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Tata Motors Ltd., the owner of Jaguar and Land Rover, will begin sales of the world's cheapest car, the Nano, in July as the company targets motorcycle buyers wanting to trade up to four wheels.

The price of the car, which will be sold in three variants, will start at $2,500 in showrooms in New Delhi, India, said Ravi Kant, managing director. Customers will need to pay almost the full price of the car as a deposit, he said.

Tata Motors may sell the Nano in the U.S. after 2 1/2 years, and sales to Europe may begin in 2011.

The Nano was conceived as a car that will give the people of India an opportunity to own a car that was not within their reach earlier, Chairman Ratan Tata said Monday in Mumbai.

"We made a promise and kept that promise," he said.

Pushed into its first loss in seven years last quarter, Tata Motors can produce as many as 60,000 Nanos a year, although the initial plan was to build 250,000.

The production isn't sufficient to make any significant impact on the financials in the near future, said Gaurav Lohia, an analyst at K.R. Choksey Shares & Securities Pvt.

The company's plan to start selling the Nano at the end of 2008 was delayed after it had to shift the location of the factory due to protests by farmers losing their livelihood. A new factory in Gujarat will be ready in 2010, and it will be able to make 350,000 units a year.

As sales in the U.S., Japan, and Europe tumble, Toyota Motor Corp., Renault SA and others plan to build cars for the middle class in emerging markets. Indian annual light vehicle sales will surge to about 2.8 million units by 2014 from about 1.72 million last year, according to Global Insight Inc.

World's cheapest car to hit the road | detnews.com | The Detroit News