India Rolls Out World's Cheapest Car

India's Tata Motors rolled out its $2000 Nano car yesterday, six months late but with grander plans than ever, reports the Los Angeles Times. The company aims to sell the vehicle—10 feet long and less than 5 feet wide—not only to India's emerging middle class, but to the European and North American markets.

Environmentalists worry about the effects of pouring huge numbers of extra vehicles onto India's already overcrowded roads, but the Nano's makers say the inexpensive car is all about making travel more democratic. Demand has already far outstripped supply—one million Indians have submitted applications to get one of the 60,000 Nanos expected to be produced this year. (More Tata Motors stories.)