Given that we’re all living through one of the worst economic times since The Great Depression, it seems that money pinching and budget tightening has become the new fad these days.

So when the topic of purchasing a cheap car surfaces, there aren’t a lot of manufacturers that can offer more for less than the Tata Nano.

With a price tag that comes up to only $2,200 in India, including taxes and fees, the Tata Nano – not to be mistaken for the Macintosh MP3 player - is becoming the latest must-have car of the cash-strapped man.

While it doesn’t look the least bit imposing, the Nano is still less than a quarter of the next set of cheap cars you can find anywhere.

After all, when you strip down the essentials of a car, the most obvious need is for you to be able to get to Point B from Point A, which after all is what we’re all looking for, right?

Continued after the jump.

Even more surprising than a 2,200-dollar car is a 2,200 dollar car that runs smoothly and efficiently.

The Nano comes in three types, including a base model, a midlevel CX, and the top-of-the-line – maybe a little overstatement here - Nano LX. Then again, for top-of-the-line sounds pretty relative considering the cheap price tag the car comes in. In the case of the Nano, top-of-the-line means power front windows and air-conditioning.

While the Nano will never live to see the day that it can compete with the Hondas and Toyotas of the world, the car is nevertheless becoming a hot-item these days with the ‘top-of-the-line’ LX proving to be the most popular, thanks in large part, because it has the aforementioned front power windows and fully functioning AC unit.

For $2,200 ($3,800 for the LX), thrift-seekers may just have found their next automotive investment.