NANO TECHNOLOGY: Ratan Tata unveils Nano, Tata’s Rs 1-lakh car, at the Auto Expo in New Delhi.
Nano is expected to hit the road in Q2, 2008
Rata Tata has announced on the anvil of the ‘one-lakh car’ or the ‘people’s car’ launch, now named ‘Nano’ after the legendary JRD Tata, that the Nano’s dealer price will be Rs 1 lakh (USD 2,500).
Earlier, he had said that they may not be able to hold the price that they have emotionally held on to, reports CNBC-TV18.
The commercial launch of the ‘people’s car’ will be in H2CY08, he informed. People’s car will be 20% shorter than Maruti 800 but will have 20% greater internal volume.
He also said that it was too premature to talk of EBITDA margin of the small car. But they will offer a wide variety of variants with several upmarket options. Tata has been approached by two countries to launch the ‘People’s Car’ and they may be looking at Africa and Latin America and South East Asia to launch the car.
The company will not sacrifice profits and there is a strong business case for the small car.
So far, they have invested Rs 1,500-1,700 crore in the small car project. The car will comply with Bharat III & Euro 4 emission norms. He said that the car meets all safety standards including crash test, offset and side crash (source: Moneycontrol).
i liked the model…. its decent enuf for the kind of money it is priced at…..
see ya:)
By: shuz on January 11, 2008
at 1:03 pm
It looks to be value for money. At least it will give a competition to scooters or get rid of them on Indian roads.
Now GOI has look into creating good infrastructure..
By: Santosh Puthran on January 11, 2008
at 11:35 pm
Shuz,
You are right.. Those who talk about features should be willing to pay the price for it.. This is for the lower middle class people who can’t think of buying a car before.. Well Done Tata!!
Santosh,
Surely it is value for money.. Those who have plent of money can look for a full featured car with fancy stuff, but Nano will surely satisfy a budget consumer.
Infrastructure will follow anyway, that is required to keep up the momentum of the GDP growth.
Cheers,
Ramesh
By: Ramesh Natarajan on January 12, 2008
at 1:05 am
The “people’s car” is a wonderful example of India’s mid-20st Century mindset and its squandered chance at 21st Century development. My short essay on this can be read at http://memestreamblog.wordpress.com/2007/10/12/india-going-nowhere-fast/.
MBJ
By: mbjesq on January 12, 2008
at 3:18 am
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHEN THIS VEHICLE WILL BE AVAILABLE IN SOUTH AFRICA? THE RATA NANO. WHICH DEALERSHIP WILL BE SELLING THIS?
THANKS
By: LORRAINE FORRESTER on January 22, 2008
at 2:03 pm
Lorraine,
Nano is expected to be initially launched in India only, it might take sometime to launch it internationally.
I am glad, you are looking for our Indian Car!
Cheers,
Ramesh
By: Ramesh Natarajan on January 22, 2008
at 3:47 pm