Low cost, but not cheap

Cars engineered for developing markets are designed to be less expensive, but they don't skimp on safety or environmental features.

In a flat market with increasing competition, car manufacturers are increasingly in search of growth segments. One that is expected to expand dramatically in coming years is that of the new, super-affordable car, according to Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, which predicts global sales of nearly 18 million low-cost units by 2012.

Many of these “lightly” contented cars will sell in emerging markets such as China, India, and Brazil. But, according to the forecast, even more such cars will sell to lower-income buyers in the developed countries of Western Europe and Japan. Even the U.S. will buy 700,000 cheap cars per year by then.