Tata Motors said it was delighted but not surprised that its Nano subcompact passed European front- and side-impact crash tests last week.
This is according to Autocar, which reports that the Nano was subjected to tests at the MIRA testing center in England:
The crash tests included a 40 percent offset and a 56km/h (35 m.p.h.) frontal impact, and are tougher than those that exist in India currently the Nano’s only market but they are due to be adopted in India in three years’ time.
We’ve conducted these tests in India already, Clive Hickman, Tata’s head of engineering, told Autocar, which has a gallery of photos here, so we knew the car would pass. But it’s still a great moment.
For Americans, who have harbored strong doubts about the Nano’s crashworthiness, the results must be more surprising.
Ever since Ratan Tata, the chairman of Tata Motors, said that he planned to sell the Nano in Europe (and possibly the United States) by 2011, there have been doubts about the small car’s ability to provide safe, comfortable transportation in Western traffic.
But Tata seems prepared for the challenge. Nick Kurczewski, in his review of the Nano for The New York Times, wrote that the Nano Europe would be better equipped with air bags, revised bumpers and a bigger engine. According to company officials, an automatic transmission and a hatchback version are in the works.
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