Tata's new Small car will have Power Steering & Continous Variable transmission

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Tata Motors, which plans to launch its small car in mid-2008, may not be able to stick to its original price tag. “High input costs and fuel costs have made it more challenging to maintain the price at 1 lakh rupees. To know whether we will offer the car at a higher level or not, we need to wait.

"The actual price of the car will be evident only closer to the launch," Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant was quoted by Forbes as saying.

The small details available on Tata Motors’ forthcoming Rs 1-lakh car to date have been without official confirmation.

The base model will be fitted with continuously variable transmission, whereas only premium models in India and elsewhere are similarly equipped. The engine will be rear-mounted (and reportedly a small capacity diesel developing some 30 hp, as did the French basic car, the Citroën 2CV).

A higher-end version will feature manual gears and air-conditioning, power windows and power steering. However, full details are hard to come by, with suppliers preferring to keep mum.

“Around 55 prototypes are already being tested in varied conditions around the country and the first car will arrive in the show-rooms by September next year,” a car’s suppliers was quoted as saying.