India’s only global automaker Tata has finally started selling what has been marketed the cheapest car in the world.

The Nano will start at $2,000 with the more expensive CX and LX models going for $3,800. The later will feature a heater, AC and power brakes. Because the Nano is stripped of some many features, it isn’t much of an innovation. After all, titans like Ford and Toyota could certainly manufacture a car as cheaply - if not cheaper still - if they decided to make a bare of any modern features.

[The Los Angeles Times.]

How will do the Nano do? Tata says that it already has 1 million applicants for an initially rolling out of 60,000 cars.

Nano will probably due better in emerging markets than in the developed world. American and European mini-car buyers already have the far superior SmartCar to buy, albeit the Nano is significantly cheaper.

With a car so cheap, however, many people, particularly environmentalists, worry that the car may lead to clogged roads and more emissions in the atmosphere. After all, the car will be able to be purchased by people for whom car buying was previously seen as an unaffordable luxury.

Obnoxious bicycles in the developing world may now be placed by obnoxious honking cars.