Automakers want to sell more cars to Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). The car makers are lowering the price tags, making cheaper cars to try to make inroads into these new emerging economies.
Renault SA has plans to launch a $3,000 car in 2010 in partnership with Nissan Motor Co.
Toyota Motor Corp. is planning to produce a low-priced "entry-level family car" that retails for about 7,000 dollars in India in 2010.
Volkswagen AG of Germany also intends to introduce a vehicle priced at 6,000
euros, or about Y970,000 ($9000).
India's leading carmaker, Tata Motors Ltd., has unveiled a plan to introduce a $3,000 car in the market in 2008.
Hyundai Motor Co. of South Korea disclosed this month that it has been developing a vehicle costing around $3,000 in India.
Chery Automobile Co. and 10th-ranked Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., have started exporting vehicles priced at under Y600,000 ($5500) to Iran, Russia and elsewhere.
Auto sales in the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) totaled 13.15 million units in 2006, twice the 2000 level and 20% of the world's car sales.
How much performance and quality must be sacrificed to produce such a cheap car, I wonder?
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