Toyota, GM Working on Super-Cheap Models, Too

Work on the world's cheapest cars is underway at the world's biggest car companies, the Associated Press reports. Toyota and GM announced this week at Detroit's North American International Auto show they are working on inexpensive subcompacts similar to India's Tata Motors' $2,500 car and aimed at emerging markets. "There is a huge market for low-cost/price vehicles," Toyota's president said.

But it must be done “properly,” he says, and that could be a challenge given a price tag of $2,500. A GM joint-venture company in China has a $3,500 car in the works, and a GM VP said a car like Tata’s Nano is a possibility but would require further analysis. The Nano is scheduled to hit markets in India this year. (More Toyota stories.)