டாடா நானோ XMA

Want an automatic car that is light on the pocket as can be? Look no further! The Tata Nano XMA is the mid-range automatic variant of the most affordable new car in India. Priced at Rs 3.02 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi as of April 4, 2017), it makes for an easy to use daily city drive and costs just over Rs 41,000 more than the Nano XM MT.

That is not all. Tata claims the car will deliver a fuel efficiency figure of 21.9kmpl. Combine that with its 24-litre fuel tank, and you are looking at a tank range of around 500km!

Given that this is a budget car, do not expect it to be too feature loaded. On the outside, it sports the likeable styling and compact proportions that we have seen with the GenX Nano since its introduction in 2015. Compared to the base XE model (available with manual transmission only), you get a few more features, some of which, even add around 30kg to its weight (put together). The added features include colour coordinated wing mirrors and tinted windows on the exterior. Inside, unique to the automatic are average and instant fuel economy displays for both trip meters and a gear shift indicator. The car also comes equipped with a manual air-conditioner. Something you certainly do not want to skip if you live in the hotter regions of India.

Powering the Tata Nano XMA is a 624cc, 3-cylinder petrol engine that makes 38PS of power and 51Nm of torque. The motor comes paired with a 5 speed automated manual transmission and is labelled the EasyShift AMT, much like the Tiago AMT. It comes equipped with a sport mode (S) and manual mode (M), apart from the usual auto (A), neutral (N) and reverse options. Additionally, for bumper to bumper traffic, it gets a creep function, which assists the car in crawling as soon as you lift your foot from the brake pedal, without pressing the accelerator. In an inclined position, this feature helps prevent the car from rolling back too.

While there are alternatives to the Nano AMT like the Kwid AMT or Alto K10 AMT, both are more expensive by a large margin.