World's Cheapest Car Covered In Gold

The world's cheapest car, the Tata Nano, has been transformed overnight into one of the planet’s most expensive models in a publicity stunt that celebrates India’s 5000 years of jewellery tradition and craftsmanship.
On Tuesday, Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, unveiled a jewel encrusted model named the GoldPlus Nano, which is e.ssentially a Tata Nano covered entirely in gold and jewellery.
The GoldPlus Nano is said to have cost more than US$4.68 million to create – an astonishing figure considering that the original Nano is priced around US$2,500.

Thirty artists from GoldPlus, a jewellery retail brand from Titan Industries of the Tata Group, were employed to decorate the tiny car in 80kg of 22 carat gold, 15kg of silver and 10,000 semi precious stones and gems. In all, 14 different techniques of jewellery making were used to represent the diverse and culturally distinct jewellery techniques from across India.

The proud creators of the GoldPlus Nano have already described the vehicle to be akin to that of a “golden chariot”.
“Through this effort we wanted to showcase the expertise of diverse Indian Jewellery making proficiency,” said Titan Industries’ Chief Operation Officer of the Jewellery Division C.K. Venkataraman, as quoted by DiamondWorld. “Nothing could have been better than a Tata Nano, as there is a perfect synergy between the two brands that cater to the common man.”
Tata and GoldPlus intend to take the GoldPlus Nano on a nationwide tour across all GoldPlus stores for the next six months, whereby a few lucky individuals will get an opportunity to sit in the car for photo ops.

The over-the-top publicity stunt is seen as a way for the Tata Group to sidetrack recent criticism of the Tata Nano over its safety record. According to the Financial Times, the Tata Nano has been dogged by several incidents of the car spontaneously erupting into flames, which prompted Tata to offer its existing customers a safety upgrade to its electrical and exhaust systems.

.