Tata Nano, world's cheapest car, (finally) set for April debut, India's Tata Motors announces
http://www.theweeklydriver.com/articles/1352/1/Tata-Nano-worlds-cheapest-car-finally-set-for-April-debut-Indias-Tata-Motors-announces/Page1.html
By James Raia
Published on 02/27/2009
The Tata Nano, the India-manufactured vehicle marketed as the world's cheapest car, will be available for sale in automobile showrooms in April, Tata Motors has announced. Delayed for several months, four-door Nano, nicknamed "The People's Car," has attracted global attention because of its planned price tag of 100,000 rupees (slightly less than $2,000) for its base model.
The Tata Nano, the India-manufactured vehicle marketed as the world's cheapest car, will be available for sale in automobile showrooms in April, Tata Motors has announced. Delayed for several months, four-door Nano, nicknamed "The People's Car," has attracted global attention because of its planned price tag of 100,000 rupees (slightly less than $2,000) for its base model.The Tata Nano, the
India-manufactured vehicle marketed as the world's cheapest car, will be
available for sale in automobile showrooms in April, Tata Motors has
announced. Delayed for several months, four-door Nano, nicknamed "The People's Car," has attracted global attention because of its price
tag of 100,000 rupees (slightly less than $2,000) for its base model.
The Nano will be formally launched at a lavish function in Mumbai on March 21, said a spokesman for Tata Motors, India's largest vehicle manufacturer and part of the larger Tata Group. The Nano will be distributed in dealerships during the first week of April, and reservations for purchase will begin one week later. Exact price and distribution details are pending for the much-touted vehicle originally scheduled for debut last October.
The company has already been taking the Nano to religious shrines across the country to seek "divine blessings" for the project, media reports say.
Tata Motors
recently reported its first quarterly loss in seven years. Last year,
Tata Motors was the surprise talk of the global automotive world with its 2.3-billion-dollar purchase of British luxury brands
Jaguar and Land Rover. But with the international economic downturn, the
purchase has become a financial catastrophe.
According to Tata Motors representatives, full production of the Nano will take 1 1/2 years and only a limited supply of the vehicle will be available this spring.
Ratan Tata, who conceived the car, said a European version of the Nano meeting all European emission and safety standards would be presented at the Geneva Motor Show next month. It will cost approximately 5,000 euros ($6,390 dollars). Distribution of the Tata Nano in the United States is also feasible, but is not currently planned.
The Nano will be formally launched at a lavish function in Mumbai on March 21, said a spokesman for Tata Motors, India's largest vehicle manufacturer and part of the larger Tata Group. The Nano will be distributed in dealerships during the first week of April, and reservations for purchase will begin one week later. Exact price and distribution details are pending for the much-touted vehicle originally scheduled for debut last October.
The company has already been taking the Nano to religious shrines across the country to seek "divine blessings" for the project, media reports say.
Tata Motors
recently reported its first quarterly loss in seven years. Last year,
Tata Motors was the surprise talk of the global automotive world with its 2.3-billion-dollar purchase of British luxury brands
Jaguar and Land Rover. But with the international economic downturn, the
purchase has become a financial catastrophe.According to Tata Motors representatives, full production of the Nano will take 1 1/2 years and only a limited supply of the vehicle will be available this spring.
Ratan Tata, who conceived the car, said a European version of the Nano meeting all European emission and safety standards would be presented at the Geneva Motor Show next month. It will cost approximately 5,000 euros ($6,390 dollars). Distribution of the Tata Nano in the United States is also feasible, but is not currently planned.