The Long Crisis

Posts Tagged ‘Nano’

The demand for the new Nano car in India is off the charts. The waiting list is so long that the little car’s manufacturer, Tata Motors, has developed a lottery type system to give lucky winners the chance to purchase the car.

The little four door Nano is fueling a car ownership fever in India that will likely soon be evident in Europe. The Nano has just passed the European safety regulation tests that are very similar to those required in the United States. While there are no immediate plans to sale the cars in the US after the Nano gains a foot hole in the European market (selling for at about $3,500 in Europe) the US market will likely follow. It’s just a matter of time.

The following press release was just published by Tata Motors:

“Tata Motors is pleased to announce that Mr. Ashok Raghunath Vichare of Mumbai has become the first customer in India of the Tata Nano. Mr. Vichare received his choice, the Tata Nano LX (Lunar Silver), at the hands of the Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Motors, Mr. Ratan N. Tata, at the dealership of the company, Concorde Motors, today.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Tata said, “I hope the Tata Nano will bring motoring pleasure to those who will be buying their first car as also those who currently own cars but want a modern, contemporary, emission-friendly city car.”

Along with Mr. Vichare, two other customers, Mr. Ashish Balakrishnan (Tata Nano LX – Sunshine Yellow) and Kores India Limited (Tata Nano LX – Lunar Silver), also received their cars today.

As planned, Tata Motors has commenced deliveries of the Tata Nano this month to different towns and cities of the country. Despatches to dealerships have begun from the Pantnagar plant, where the car is being produced, in accordance with schedules informed to customers.”

At a time when US car makers are being bailed out to the tune of billions of dollars in the hope of getting the US economy and US automakers back to where they once were the debut of the Nano should be taken as an ominous sign by US policy makers. The world is changing so fast that trying to go back and revive an old model of the economy is not only foolish but impossible.

Tara Motors is no joke. For one thing they are now the owner of the prestigious Jaguar and Land Rover brands. With the Nano, Tara Motors will have a presence in a worldwide car market from the very low end to moderately high end Jaguars and Land Rovers. They will be tough competition for any well managed automotive company anywhere in the world, much less government run enterprises like Chrysler and General Motors.

When the hope of General Motors seems to be to manufacture little electric cars like the Volt and sell them for about $40,000 you don’t really have to wonder how successful that effort will be when competing against little 624 cc, 2 cylinder gasoline powered fuel efficient cars selling for $3,500. For sure the Nano may not be great on the highway but as a way to run about town it will do a lot more running on one tank of gas than a 40 mile to one electric charge Volt.

Even at $5.00 a gallon for gasoline it would take only about $20 to fill a Nano. That tank will carry you more than three hundred hundred miles.

Here is a video of the Nano passing European crash safety teats.

Tata Motors said it was “delighted but not surprised” that its Nano subcompact passed European front- and side-impact crash tests in July 2009. The Nano is going to be tough competition for those $40,000 “green” cars. In India there were 203,000 firm paid orders in the first two weeks of sales.

Watch out Government Motors. The Tata Nano is coming.

Tweet This Post