When Indian car maker (and now traditional British car maker) Tata trumpeted the intention of building a car for under $3000, a lot of industry observers were left amazed.

Now, those who were amazed -- and also cynical -- are starting to feel like equilibrium has been restored, following a report in American industry publication, Automotive News, that Tata is struggling to meet the official pricing target of US$2500 for the Nano.

The tiny car isn't even on the market yet and already the manufacturer is expressing doubt that the Nano will sell for as low as the original price. Automotive News reports that the price of steel has risen 50 per cent over the last 12 months -- a steep increase that we reported previously (more here) when the increase was 'just' 40 per cent.

Tata is, according to Automotive News, attempting to keep the price point at around $2500 and has called upon suppliers to pare back profit on the steel so that the manufacturer can keep the price as low as originally planned.

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