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Chairman Ratan Tata drove the long-awaited car on to the stage at the Auto Expo in the capital and announced that it would have a dealer price of Rs 1,00,000 as promised five years ago, even though commodity prices had gone up. "That's because a promise is a promise," Tata said.
The car, a hatchback with a 624cc engine, is priced at about half that of the current cheapest car in the market, and is a sharp contrast to the luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands that Tata is negotiating to buy from Ford Motor.
The Nano will come in three variants -- standard and two deluxe models with AC. The standard car would be available for Rs one lakh (ex-showroom), while VAT and transportation costs are extra.
While critics had been sceptical throughout about the car meeting safety and emission norms, coming as it is at that price, Tata said he was happy to announce that Nano meets all norms as would a modern car.
The car is eight per cent shorter than Maruti 800 on bumper to bumper length, but is 21 per cent more spacious, claimed Tata.
Alluding to fears expressed by environmentalist R K Pachauri and green activist Sunita Narain that the car at that price would add more vehicles on the road leading to higher vehicular pollution, Tata said the 624 cc, 33 HP petrol engine meets Bharat Stage-III emission norms and can also meet the Euro 4 norms.
"Pachauri will not have a nightmare and Sunita Narain can also sleep," he quipped, while recalling that some people had suggested that the car should be called 'Pachauri' and some others said that it should be named 'Mamta' – probably referring to the position TMC leader Mamta Banerjee had taken against the setting up of the small-car project at Singur in West Bengal.
Commenting on the safety standard, he said the car has gone through a full frontal crash test as per norms.
The business baron silenced his critics 10 years ago when he unveiled Tata Motors' first car, the Indica hatchback.
His business acumen was again questioned as the truck and former locomotive maker hatched plans to build the world's cheapest car and buy Ford Motor Co's premium Jaguar and Land Rover brands.
But Tata has remained steadfast and successful: the Indica has sold more than 1 million units and Tata Motors has emerged as the preferred bidder for the luxury Ford brands.
On Thursday, the 70-year-old chairman of the Tata Group unveild the "People's Car", a mini 4-seater priced, as promised five years ago, at Rs 1,00,000 (dealer price), less than half the price of the cheapest car on the market.
"I have confidence in what we can do, provided we are critical enough about what we can do and we have a desire to improve," Ratan Tata had said in an interview.
"You have to have a belief that you can do something. You have to carry that belief through till the end or decide not to do it. What we should not do is a half-hearted job," he said.
The automotive world has taken note. Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda and Fiat have since said they are looking to build low-cost cars. On Tuesday, Ford said it would invest $500 million in India to make a small car.
And an alliance of Nissan and Renault, which has made a big success of its no-frills Logan sedan, is developing a $3,000 car with Tata rival Bajaj Auto Ltd.
Respected sir I will help you to complete your dream, that failed in singlur, i help you to buy 600 acres of land in Kerala, of Trivandrum so feel free to contact me
I am Shyam S. Somani from Bathinda i want to have Tata's Small Car ( Nano ) dealership for bathinda I a owner of a commercial space please help me out that whom to contact for the same
i want to know about the car deluxe for tata nano and how much is in the u.s.a and if you have a specific delear here .
I want dealership of tata nano whom should I contact
I want dealership of tata nano whom should I contact
i salute Rathan Tata for his new accomplishment of bringing our an 'aam aadmi ke-liye" nano for 1 lac. but how to book?
when
for the middle class people it will be a great opportunity, and only this is we need some extra facilities in the car (like audio, etc.)
I appreciate Mr Ratan Tata for keeping his promise to roll out a 1 lakh car. However, there are 2 concerns we need to look at:1. What effect would it have on the already worsened traffic situation? with every bike owner aspiring to own a Nano, one can well expect the problems it is going to create in metros/ semi urban cities.2. Safety? with the engine in the rear, there is very less room for making the front more safe as compared to the from mounted engine cars. With the government least concerned about the surface infrastructure, what we'll see is a massive "traffic frustration".RegardsG S RainaNew delhi
A marvellous job.I would like to purchase it(NANO), first in LUCKNOW.
First of all i would like to congratulate all the team member who where involved in such a great work.I am very happy that our country is the first country to launch the cheapest car in the world 'TATA NANO'
pratik waghela
http://mail2nagen.blogspot.com/2008/01/tatas-rs-1-lakh-car-nano.html
Ratan-Congratulations,you make us proud.You are the GEM OF INDIA.
TATA had helped the middle class people,today verybody can bye this car...Hats off Shree Ratan TATA jee..Awaiting for the car..
Ratan TATA has showed to the World that how a corporate houses can contribute to Society's needs and made Indian Lower Middle Class people can certainly think of owning Car. We are really Proud of Ratan TATA and His Team. Will the Computer Manufacturer learning from this and give full loaded computer for Rs 10,000/- or less.
Nano Car make Country Big Proud....Tata chairman Ratan Tata has indeed done a great job,I am sure every citizen must be proud for Ratan Tata
Dear friends, it is a good time to sell your Maruti 800, because after 6 months, no one will buy used Maruti 800 and Zen for more than 30,000.
Today Ratan Tata became Bharat Ratan ... Ta Ta
I read on the BBC that Ratan Tata was inspired to launch this car after seeing a family trying to ride a two-wheeler. About two millenia ago, Siddartha Gautama, also known as Gautama Buddha, was cast into the gloom of despair when he saw diseased and old people on one of his royal trips. This led him to go on a quest of spiritual discovery that led to the creation of one of the major world religions today. Buddha's epiphany led to a spiritual conquest, Tata's epiphany led to a triumph for capitalism, or the temporal world.One can only conclude that Ratan Tata should go out more and mingle with the masses. May be then his fertile brain will be able to solve many other problems that India is facing as well.
It is a marvel indeed. In a nutshell, it is a revolutionary and purposeful innovation addressing a pressing need.
To produce a nano car and pass the safety tests is not a joke as it requires brilliant minds working together. 33 HP is equivalent to the power of old Padmini/known as Fiat to all of India. This much power is sufficient for ordinary travel, and if weight of a vehicle is proportionally related to fuel mileage, then a lean vehicle will no doubt save petrol, as most is wasted just driving the vehicle itself rather than the cargo. But it is doubted whether Nano will pass the MEGA pothole test of Indian roads and flooding during the monsoons. It's suspension would need to be watched intially as that of Indica.
Indians proved that they can be smart in developing technology for common man use. Wish to congratulate Mr Tata and team on this occasion. I wish good luck for the adventure and a step forward in the technology. Mr Tata, you have given us people's transport.
Typical businessmen do not care about lives or society but money. Even the people who should think about those, are not doing their duties (e.g policy makers and media). I have not seen a single repot in Indian media questioning the wisdom of that car (particularly in Indian context), while I got a nice analysis for that in New York Times; http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/op...4friedman.html. Tatas have enough money to ensure political and media cooperation for their nice car.
Should we be proud the way India is heading to? Check the following New York Times article by famous Tom Friedman: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/op...4friedman.html"If India just innovates in cheap cars alone, its future will be gridlocked and polluted. But an India that makes itself the leader in both cheap cars and clean mass mobility is an India that will be healthier and wealthier. It will also be an India that gives us cheap answers to big problems — rather than cheap copies of our worst habits".We, the Indians, need to know what we SHOULD do, rather than what we CAN do!
But I agree with you that this car proved that we can do something, somewhat novel. We also can do well in other sectors too. It's also good for earning foreign currencies. But surely not a great idea for Indian roads and solving transport problem and envirenment.
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