Super Inexpensive Cars

BW (subscription) details the success of Renault's new Logan:

A strange thing happened when French auto maker Renault last fall rolled out the no-frills Logan, a midsize sedan was designed to sell for as little as 5,000 euros ($6,000) in emerging markets like Poland. Western buyers clamored for the car. So this June, Renault began delivering the roomy, unpretentious five-seater to France, Germany, and Spain.

Others are in the works:

Other companies are working on cheap cars, too. Volkswagen is considering building a $3,650 car for China. India's Tata Motors is expected to debut a $2,000 car before 2008.

This makes sense, and it points to potential success for low cost computing efforts too. BTW, if someone could create a car for less than $10 k with hybrid electronics (i.e. Prius), it would zooooom.

Comments

[J.J.]

Phil Greenspun's comments on same from June 2003, except he expects it to come from China.

How much longer will it take native Chinese maufacturers (vice the Western companies with Chinese plants) to build the infrastructure to compete, a la the South Korean electronics industry?

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2003/06/20#a463