World was watching when Mr. Ratan Tata launched Tata Nano in January this year, with a mere Rs. 100,000 (US$ 2500) price tag, many media houses and analysts began speculating, that Tata Nano would be able to replace motorcycles as the preferred mode of transport in India.

While Tata Nano is the cheapest car in the world and majority of those who commute on motorcycles, dream of owning and traveling in a car, it wouldn’t be a viable replacement to two wheelers, here are 5 reasons why:

High entry cost: While the cost of the Tata Nano is almost half of that of Maruti 800, it is still twice as expensive as a 150cc motorcycle.

Fuel economy: In 90s, people gradually began to shift from scooters to motorcycles, because the new motorcycles were more fuel efficient than scooters and this fact alone killed the scooter market. This in spite of the fact, for a married man, a scooter at times is more practical than a motorcycle. Tata Nano should be able to run for ~20kms in a liter of petrol. If we compare this to the mileage delivered by 100-125cc motorcycles, it is roughly 4 times less i.e. if you sell your 100-125cc motorcycle and buy a Tate Nino, you can expect to spend almost 4 times more on the fuel bill!

Expensive spares: While Nano is a cheap car, it is cheap by the car standards. So don’t expect the spare parts and servicing to cost the same as that of your motorcycle.

Other running cost to be higher as well: From insurance to toll on the highway/expressway to parking, each and every thing would be more expensive then when you used to travel on your trusty old motorcycle.

Parking blues and traffic snarls: Remember the last time you squeezed through a dozen cars on the red light and were able to park your bike in the busy market, while the car owner just kept looking at you with frustration? Well if buy a Nano, you will get a taste of your own medicine.

While Tata Nano might have revolutionalized the small car segment and have made owning a car a reality for hundreds of thousands of people, it wouldn’t be able to make any serious dent in the two wheeler sales, unless it is able to somehow address these issues.