Tata Motors, a car company based in India, recently unveiled the Nano, a new vehicle that is both small in stature and price, costing only $2500. It kinda looks like a squished Scion xA.

As MSNBC reports, this is a very significant development because it bridges the large price gap in the automotive market that had previously prevented many people in developing nations from owning a car.

Although the Nano gets 50 MPG, however, environmentalists are still worried because the cheap price means that the masses in many nations, including some of the most populous in the world, will now have access to the roads. According to the article, less than 1% of the Indian population currently owns a car, which is still about 10 million people. If the Nano is able to put another 1% in a personal car, the environmental consequences could be dire, not to mention infrastructure and foreign oil dependence problems.

I think this article highlights a huge problem in today's rapidly globalizing world, where developing nations are becoming stronger in the world market by using the same industrial techniques that ruin the environment. There are promising bright spots (China's Maglev trains, for example) but the primary focus is on gaining a global competitive niche, and the environment is usually a compromise.