Tata to bring Nano to Europe in 4 years - magazine

Tata Group's newly launched ''Nano'' car is shown in a photo released by the Tata group during the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi January 10, 2008. Tata Motors plans to introduce its ultra-cheap Nano car to the European market in four years' time, the head of compact car projects at Tata Motors told German magazine Focus.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Tata Motors plans to introduce its ultra-cheap Nano car to the European market in four years' time, the head of compact car projects at Tata Motors told German magazine Focus.

"We will develop a successor model in four years time, which will meet the Euro 5 emission regulations and the crash standards in Europe," Girish Wagh was quoted as saying by Focus in an advance abstract on Sunday.

The main target was to reduce the car's fuel consumption to three from currently five litres per 100 kilometres, Wagh told the magazine.

Tata Motors unveiled the $2,500 Nano, the world's cheapest car, in January and said the new four-seater would roll out later in the year from its factory in the eastern state of West Bengal.

Tata has said it will initially produce about 250,000 Nanos and expects eventual annual demand of 1 million units.

Tata has said it would focus on the home market for two to three years before considering exporting the Nano to countries in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Global car makers, initially sceptical that Tata could produce such a low-cost car, are now scurrying to make their own versions to meet the needs of cost-conscious consumers in emerging economies such as China, India and Russia.

General Motor's Opel unit plans to develop a small car for 8,000 euros ($11,590), the head of Opel, Hans Demant, told Germany's auto, motor und sport magazine in an advanced copy on Saturday.

A decision could be made next year, he said.

"The Opel citycar is a vehicle for the coming decade," he said.

Ford said in January it would build a small car in India within two years, and the alliance of Nissan Motor and Renault, which has made a big success of its no-frills Logan sedan, plans a $3,000 car with Bajaj Auto.

Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda Motor and Fiat have also said they are looking at small cars for emerging markets, where strong economic growth has for the first time made car ownership an option for millions.