As part of its much-ballyhooed presentation, the Los Angeles Times reports Tata Motors will hold a lottery starting April 9 for the estimated 1 million applicants vying for approximately 60,000 Tata Nano cars expected to be manufactured in the first year of the vehicle's production.

Those who are selected will be asked to put up a deposit of as much as 80 percent of price. Delivery is to start in July.

The four-door Nano has the smallest “footprint” and turning radius of any car in the world, Tata Motors reports. The Nano is 10 feet long
and less than 5 feet wide. It has a single windshield wiper and gets about 47 miles to the gallon from a two-cylinder engine.  It has a top speed of 65 mph and is expected to be used largely in city driving.

With its base price hovering around $2,000 (depending upon currency exchange rates), the Nano will be the world's cheapest car.

China's Cherry QQ car sells for about $4,800 and India's Suzuki Maruti 800 for about $5,000. The least expensive U.S. car is the base level Chevrolet Aveo, with a nearly $12,000 base price. Nissan offers its subcompact Versa model in the U.S. at a base price of $9,999.

India will the primary market for the Nano. But Tata Motors also plans to roll out a more expensive European version in 2011 with air bags and better emissions and safety ratings. It may also consider a model for the U.S. market.