World Automakers Race for $3,000 Cars

You may not know it, but the race is on to sell new cars for less than $3,000. The cars — small, no-frills subcompacts — are already selling in places like India and Eastern Europe at prices in the $7,000 range. Among them are the Renault Logan (Renault and Nissan have a joint alliance with each one owning the others shares), and the Hyundai Santro, which sells for $6,300 in India. The Logan is so popular, two plants work 24 hours a day and still can’t keep up with demand.

The next hurdle is the $3,000 mark, and India looks to be the testing ground. Will these low-cost cars ever make it to the U.S.? It’s doubtful we’ll see any cars with such small profit margins come our way, but there could be a trickle-down effect; we may not get a $3,000 model, but a better-equipped $7,000 one from Hyundai, Nissan or Suzuki isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

[The Race To Build Really Cheap Cars, BusinessWeek Online]

Comments

Nissan is owned by Renault. Thats why Carlos Ghosn runs the company. Nissan lost control when they almost went bankrupt in the 90's.

Acutually, it's more like a joint alliance. Renault doesn't really OWN Nissan, it does have controlling power due to the amount of stocks/shares it has over Nissan...
BTW, Logan is gonna start selling in S. America...Mexico, I believe. It's unlikely to come to the US, 'coz we will criticize
(1) lack of performance (power, speed, etc.);
(2) lack of luxury items (CD player, security, power this and that, "plastic" this and that);
(3) lack of safety features (X # airbags, ABS, traction control, etc.); &
(4) lack of quality or reliability (wind noise, rattling, cheap parts, etc.)
without really considering the fact that this is a sub US $10000 car. All these features (1-4) make the cost go over $10000. To development countries - they are looking at from NO car to sthg that most people can afford (iow, car is a luxurious item); to developed countries (us) - we have EVERYTHG we wanted, so this is a piece of crap, and thus the criticism.
There is a huge negative side of this type of vehicle - with $ so cheap, more people can own a car, and image what that will...or actualy has done (in China, India, Mexico, etc.)...to our environment! (Don't think of "green" on these vehicles - they aren't due to the low manufacturing cost!)

yeah and look at the turnaround Nissan is havin!

well that would be sweet if these cars came our way...but most Americans aren't as cheap as some of us can be---or are.

Yugo all over again?
I dont think American needs/wants a cheap car,
we are all about warranty,performance and longevity,and there is no way a sub $7000 car can have it all...(thank unions and insurance/liability costs for that).
Remember,Cavalier in 1994 cost over $9000,and thats about as minimal a car as one could stand.No way that could sell for sub-$7000 (add on airbags/stability control and tire pressure monitoring)some 13 years later...something would have to give...like steel gauge,plastic content,engine size+HP,dimensions...etc
And you are left with a small,tight,tin box....a 2008 Yugo.

Logan in Spain:

They wanted the car to cost 5000euros. Then the car cost about 6000 basic and 10000 euros with more equipment.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacia_Logan

Considering today's exchange rates, 5k euros are $6804 and 10k euros are 13,609

So, the cheapo is only cheap in quality, not in price. A basic Cobalt or Corolla can be bought for the same price, American made.

"Cheapo" or not, it's the consumer's decision whether to buy it. Some people indeed do not need extra junk such as CD players or, gasp, airbags to commute. I would think that the person purchasing such a car that does not include safety or luxury amenities knows the risk of such an investment. I've been in a Fiat 126p ("Maluch") and know that a car like the Fiat would definitely not be widely popular here except as a gag gift, but hey...sell them and they will come.

by 2012 it must have stability control and who knows what else. thanks, but i will go for the avalanche instead.

I have bought ALL my cars used, and I prefer to get a safe model than a cheap car who can be dangerous because it doesn't have any security features.

Fortunately we have a lot of choices, new and used which can be safe for a reasonable price. I still remember the Yugos and Ladas in Europe, cheap to buy but dangerous, unreliable and unsafe to drive.

The Hyundai Santro which costs about $6300 has no safety features other than crumple zones, three-point seatbelts, and head restraints. No airbags, no ABS, no skid control, no TPMS. Probably few pollution controls. Retrofitting these features would add significantly to the cost, and even then, the end product would still likely be awful to drive.

This car pictured is made by Mahindra not Nissan. It is an Indian car.

Actually the car pictured isnt a bad looking car, but my problem would be that I would need jaws of life to be removed from it everytime I want to get out, unless it can handle someone at 6'4 350lbs. It would be nice to have a cheaper car, with airbags (I dont have ABS or traction control) in my $25,000 2004 Impala so I wont miss either of them. But it should have airbags, and as long as I can get into it and out of it, without help then I am happy, Have one of the cars, cost around $7900 or so, and have option packages like a sport package,(spoiler,body kit,engine supercharger etc.) safety package,(daytime running lights,abs, withtraction control etc.) convience package,(air conditioning,cdplayer,good sound system,tilt wheel. And if someone wanted all of this then there should be a nice discount say $1000 or so off.
Hey I will be looking next year, so maybe there will be something by then, until then I will be thinking about a dodge charger.

The car is made in India, but definitively not Indian. It is engineered on the current Renault Clio / Nissan Micra platform by a subsidiary of Renault called Dacia. They were an Eastern European manufacturer like Skoda, Lada, Zastava & Yugo.

This car has managed to get 3 out of 5 stars in the EuroNCAP crashtests. The same test that gave the current model chrysler voyager 4 stars in left hand drive and 1.5 in right hand drive. Hence if you live in a country that drives on the left side of the road it is safer than a mini van... It is probably on-par with most american cars safety wise.

Environmentally speaking there is nothing wrong with the car. It uses modern Renault petrol and diesel engines. All four cylinder ones. These get an average MPG that very few american cars will ever achieve.

Handling wise? I have never driven one so I dont know. All I can say is that the Renault Clio it is based on is very highly regarded for its driving dynamics, and that a lot of carfreaks in the EU actually prefer a Clio 197 to a Honda Civic Type R.

A lot of former Eastern European manufacturers are now owned partly or fully by Western car manufacturers. VW/Audi owns Skoda, Renault owns Dacia, GM is in some JVs with Lada. You can buy a Skoda with the same running gear as an Audi TT or S3. Time to let go of your prejudice...

check the url: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacia_(car)

Mahindra is 100% Indian owned. It is made by them for India. Additionally, it has been modified by them. The cars original blue prints are from Dacia which is now owned by Renault.

If global warming is in fact GLOBAL why are third world countries allowed to continue to buy cars with NO emission controls? A good part of the reason these cars are so much cheaper is that they don't need catalytic converters.

looking for a right hand drive vehicle

these cars suck!!!!!!!!!!!
get better ones!!!!!!!