When the Rs one-lakh common man was announced by Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto was quick to follow by announcing an ultra-low-cost-car (ULC) – both addressed to the bottom-of-the-pyramid and the car aspirants. Tata Nano finally could see the light of the day, while ULC project has had more than its fair share of news for reasons other than its launch. And while Nissan-Renault and Bajaj are still at it, comes the news flashed by India’s leading business daily, The Economic Times, that a certain Karman M Naghdi who has just 3 connections on business networking group LinkedIn announcing grandiose India plans for his London-based company EcoCa Ltd.

According to him India has been identified by them as a lucrative market to roll out an ultra-cheap car priced lower that Tata Nano, which means lower than Rs one lakh or US $ 2,200. Naghdi is confident that this price band would help them make healthy profits, while Tata Motors on the other hand, has been busy trying to make some margins by releasing the upper end of the Nano in the market for better realization, given that the base model was not viable in any case.

EcoCa has not divulged any details, but it has been learnt that the British carmaker is eyeing to assemble a 340cc two-seater petrol car in collaboration with an Indian partner. According to them the search is on while M&M has declined to comment on any speculation on the same. EcoCa has said that some Indian carmakers have evinced keen interest to evaluate the prototype of these cars for performance, fuel- efficiency and safety standards.

The new EcoCa has been developed with an investment of Rs. 60 crore and features automatic transmission and a convertible roof. The design and style are said to be inspired from VW Beetle. The company has not revealed any pictures of its new car so far. As per the technical details available about the car, it is made from lightweight and high strength ABS plastic. The fibre body is resistant to heat and chemicals. As per the company claims, the car is capable of delivering a mileage of 27-28 kmpl against Nano’s 23.5 kmpl fuel efficiency. It is capable of achieving a top speed of 70 kmph and has already cleared crash tests in Europe.

Three is a crowd in the small car market, and it remains to be seen whether Nano will be challenged by a UK-based company which claims that its product is better than Nano. Only time will tell.

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