen cheek of also putting a passenger and a heavy load of shopping on board, then he'll just have to dream of the top speed.

However, there are a few extras: the luxury version offers a radio and air conditioning. But if you want to go for both extras, you'll have to make do with 50 mph. On reflection, the Honda Civic is not such a bad car.