World's cheapest car gets a pop star welcome

More than 1,000 people -- journalists, VIPS and industrialists -- packed an auditorium on Thursday as Tata Motors Ltd unveiled its long-awaited 'People's Car' in a media circus more worthy of a pop concert or an Oscar ceremony.

For those wanting to feel India's economic self-confidence as it takes on the world, all they had to do was to experience the blaring music from '2001: A Space Odyssey' and the flashes of scores of cameras as the Tata Nano was driven out.

It condensed years of anticipation into one moment of mayhem.

"I haven't seen this many cameras in my six years in South Asia," said one veteran journalist. "You couldn't even buy advertising like this."

Ahead of the launch, major news channels devoted several minutes of airtime to live footage of a dark and empty stage where the car, a hatchback that is priced at about half the cost of the current cheapest car, would be unveiled.

"A promise is a promise," Chairman Ratan Tata said, as he announced a dealer price of Rs 100,000 ($2,500) as pledged five years ago, even though commodity prices have gone up and despite rivals' claims such a knock-down price was impossible.

For its supporters, it will revolutionise ownership in India, by allowing millions of the aspiring middle classes to own a car, and send a shock through the auto world with its cheaper engineering that will be copied across the globe.

For its detractors, it will provoke a nightmare on India's already clogged roads and worsen choking pollution levels.

'CUTE FIRST IMPRESSION

As Tata reeled off the car's specifications and compared it to innovations such as the first man on the moon, people in the crowd, including many Indian journalists, clapped and cheered.

A hologram appeared of a husband, his wife and kid balanced unsafely on a scooter -- a common sight in India. It faded to make way for an image of the Nano hovering above the stage.

Then came the rush as hundreds of journalists pressed around the car. A ring of Tata guards surrounded the Nano, begging cameramen not to scratch its new paint.

Then came the public.

"It looks kind of cute," said Urvashi Sitani, a businesswoman who took pictures with her mobile phone. "I'd guess it proves popular with the younger crowd. But it's a girlish car. I can't imagine a man would be seen in a car like this."

Thousands of people pressed around the car.

"It seems like a real car. The windows actually wind down," said a smiling Gilles Levassor, who works for French carmaker Renault.

A few metres away, women protesting that farmers had been made landless because of Tata's car factory plans, stood by.

"It's subsidised by farmers' blood," said Anuradha Talwar.

Outside the auditorium, a contingent of Greenpeace activists stood with banners bearing slogans such as: 'CUT CO2 emissions'.

But they were largely ignored by the swelling crowds.