A CAR FOR THE MASSES,
BUT NOT FOR CRETANS
 

A world and a century apart, two great industrialists have uttered almost the exact same words. In 1908, America's Henry Ford said he designed the Model T to "appeal to the masses."   In January of this year, India's Ratan Tata announced plans to produce the world's cheapest car, the Nano, to "bring motoring to the Indian masses." However, by the time the Nano, priced at 100,000 rupees, or 1,529.68 euros, was launched recently in Mumbai, Mr. Tata's dream had become more ambitious: to go head-to-head with the world's biggest carmakers and bring low-cost motoring to the cash-strapped masses of Europe and US. He expects to sell a million cars a year. Mr. Tata said he had the Indian family in mind when he designed this car. "Here in India we see four people travelling by motorbike," he said. "I thought they could travel more safely by car."

While four on a motorbike is also a familiar sight in Crete, a random survey among local drivers shows that seven out of 10 would not buy a Nano. In fact, financial crisis or not, Cretan drivers seem to adhere to the adage: bigger is better. One of the most popular models in Crete is the Toyota RAV4. Let's see how they stack up against each other. Gas mileage: Nano: 70 mpg; RAV4: 21 mpg Engine size: Nano: 624cc; RAV4: 2.5 litres Top speed: Nano: 105km/h; RAV4: 190km/h Length: Nano: 3099mm; RAV4: 4160mm Width: Nano: 1496mm; RAV4: 1695mm Height: Nano: 1652mm; RAV4: 1661mm Base Sticker price: Nano: 1,529.68 euros; RAV4: 16,312.50 euros Which one will you choose?

TOP