Tata Nano: Neither good nor bad

It's neither as good nor as bad as we were told. Advance publicity suggested both that the Tata Nano would be the most frugal mass-produced car on earth and that everyone in India would buy one. Yesterday, Tata launched its creation.

Though it consumes less than the great majority of cars, its fuel economy is a disappointment. The 101g of CO2 it emits a kilometre means it would not qualify for a band A rating in the UK, and that's before it is fitted with the heavy safety features required over here. Load those on and it is likely to be hungrier than my Renault Clio, which is among the leanest models sold here, but hardly space age. As the Nano's engine - at 624cc - is less than half the size of the Clio's, its engineering doesn't appear space age either.

On the other hand the production volumes are surprisingly small, given the breathless claims made last year. Rather than a million or more cars a year, Tata now talks of selling 100,000 this year then of switching to a new plant with a production capacity of 250,000.

It can't be the global recession: the impact in India so far has been to reduce economic growth from 9% to 7% this year. Perhaps it's because of India's notorious congestion: for most short journeys you will get there faster by bike; and this car is designed for city travel, not highways. This doesn't look as if it will become the environmental nemesis that so many predicted - especially if, as its promoters suggest, it will displace overloaded motorbikes.

What it represents, however, is more ominous. This marks the beginning of mass private transport in the world's second largest population. At the moment, India's carbon dioxide emissions a head - at 1.2 tonnes - are just 12% of the UK's. That is changing rapidly, as the middle class expands and economic growth barrels along. For years environmentalists have speculated about what would happen if consumption in the poor world matched consumption in the rich world. Now the great experiment has begun.

We are, of course, in no position to complain. Were we able to bring some evidence of self-restraint to the climate talks in Copenhagen at the end of this year we might have had some bargaining power. But the carbon cuts we have so far made at home are more than outweighed by the carbon emissions we have outsourced - to countries like India.